I had a similar experience when comparing the redbook cd version of Alan Parson's "I Robot" to the 24/96 DVD version issued by the Classic Records label a few years back.
This disc is not a true DVD-A, but the "tweener" 24/96 stereo format that will play on any standard DVD video player. I vote it as the most "underappreciated digital format/most short-lived" award. It was just getting off the ground when the big buzz surrounding the DVD-A multichannel disc format was heating up in 2000 and killed it off.
The Classic Records disc has a much more pleasant overall sound compared to the CD. The opening track is holographic sounding and you can easily hear the individual voices which make up the choir section as they harmonize. There are also some synthesizer and triangle or bell strikes that just hang in the air like they are real. It sounds awesome.
The kicker is that my cd player is no slouch. I have an Arcam FMJ cd-23 with the Ring-Dac, but my old Sony DVD carousel player from 1998 can handle 24/96 stereo without downconverting and output it via it's analog outputs. And I'll be damned but that 24/96 disc sounds better on the Sony vs. the redbook cd played on my Arcam!
I never understood why that format all but disappeared. In stereo, at least, I think you'd be hard pressed to really hear a huge improvement in sound going upmarket to SACD or DVD-A...and you don't even have to buy a new DVD player! JZ
This disc is not a true DVD-A, but the "tweener" 24/96 stereo format that will play on any standard DVD video player. I vote it as the most "underappreciated digital format/most short-lived" award. It was just getting off the ground when the big buzz surrounding the DVD-A multichannel disc format was heating up in 2000 and killed it off.
The Classic Records disc has a much more pleasant overall sound compared to the CD. The opening track is holographic sounding and you can easily hear the individual voices which make up the choir section as they harmonize. There are also some synthesizer and triangle or bell strikes that just hang in the air like they are real. It sounds awesome.
The kicker is that my cd player is no slouch. I have an Arcam FMJ cd-23 with the Ring-Dac, but my old Sony DVD carousel player from 1998 can handle 24/96 stereo without downconverting and output it via it's analog outputs. And I'll be damned but that 24/96 disc sounds better on the Sony vs. the redbook cd played on my Arcam!
I never understood why that format all but disappeared. In stereo, at least, I think you'd be hard pressed to really hear a huge improvement in sound going upmarket to SACD or DVD-A...and you don't even have to buy a new DVD player! JZ