Kevin Bresnahan

Please say you've heard surround sound on a good system and that you're not just riffing on a topic here, Jim. Truly, surround sound in a good system with good source material is simply phenomenal. If you've heard and disagree, I don't understand why. It's more "live" than stereo. As you say here, the world is not in stereo. Therefore, it makes sense that hearing a movie or music in surround would be more lifelike. I was skeptical, to say the least, when I first heard surround sound. The early movie soundtracks with surround used it purely for effects and many were simply gimmics. It's much more integrated with the movie today. As for "surround" music, it's really just the engineer working with the multi-track masters trying to plunk the listener down inside the recording session. In some cases, particualrly rock sessions, it works. In others, it might not. In either case, it's a lot more like being in the studio than two-track stereo. Even a "bad" multi-channel SACD of DVD-Audio disc sounds more like "you're there" than any stereo mix of the same session. Later, Kevin

I record in "S video" mode on my Mitsubishi S-VHS deck using standard VHS tapes and they look great. I never even knew they made "S-VHS" blanks. Good, high-quality VHS tapes are usually less than $1. DVD-RW blanks are usually more than that. As for the longevity of VHS tapes being "sucky", where do you find that information? I have VHS tapes that are 20 years old and they still play fine. I don't even see bleed through. I've never read of any problems with VHS tapes. If there are problems, I have some old wedding tapes that I'll have to back up quickly! Later, Kevin

Wanna know the funniest thing B3-er... these overly compressed CDs make the absolute crappiest mp3s you ever want to hear! If you think the CD sounds bad, rip it to mp3. I tried ripping my Hendrix remasters onto my PC at work. I can't listen to more than 1 tune and my head is pulsing, and not in a good way. Maybe this is why the record labels are doing this? Later, Kevin

Ted, there was a key-logger type of trojan virus a while ago that did something like this i.e. allow credit cards to be entered but nothing else. Have you run a virus scan and a spyware scan on your machine lately? I hope you don't have a key-logger app running on your PC... that would be a nightmare. Once again, I have to recommend Firefox. It's a better browser than Internet Explorer and it may solve all these problems. Kevin

Go out and buy a nice S-VHS machine. You should be able ot get a good one for around $80-120. In my opinion, the DVD recorders aren't worth the extra dough. The blank media is more expensive and the video quality isn't much better than S-VHS. DVD video is compressed video and if you use the recorder to maximize the amount of video you want to store, the quality goes way down. There's also a big question about longevity of the RW discs. A lot of people are having problems with compatability with older DVD players too. I've read a few comments on video boards of people who made the switch who wish they hadn't. FWIW, my sister insisted on going this route in December and asked me for advice. I did some research at the video forums ( www.avsforum.com and www.hometheaterspot.com ) and I recommended the Lite-on machine as the best bang-for-the-buck. It gets good reviews and is very inexpensive. If you want to give one a try, you should be able to find one for under $200. Later, Kevin

This coupon doesn't look right on my screen. Is this legit? I know there have been fake ones before. Kevin

I keep reading here and elsewhere on 'net about how today's CDs sound just as good as SACDs. Then I go over to Steve Hoffman's forum and see all these waveforms from modern remastered CDs and it looks like they're all getting clipped. Most of the threads over there talk about which version of a recording to get, and almost 100% of time, it's an old CD version because most of the new remasters suck. Jazz seems to be a bit more immune to this phenonema, but rock, forget about it. Almost every new release is "maxed out". U2's latest CD is so compressed it's almost painful to listen to. The latest Paul Simon remasters? All compressed. The same for the Jimi Hendrix remasters. Don't even look at the latest pop artist releases. My daughter's Simple Plan CD is painful to listen to even at low volumes. One look at the waveform and it's obvious as to why this is. Clipped to death. "But ours go to 11". While I agree that CD plaback can be stunning, I've gotten a lot more "dogs" on CD than I get with SACD or DVD-Audio. If the studios and remastering engineers continue to make CDs "at 11" on the dial, we will get more & more of these crappy-sounding CDs. It's going to get worse before it gets better. I feel that SACD and DVD-Audio as currently being issued, are better. Now, there's nothing saying that some clown can't remaster his next SACD all maxed out either. Later, Kevin

I find it funny that you're having problems with your browser application and it's somehow become yourmusic.com's fault. Many, many people have no problems at all with their website and the website's cookies. Most likely, you have either installed an internet security program that changed your browser's security settings or you have accidentally changed them yourself. Blaming yourmusic.com is wrong. BTW, a lot of people have successfully e-mailed them and many others have successfully "quit" their service using the links on the website. Try playing around with your browser settings or, better yet, if you haven't do so, download Mozilla Firefox and try that browser. You should be able to get out easy enough. Later, Kevin

I had accidentally started another thread on this topic but after doing a bit more research into this, specifically by looking at some of the lawsuits on file at the the US Patent and Trademark Office, I've decided to boycott their stuff. The thing that bugs me is that just before this came out, I had wired an entire home theater system for my in-laws with Monster Cable stuff. Splitters, interconnects, speaker wire... the whole thing. They appeared to be the "best" at BestBuy so I went with it. No more. If these guys want to sue the Chicago Bears for calling themselves "The Monsters of the Midway", or the Red Sox for calling the left field wall "The Green Monster" then I want nothing to do with their stuff. Go ahead, Monster Cable, sue Sesame Street for calling one of the characters "the Cookie Monster". Keep suing away. If enough people like me get sick of it, you'll be begging for the business. Later, Kevin

I love my home theater set-up. The sounds affects add to the realism of most scenes. When something on the screen goes around and the sound goes around, it makes feel like I'm there rather than watching as an observer. As for multi-channel audio, I have some great sounding SACDs and DVD-Audio discs. One of the most incredible I have is Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic". The intro to "Sweet Emotion" is amazing. To my ears, I can't believe how good this disc sounds. I feel like I'm in the studio with the band. Sounds are audible that disappear in the stereo mix. A triangle here, a rumble there... all kinds of sounds that I'd miss in stereo. Of course, to hear multi-channel audio the right way, you have to have very good speakers all around. You can't use flimsy little "surround speakers" in back or you will not get good audio. Done right, multi-channel audio is a aural treat. Yeah SACD and DVD-Audio seem to be dying out. That's too bad. I blame the buying public. They voted with their wallets and our audio will suffer for it. IMHO, as of right now, there is no better way to play back recorded music than these high resolution formats. If mp3 becomes the way we get music in the future, people will never know what good audio sounds like. Later, Kevin

I have listened to "Round About Roma" many times. In fact, I spun it over the Christmas holidays at my in-laws house. They're the smooth jazz fans that I gave it to. To my ears, and theirs, it sounds like a smooth jazz date. It does not sound like any "with strings" jazz date that I have. My favorite strings date is Stan Getz "Focus" but Art Pepper's "Winter Moon" is also up there. Cannonball's is a good one too... and no, I have to admit, I do not have Charlie Parker with strings. I should rectify that some day. EDIT - BTW, this does not mean that "Round About Roma" is "bad", it's just not my style. I like DiBattista's other US release and I will try to get his latest. Later, Kevin

I liked his first US release. Elvin Jones was a big reason why I liked it. I think "Round About Roma" sounds like "Kenny G with strings". I gave it away to a friend who likes smooth jazz. I'll have to be on the lookout for this one. Later, Kevin

What the heck happened Weizen? I thought you were saving this sealed set for posterity? Kevin

It appears that the $4.99 link has been altered by yourmusic.com to say $5.99. I guess you could still try E-mailing them to get you switched over as someone on the Steve Hoffman forum claims they did today. They are doing this switch so it's worth a try. Later, Kevin

I agree that the Black Lion stuff is great. I have all of it on CD. I wonder if this SACD could improve the sound? Well, I think I'm going to pass. The disc goes for almost $40 on ebay. I can buy a lot of other discs with that $40. Thanks everyone. Later, Kevin

Anyone know anything about this disc? I found this listing on line but even that doesn't say who plays on it other than Webster. AMG lists this title on the Jazz Hour label, which I always thought was a bootleg company over in Italy. This disc is supposedly being manufactured by Sony. Later, Kevin

I put that one in my recently started humor thread. In fact, in this thread, there is mention of a certain technique for removing the sticker that I try to clarify. You might appreciate it. Kevin

Someone on the Steve Hoffman forum e-mailed them the $4.99 link and asked to get switched over to the lower cost plan. They did it. So, give it a try. E-mail them the link and tell them you would like to be put into the $4.99 plan. BTW, I just got my first order today. Miles Davis "Complete Seven Steps" for less than $35... I just couldn't pass that up. I also got my first music queue shipment: Hill's "Dance With Death". Later, Kevin

Weizen, only one hefe-weiss? Nah, I wouldn't go there before I went to Ed Miller's Wirtshaus in Metheun. Ed pours about 6 or 7 hefes, depending on what he can get any week. The last time I was in there, I had a choice between Ayinger, Tucher, Weihenstephaner, Franziskaner, Julius Echter, Schneider-Weiss and Paulaner. BTW, have you ever used this website to find good German restaurants. I was surprised to find it. Seeing it list the Wirtshaus as well as my favorite, The Student Prince in Springfield, I'm going to have to investigate this more. Later, Kevin

I started watching this on NBC this weekend and I changed the channel. The plot seemed pretty thin and I just couldn't muster any interest. I suppose it could have gotten better but from what I saw, not much was there. Lots of sex scenes and implied (upcoming) sex scenes but other than that... I mean, c'mon, a world that's as advanced as we're supposed to believe doesn't have a video feed of the Cylons killing that general in the opening scene? They have no idea that the space station was destroyed? Bogus. As I said, I shut it off. Maybe later they figure it out, but what I expected after that opening scene was a cut over to an "all hands on deck" response on the Galactica. Instead, it switched over to a sappy ceremony and then a card game. Lame. Later, Kevin

Jeez, with all this talk of nasty chemicals, maybe I should look into a less toxic cleaning solution. I have to say, I never thought that D4 fluid smelled all that bad. In fact, it doesn't smell at all. I wonder if the Disc Doctor cleaning stuff is any better? Kevin

Over on the Vinyl Asylum (http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=...her+d4&session=), someone posted that there is a Discwasher patent on file that calls out this mixture: Sodium Azide = 0.004% Surfactant (most likely Triton X-114) = 0.025% Propylene Glycol = 0.01% to 0.075% (probably closer to the high end) IPA = Won't hurt to run the full 5% Distilled Water = quantity sufficient to add up to 100% Where IPA = Isopropyl Alcohol BTW, I should have searched this archive first... apparently, I'm not the only one looking for big containers of this stuff! Later, Kevin

http://homepage.mac.com/demark/tsunami These pictures will leave you speechless. The one of the island just makes my heart sink. The utter horror these people experienced for that instant before they died... I am so glad I am sitting here typing this. Later, Kevin

Nah, Bill, I already looked into a cleaner. Far too much money for the useage I'm gonna give it. I think I'll just stick to the Discwasher. I may look into a used Zerostat though. Any of you guys got one you want to sell or trade your old one for some CDs from my trade pile? As for other brushes and cleaners, I remember going through a phase where I investigated about 5 or 6 different brushes/cleaners and the Discwasher was the best to my ears. Later, Kevin

Nah, he's not into it, he's really, really into it! I should cut the guy some slack. As I mentioned on another thread somewhere, I have had 5 or 6 versions of "Blue Train". I can be pretty crazy about sound myself. But 18 copies of the same LP? Wow. Later, Kevin