Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture - TELARC - Kiev Symphony Chorus & Children's Choir, Greater Cincinnati.

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• published: 28 Mar 2011
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Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture, Op 49. Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. (Multichannel Hybrid SACD) [Hybrid SACD - DSD] First, let's start out by admitting this was meant to be a demo disc. Since the LP was invented, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture has been used to show how close audio reproduction is getting to "perfection" - whatever that is. This 6.0/5.1-channel SACD does not disappoint. The cannons are so realistic that my dog was arching her head to try to figure out where the sound was coming from (the only other time that happened was in the "barking" sequence of the remastered "Hey Bulldog"). Since cannons come out of all four corner speakers, it made quite an interesting scene. My multichannel SACD player directed the low bass to the LFE channel - make sure to set your bass management properly on your multichannel SACD player, such as the Sony SCD-CE775, before playing the disc. The equalization and levels are very consistent with other multichannel SACDs. The orchestra sounds very realistic, as you would expect with a multichannel SACD. The orchestral recording is designed to surround the listener rather than have discrete points, unlike the cannons. In addition to the 1812 Overture, the disc also contains a number of Tchaikovsky's other works. At the end of the multichannel SACD are 6 tracks of test tones for help in balancing the SACD player. I found the LFE track to be invaluable and better than the player's test tones. The voice used to introduce each tone is sure to bring a smile to any face. The reason the 1812 SACD is listed as a 6.0/5.1-channel disc is that the orchestral part of the disc contains an "upper center" channel output instead of LFE output. This really isn't a problem as long as the disc is played with the multichannel SACD player's bass management set properly and the subwoofer's (LFE) low pass filter is enabled. The test tones, however, are output in 5.1 channels, which allows the disc to setup a normal 5.1-channel system. If I had a choice I would have made the whole disc 5.1-channel to avoid confusion, but Telarc didn't ask me. The disc also contains a CD layer, for playing stereo output on a regular CD player. The multichannel SACD is easy to use, unlike DVD-Audio discs. The player's internal LED display shows the name of the disc and the name of each track as it is played. Basically, it works just like an enhanced CD. Overall, the multichannel SACD test tones would make this disc a must have by themselves. On top of that is some of the most realistic sounds yet available for the home audio system. A "must have"! Note : Some earlier version of this multichannel SACD may have been stereo only. The multichannel SACD has Telarc catalog number SACD-60541. Review by "ALK 'balparkvisitor'" - Houston, Texas. USA. http://www.amazon.com/Tchaikovsky-Overture-Kunzel-Cincinnati-Multichannel/dp/B00005AVNH/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid;=1301295374&sr;=8-1