Search - ROMANTIC MOMENTS WITH BEETHOVEN on DVD

Surround Sensation

Christopher Bechtel | Virginia Beach, VA | 11/20/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a very nice album. The video content is nothing to write home about, but I appreciate the effort. The choice for viewing the program notes however is a nice extra touch. The disc also includes a simple set-up feature for adjusting speaker levels. Most surround systems and some DVD's include pink noise for this purpose, but this disc also includes other tones and isolated voice and instrument choices to judge volume. These extra choices were easier for me to judge volume with than pink noise. The surround experience is amazing. I was expecting mainly ambience/reverb from the surrounds, but what I got was actually a seat in the middle of the orchestra. The sound imaging is wonderful. Being able to localize the various instruments and sections of instruments in 3D space opens up the music in ways that no stereo recording ever could. Even a piece such as the "moonlight" sonata, performed by solo piano benefits from the surround recording. I was however surprised to find that the Dolby Digital track was better than the DTS version (both are included on the same disc). The DTS track was weak in bass and in my opinion sounded too "digital." This is a first for me as I've always preferred DTS over DD. I definitely reccomend this to those who appreciate the genius of Beethoven and the beauty of surround sound."