John McEuen & Jimmy Ibbotson - Nitty Gritty Surround

Rating:
Summary: If you only buy one DVD in your life, this is the one
Review: After listening to the music of John McEuen for 35 years, I have learned that it just continues to get better with each concert and with each recording. When I purchased the DVD, I did not have the capability to listen to the 5.1 surround sound. I admit it sounded great. However, I actually purchased the equipment for 5.1 just to listen to this DVD at its best. It was well worth the money. The sound in unbeatable. Jim Ibbotson is terrific, maybe at his best. The multiple camera angles are a great feature, as well as the interviews. It is great to see John and Ibby team up with the String Wizards. My recommendation is to buy everything that is associated with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John McEuen, Jim Ibbotson and Jonathan McEuen. However, start by buying two copies of this DVD - you will certainly wear one out from repeated use (yes, I have two myself). My only frustration is that I cannot find the words to convey how great this DVD really is.

Rating:
Summary: McEuen and Ibbotson play it great with new DVD
Review: John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson, both former members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, release a collection of great music on this new DVD. Along with Jennifer Warnes and other fellow musicians, this DVD takes us back to a time when music was simpler, and yet, had so much more meaning. McEuen starts it off with "Miner's Night Out", a song that evokes images of 19th Century Gold miners in a small, Rocky Mountain town, whooping it up after a hard day's work. The instrumental wizardry displayed in this song is only a hint of things to come. Jenniffer Warnes gets ample opportunities to show off her fabulous vocal range, and her duet with Jimmy Ibbotson on "Darcy Farrow" is nothing short of beautiful. Another Ibbotson original, titled "Its Morning", is a true example of Island serenity. As for John McEuen and his instrumental duties, only one word can be used to describe this Jazz/Bluegrass master-WOW!! Very much worth watching are the extras that come with the disk. The interviews, rehearsals, and humour that come with all this is priceless. Having nothing bad to say about this disk, I fully reccommend "Nitty Gritty Surround" to any acoustic music fan. Too bad that more music can't be released like this, these days.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing DVD!!!
Review: This DVD is great! John McEuen and Jimmy Ibbotson sound amazing at the historic fox theatre in Hanford, California. It is a must buy!

Rating:
Summary: The Pet Sounds/Sgt Peppers of DVD's!
Review: This DVD is the panicle of DVD's, a Pet Sounds/Sgt Peppers of DVD's to come. It is loaded with information from a complete breakdown of the theatre it was recorded in to the equipment used for the recording. 3 (really 2) different camera views, close and regular, then the song title (?). One side of the disc is Video and the other side Audio only with PCM or Dolby Digital choices. (I can find no audio difference between these two sides, other than DTS is missing on the Audio side). Bio's, Interviews, Rehearsal Footage, Photos, Web connection, System Set Up and Check Info and a How To Use This Disc section are packed on this DVD. Now this is NOT a concert but a VIDEO reenactment of the album, I think an album was recorded first, maybe not. It is recorded on stage at a Fox theater (again no audience or applaud, so no need to turn this down in-between each song) in a circle fashion with no audio monitors, just each great musician to feed and hear off of one another by looking at one another. AIX is the outfit that makes this state of the art recording possible and they really out do their selves here. Choose between Dolby Digital stage mix or DTS audience mix or the fall back audio track in 2 track PCM stereo. If you do not have DD or DTS then you do this disc no justice. The audio is recorded in 96 kHz vs CD's at 44.1 kHz or MP3 at a usual 128k kHz, other words as little compression is used as possible. Thus making this the clearest cleanest audio DVD musical/concert in my huge collection, yes, even better (audio wise) than the almighty Eagles: Hell Freezes Over. I would be willing to bet any DVD put out by the AIX Media Group will blow all others away, again audio wise. This is not a concert so some excitement is missing, but the quality creates all the excitement I need over a screaming loud audience. Now, if they can just do both, a live concert and this studio stage format concert, on one DVD! If they can I'd give it 6 Stars!

Rating:
Summary: The Pet Sounds/Sgt Peppers of DVD's!
Review: This DVD is the panicle of DVD's, a Pet Sounds/Sgt Peppers of DVD's to come. It is loaded with information from a complete breakdown of the theatre it was recorded in to the equipment used for the recording. 3 (really 2) different camera views, close and regular, then the song title (?). One side of the disc is Video and the other side Audio only with PCM or Dolby Digital choices. (I can find no audio difference between these two sides, other than DTS is missing on the Audio side). Bio's, Interviews, Rehearsal Footage, Photos, Web connection, System Set Up and Check Info and a How To Use This Disc section are packed on this DVD. Now this is NOT a concert but a VIDEO reenactment of the album, I think an album was recorded first, maybe not. It is recorded on stage at a Fox theater (again no audience or applaud, so no need to turn this down in-between each song) in a circle fashion with no audio monitors, just each great musician to feed and hear off of one another by looking at one another. AIX is the outfit that makes this state of the art recording possible and they really out do their selves here. Choose between Dolby Digital stage mix or DTS audience mix or the fall back audio track in 2 track PCM stereo. If you do not have DD or DTS then you do this disc no justice. The audio is recorded in 96 kHz vs CD's at 44.1 kHz or MP3 at a usual 128k kHz, other words as little compression is used as possible. Thus making this the clearest cleanest audio DVD musical/concert in my huge collection, yes, even better (audio wise) than the almighty Eagles: Hell Freezes Over. I would be willing to bet any DVD put out by the AIX Media Group will blow all others away, again audio wise. This is not a concert so some excitement is missing, but the quality creates all the excitement I need over a screaming loud audience. Now, if they can just do both, a live concert and this studio stage format concert, on one DVD! If they can I'd give it 6 Stars!

Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: This is a fantastic display of songwriting...musical talent and creativity...I highly recommend it...especially for Cirle I,II and III fans.

Rating:
Summary: High quality
Review: This is folk music with a touch of country and Irish folk. None of the musicians or singers grand stand. They are mindful of each other and play well together as a team. As a result you have a well balanced group with a good selection of music that is performed very well. The separation of the 6 discreet channels is adequate and certainly complements a good home theater system with properly positioned and phased speakers. www.aixrecords.com sells this album and they are geared towards high end sound systems. They use stereo mic combinations for each musician and I think they should use one mic for each musician. They intend to capture the acoustics of the stage but then those acoustics are added to the acoustics of your own home theater environment. This is about as good as it gets on the market at present for showing off the quality of your sound system if you have 5 discreet channels plus a bass channel. The bass channel is subtle like everything else and adds depth. The album has stereo, Dolby 5.1 and DVD-Audio. DVD-Audio is the best but the Dolby 5.1 with video is also great. The video has 3 angles.