Farm Aid on PBS - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

kixsand · 2003-12-08, 11:11 AM

On Saturday night PBS was airing wonderful HDTV footage and sound taken from the FarmAid concert. It was one of the best representations of the sight and sound possible with HDTV. It was magical. I don't know if they are going to be airing the concert again but if they do I would recommend it heartily.

Artists of note:

Willie Nelson -- he's so cool.
John Cougar -- with a terrific blues band.
Dave Matthews -- alone and accoustic
Neil Young -- rousing, high energy, feedback laden performance.
Sheryl Crow -- actually quite good live. I was impressed by her competency on bass as well as guitar -- she's the real deal.

Very good program.

Darren

57 · 2003-12-08, 11:33 AM

Yes, this show has been on for the past week or so at various times. It was also in DD5.1. I don't recall seeing it on this coming week as the Christmas specials seem to be taking over.

kixsand · 2003-12-08, 01:02 PM

I thought that the 5.1 was set up a bit strange. The center channel was very weak and they were sending a lot of sound to the rears.

It still sounded great though.

Darren

57 · 2003-12-08, 01:56 PM

I think a lot of producers/engineers are having difficulty deciding on how to set up DD5.1. Some people put way too much in the center channel, leaving almost nothing for the other 4/5/6 speakers to do. Others put way too much in the rears, so it sounds unnatural.

About the only DVDs I purchase are music DVDs (I rent movies). The music DVDs, if DD5.1, can sometimes be really irritating.

I recently bought Roy Orbison - Greatest Hits. The sound varied a lot from "mono" (center) to 5.1 with a lot from the rears. They discussed this in the liner notes saying they were trying to maintain the original "ambience" in the "mono-sounding" tracks while taking advantage of DD5.1 in others.

Some songs were really weird being close to "mono" for most of the song, until the crescendo, near the end of the song, when all hell broke loose. I'm glad they included this information in the liner notes, because I would have thought it was just poor mixing all the way through.... :wink:

They did a comparison of mono/DD5.1 on one of the tracks and this actually didn't sound bad.

Roy's DVD is also DTS. The DTS track was about 5dB louder than the DD5.1 track - not good for comparisons between the two. I almost like the DD2.0 track best for most of the songs.

JohnnyG · 2003-12-08, 03:27 PM

I've read that some sound engineers are 'afraid' of the center channel because many systems have weaker center channel speakers that were often added-on to a pair of front/left mains. It's silly of course...punish those with better audio systems?

2003-12-08, 11:11 AM	#1
kixsand Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Toronto Posts: 170	Farm Aid on PBS On Saturday night PBS was airing wonderful HDTV footage and sound taken from the FarmAid concert. It was one of the best representations of the sight and sound possible with HDTV. It was magical. I don't know if they are going to be airing the concert again but if they do I would recommend it heartily. Artists of note: Willie Nelson -- he's so cool. John Cougar -- with a terrific blues band. Dave Matthews -- alone and accoustic Neil Young -- rousing, high energy, feedback laden performance. Sheryl Crow -- actually quite good live. I was impressed by her competency on bass as well as guitar -- she's the real deal. Very good program. Darren

2003-12-08, 11:33 AM	#2
57 Moderator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Toronto, Rogers, 8300HD, eHDD, Panasonic TCP65S1, Denon AVR4310Ci; 8300HD, eHDD & Sony KDL40W3000 Posts: 50,302	Yes, this show has been on for the past week or so at various times. It was also in DD5.1. I don't recall seeing it on this coming week as the Christmas specials seem to be taking over. __________________ 57's Home Theatre (Latest equipment & photos) 57's Optimization Services (Home Theatre Optimization)

2003-12-08, 01:02 PM	#3
kixsand Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Toronto Posts: 170	Farmaid I thought that the 5.1 was set up a bit strange. The center channel was very weak and they were sending a lot of sound to the rears. It still sounded great though. Darren

2003-12-08, 01:56 PM	#4
57 Moderator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Toronto, Rogers, 8300HD, eHDD, Panasonic TCP65S1, Denon AVR4310Ci; 8300HD, eHDD & Sony KDL40W3000 Posts: 50,302	I think a lot of producers/engineers are having difficulty deciding on how to set up DD5.1. Some people put way too much in the center channel, leaving almost nothing for the other 4/5/6 speakers to do. Others put way too much in the rears, so it sounds unnatural. About the only DVDs I purchase are music DVDs (I rent movies). The music DVDs, if DD5.1, can sometimes be really irritating. I recently bought Roy Orbison - Greatest Hits. The sound varied a lot from "mono" (center) to 5.1 with a lot from the rears. They discussed this in the liner notes saying they were trying to maintain the original "ambience" in the "mono-sounding" tracks while taking advantage of DD5.1 in others. Some songs were really weird being close to "mono" for most of the song, until the crescendo, near the end of the song, when all hell broke loose. I'm glad they included this information in the liner notes, because I would have thought it was just poor mixing all the way through.... :wink: They did a comparison of mono/DD5.1 on one of the tracks and this actually didn't sound bad. Roy's DVD is also DTS. The DTS track was about 5dB louder than the DD5.1 track - not good for comparisons between the two. I almost like the DD2.0 track best for most of the songs. __________________ 57's Home Theatre (Latest equipment & photos) 57's Optimization Services (Home Theatre Optimization)

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2003-12-08, 03:27 PM	#5
JohnnyG Veteran Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: North York, Ontario Posts: 10,407	I've read that some sound engineers are 'afraid' of the center channel because many systems have weaker center channel speakers that were often added-on to a pair of front/left mains. It's silly of course...punish those with better audio systems?