DO NOT SNORE! DO NOT CLICK AWAY! WAIT A SECOND AND READ THIS!
Hopefully you've not clicked away bored to tears at the thought of a Classical music Laserdisc review. That would be stupid. Why? Because this thing is bloody good!
I've always been curious about classical and opera Laserdiscs. Originally priced at sums even the likes of Zimbabwe's rate of inflation would lose sleep at night over, these were discs prized by audiophiles, architects, geography teachers, fields medal winners, Ivy League math students and Powerball lottery winners. Requiring incomprehensibly complex and terrifyingly, willy-wavingly expensive equipment, the kind that would make grown adults wince at the cost but be more utterly terrified of how to sneak it in to their homes and ultimately justify the sudden appearance of new gadgets to their wives/significant others.
I've always thought that these discs would solely feature an over-excited conductor, an orchestra, some posh folks in the audience and a commentary track recorded by a bunch of ageing, chronically overweight history lecturers all pulling the stomachs off of themselves over inaccuracies in the notations and manuscripts; and if the sound is being accurately reproduced like it would be on an 18th century harpsichord or a 14th century triangle and so on...
How wrong I was.
This disc is an absolute WHOPPER.
For starters, it comes on one of those really fancy looking GOLD Philips video disc things. After flipping open the luxurious, outrageously posh gatefold packaging, revealing lots of 'New York Times-looking' typeface and a separate paper insert with said typeface on it that looks full of self-importance, you then carefully slide out your shiny new disc only to be greeted with utter dismay at the absolutely appalling condition it's in. Thanks to these discs being packed with more rot than any apple Snow White ever bit in to.
You trudge slowly, face dragging across the floor, to your Laserdisc player. Filled with doom and gloom at both the sorry condition of your disc and the impending tedium your about to unleash on yourself for the next hour or so. Your only comfort being the very expensive equipment you've surrounded yourself in to shield you from the everyday scorn of your wife/significant other.
And then....it happens.
An overwhelming sense of......... WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL IS THIS!??......... suddenly overcomes your entire being.
Some bloke dressed as a highwayman arrives dutifully on the screen, steering a cart and a couple of good looking horses (referring to the steeds pulling the cart, not the hot renaissance chicks in the cart). This is interspersed between lustful, luxurious panning shots of forest trees and the gentle patter of horseshoes clip-clopping their way down a muddy forest path to some outrageously expensive stately home for posh people (and history lecturers).
Then it cuts away to a few rum-looking blokes playing violins enthusiastically, then back to the posh horse scenario thing. Anyway, this happens for a bit until the director gets off his high horse and DOUBLE'S DOWN on the posh factor! It's about to get seriously POSH! HOLD ON TIGHT!
So anyway, we cut back and forth between the violin history lecturer blokes and what it cuts to is absolutely extraordinary and is what makes this disc absolutely worthwhile.
I don't know about you, but I don't mind watching a bit of How It's Made on the Discovery Channel. I think there are similar things on social media, tagged Oddly Satisfying or something like that. And this is precisely what this bizarre feature film is. Between the cutaways of posh renaissance-period folks in mansions, highwaymen, shire horses and history teachers pulling the stomachs off of themselves, the viewer is treated to the most wanton, lustful, extraordinarily satisfying montages of stuff being made. It's all classical music related stuff and it's all very hypnotic and super satisfying to watch.
First up is a sheet music parchment being transferred to a hand-carved steel print press. The carving process is an extremely skilled process that produces exquisite results. With Beethoven's 5th or whatever it is that is playing in the background, it puts the viewer in a gripping, phantasmic trance state. The kind only an exorcist would be able to cast you out of.
Next you have a violin being hand carved by this woman who is an absolute master at woodworking. Again, the music bumps along at a mighty pace and all the while the viewer is treated to what can only be described as woodworking pornography. The only thing missing are money shots of a water-lubed lathe and maybe a half opened tin of Cuprinol.
This continues until the music fades and this magnificent production reaches it's glorious climax, shoots it's load and fades to black in a glorious crescendo of violins, cymbals and woodwind. Hunched over in paralysis betwixt a grip of musical tension and hobby handcraft exhaustion.
The most surprising aspect of this entire endeavor is the quality of the disc itself. I was expecting it to be in bits after revealing a gold disc that looked smeared in my wife's mascara. The video quality was absolutely top notch but the real star was the audio, which I expected would be utterly shambolic. It wasn't. The sound quality is absolutely tremendous, up there with some of the superstars in my petite Laserdisc collection. I'm going to do a capture of the disc fairly sharpish before it decides to rot in to oblivion.
This disc is an absolute whopper. A genuine surprise. It only cost me 49p (about 50 cents) too. Highly recommended. Get on to eBay, phone your Grandpa or your nearest Geography teacher and go get yourself a copy of this absolute wonder immediately. NOW. HURRY UP!
Just looked at your signature there and note that like me, you too, own the beautiful, nay, magisterial Sun Goddess that is, the Pioneer CLD-D925.
A beautiful example of Laserdisc style and luxury for the truly discerning, champagne and Concorde jet-setting audiovisual maniac. Don't mind that other yoke you have, the X9 thing.
I played this disc on my CLD-D925 and was literally bathing in a Timotei commercial of sound and picture quality wonderment. Like the A-Team, if you can't find a copy, and nobody else can help, someone is selling it on LDDB but it's $15. Factor in shipping to the UK from the USA and you're looking at the best part of $15,000 plus window tax, swamp insurance and stamp duty to get a copy safely to your door.
Even then, given the notorious record of these CDV things and their love of disc rot, your $15,000 + Tax Laserdisc purchase may turn out to be an absolute pig. Buy with caution chief.
Just looked at your signature there and note that like me, you too, own the beautiful, nay, magisterial Sun Goddess that is, the Pioneer CLD-D925.
A beautiful example of Laserdisc style and luxury for the truly discerning, champagne and Concorde jet-setting audiovisual maniac. Don't mind that other yoke you have, the X9 thing.
I played this disc on my CLD-D925 and was literally bathing in a Timotei commercial of sound and picture quality wonderment. Like the A-Team, if you can't find a copy, and nobody else can help, someone is selling it on LDDB but it's $15. Factor in shipping to the UK from the USA and you're looking at the best part of $15,000 plus window tax, swamp insurance and stamp duty to get a copy safely to your door.
Even then, given the notorious record of these CDV things and their love of disc rot, your $15,000 + Tax Laserdisc purchase may turn out to be an absolute pig. Buy with caution chief.
Regarding the 925....oh yes and don't you just love the way the expensive luxurious plastic facia creaks & squeaks should you wish to push the front power button of a machine so light that the whole player almost moves aswell lol! What did we European PAL nations do to deserve this as our high end player especially as a replacement for the previous far superior build 2950? Jeez Americans & Japanese etc. really don't know they are born
Anyway your post really cracked me up when I first read it (infact still got a smile on my face) but it's also got me drooling too about this disc, although noting your words of warning I'm presuming its one PDO UKs finest so just wondering if there is a US or Japan release of this also?
Regarding the 925....oh yes and don't you just love the way the expensive luxurious plastic facia creaks & squeaks should you wish to push the front power button of a machine so light that the whole player almost moves aswell lol! What did we European PAL nations do to deserve this as our high end player especially as a replacement for the previous far superior build 2950? Jeez Americans & Japanese etc. really don't know they are born
Anyway your post really cracked me up when I first read it (infact still got a smile on my face) but it's also got me drooling too about this disc, although noting your words of warning I'm presuming its one PDO UKs finest so just wondering if there is a US or Japan release of this also?
Regards, Steve.
Ah here now come on! I love my CLD-D925! I bought it back in 2013 and it was like new, fully boxed with paperwork etc. She's my treasure, my sole link to the world of Laserdisc! With that said a 919E would take it's place in a heartbeat but I cover my CLD-D925's AV ports whenever I contemplate the 919E out loud.
I don't think this whopper classical disc received a USA release (unless someone else can verify?). These things are genuinely not my thing. I have one other one in my collection by this eccentric bloke who made a classical album and then dragged an ensemble out to the Grand Canyon to shoot a feature length film for his magnum musical opus! It's in my collection, look up the name in there somewhere.
I love weird crap like that. You wouldn't see the likes of it made today.
Regarding this disc, I think I maybe got lucky that the disc was in such good playback condition (physically it doesn't look so great, which baffles me how it plays back so well). The sound on this thing though is truly tremendous and made my little AV setup actually sing.
There's a slightly odd looking chap who's a cross between that Dr. Whatshisname who does the Nintendo Brain Training games and a serial killer. He plays the cello with the other 3 chaps in their 'Be Sharps' quartet of geography teachers. His cello actually made my subwoofer gurgle and burble rather handsomely. If anything this disc is a testament to how good Laserdisc audio actually was. Well, it blew my socks off anyway, but I'm easily pleased.
Ah here now come on! I love my CLD-D925! I bought it back in 2013 and it was like new, fully boxed with paperwork etc. She's my treasure, my sole link to the world of Laserdisc! With that said a 919E would take it's place in a heartbeat but I cover my CLD-D925's AV ports whenever I contemplate the 919E out loud.
The 919E is an interesting player but the 925 without doubt is a better LD player.
The LD playback on the 919E gives a notably softer image on screen, the 925 is so much sharper.
I have had a few players over the years & the 925 really stands out, it does everything required of it well.
I cannot stretch to the so called high end players but I have seen some in action & to my eyes the 925 stood up to them well - talking about the playback & not the build quality.
Regarding the 925....oh yes and don't you just love the way the expensive luxurious plastic facia creaks & squeaks should you wish to push the front power button of a machine so light that the whole player almost moves aswell lol! What did we European PAL nations do to deserve this as our high end player especially as a replacement for the previous far superior build 2950? Jeez Americans & Japanese etc. really don't know they are born
Anyway your post really cracked me up when I first read it (infact still got a smile on my face) but it's also got me drooling too about this disc, although noting your words of warning I'm presuming its one PDO UKs finest so just wondering if there is a US or Japan release of this also?
Regards, Steve.
Ah here now come on! I love my CLD-D925! I bought it back in 2013 and it was like new, fully boxed with paperwork etc. She's my treasure, my sole link to the world of Laserdisc! With that said a 919E would take it's place in a heartbeat but I cover my CLD-D925's AV ports whenever I contemplate the 919E out loud.
I don't think this whopper classical disc received a USA release (unless someone else can verify?). These things are genuinely not my thing. I have one other one in my collection by this eccentric bloke who made a classical album and then dragged an ensemble out to the Grand Canyon to shoot a feature length film for his magnum musical opus! It's in my collection, look up the name in there somewhere.
I love weird crap like that. You wouldn't see the likes of it made today.
Regarding this disc, I think I maybe got lucky that the disc was in such good playback condition (physically it doesn't look so great, which baffles me how it plays back so well). The sound on this thing though is truly tremendous and made my little AV setup actually sing.
There's a slightly odd looking chap who's a cross between that Dr. Whatshisname who does the Nintendo Brain Training games and a serial killer. He plays the cello with the other 3 chaps in their 'Be Sharps' quartet of geography teachers. His cello actually made my subwoofer gurgle and burble rather handsomely. If anything this disc is a testament to how good Laserdisc audio actually was. Well, it blew my socks off anyway, but I'm easily pleased.
Ah, was only joking regarding the 925 (build quality aside) I've had this one for around ten years now and it's never put a foot wrong tbh, kept another one as back up until about a year ago but sold it on. Would love to get hold of another 2950 the player that introduced me to the format back in 1995 which was purchased brand new, it had a smoother less digital looking image than the 925 although perhaps a tad softer which I think is my preference. Anyway Ted with the way you've been banging on about this classical CD Video disc any potential seller will by now be hiking its asking price to T2 Squeezed THX version insane levels no doubt! Well done you
Ah here now come on! I love my CLD-D925! I bought it back in 2013 and it was like new, fully boxed with paperwork etc. She's my treasure, my sole link to the world of Laserdisc! With that said a 919E would take it's place in a heartbeat but I cover my CLD-D925's AV ports whenever I contemplate the 919E out loud.
The 919E is an interesting player but the 925 without doubt is a better LD player.
The LD playback on the 919E gives a notably softer image on screen, the 925 is so much sharper.
I have had a few players over the years & the 925 really stands out, it does everything required of it well.
I cannot stretch to the so called high end players but I have seen some in action & to my eyes the 925 stood up to them well - talking about the playback & not the build quality.
Cheers
Yes, I can remember reading an in depth review back in the day for the 919. From memory I recall it being mentioned that the image appeared softer than the 925, and I may be wrong here but did I recall it saying the machine defaults to its so called HQ circuit which as any 925 owner would know when engaged on that deck results in a severely softened image. I think on the test bench the 925 has never measured up too well at all, but subjectively it's performance is somewhat more satisfactory.
I think classical music discs are really cool. I enjoy them very much. Often the video has this “converted from PAL” look but sonically you’re usually in for a good time.
_________________ All about LD care, inner sleeves, shrink wrap, etc.
Ah thanks! One of the few pieces of British comedy I appreciated. I was thinking Pete's Dragon we got a bill of sale or Sandler in the Waterboy or something, but I knew I knew it, haven't watched Blackadder since i was 12 tho.
Like I said your posts are so funny. Are you a professional writer?
_________________ SONY MDP-355GX, DVDO iscan VP50, SONY KVHR-M36
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum