News

Monster Cable has begun shipping a new series of "SuperDiscs"—specially remastered, limited edition CD/DVD combinations and special release DVDs—designed to excite audio consumers about high-quality multichannel music possibilities.

There will be two types of SuperDiscs: single DVD-Video releases and CD/DVD-V packages. All of the DVD releases will include 96kHz/24-bit PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS 96/24 5.1, and some will also offer alternate surround mixes, full-length music videos, interviews, concert footage, and set-up instructions.

The DVDs also feature uncompressed, in the clear .WMA and .AIF formats. Monster also says the .WMA and .AIF tracks will be encoded in surround and in Dolby Headphone, "so that listeners can enjoy a virtual surround experience through headphones when the tracks are transferred to a portable device."

The CD/DVD-V combination was chosen instead of the DualDisc format because of compatibility issues with some players, due to the thickness of DualDiscs. Another vexatious compatibility issue was sidestepped by having the DVDs default to Dolby Digital playback after a brief countdown—thus eliminating the need to activate a display device every time a consumer wants to play the disc. Consumers with displays activated can navigate through the disc menu with their remotes, of course, including choosing between several concert "angles," such as "onstage" and "in the audience."

Noel Lee, the "head Monster," personally conducted many of the interview segments on the DVDs and narrates the set-up tips. Lee decided that Monster had to get involved in software distribution because "the failure of surround-sound music has been the lack of ability to demonstrate [it]." Lee dismissed most concert DVDs' unimpressive sound, saying that audio engineers "put very little information in the surround channels, but with Monster Music, it's five channels all the time."

Perhaps a little too much so for some listeners; nevertheless we were impressed with the "on stage" mix of both Three Doors Down’s Away From The Sun and especially Peter Cincotti's Live In New York. The CD/DVD combos were more to our taste—especially the CD mixes for Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company, 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas, the Vince Guaraldi Trio's A Charlie Brown Christmas. Prices range from $19.98 to $24.98.