Track Listing

1. O Tannenbaum
2. What Child Is This?
3. My Little Drum
4. Linus and Lucy
5. Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental)
6. Christmas Time is Here (Vocal Version)
7. Skating
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9. Christmas Is Coming
10. Fur Elise
11. Christmas Song
12. Greensleeves

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29460 in Music
• Brand: Monster
• Model: MMU 44172 RPL-10
• Released on: 2007-08-02
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Soundtrack
• Dimensions: .50" h x 5.00" w x 5.50" l, .30 pounds

Features

• High definition surround sound with "On Stage Jazz Club", "On Stage Concert Hall" and "Front Row" surround feature experiences
• Digital music files encoded with Dolby® music files that simulate surround sound through any pair of headphones
• Each track has been remixed and audiophile mastered for a "live" experience

Album Description
3 Different Surround Mixes to Choose From

Here are three unique surround experiences remixed from the original 1965 masters. You can select the "On Stage Concert Hall" surround mix and hear what it would be like to be onstage with Vince Guaraldi, with a larger-than-life orchestral sound. And you can also hear the trio in a small piano bar by selecting the "Jazz Club" mix, or experience them from the front row of Carnegie Hall with the "Front Row" surround mix.

A Charlie Brown Christmas has been released many times, but never before have they been remixed from the original masters. Head Monster Noel Lee and star producer John Burk lifted them from the vaults so they could work with the original tape. The only problem was that they were recorded on 3-track, which was a fleeting format that only lasted a few years in the early sixties. Once the rare 3-track analog masters were located and we had secured a 3-track tape head, they were converted into PCM digital audio at 96k/24bit.

Then we simulated a home theater environment in the mixing studio. Stephen Hart, John Burk and Noel Lee worked on Pro Tools HD within the matrix of a surround field of Monster THX speakers driven by a 5-channel Monster Power amp. The result is breathtaking. You can practically hear the bristles on the brushes of drummer, Jerry Granelli. You can hear Guaraldi happily tapping on his grand piano and imagine the honest smile beneath his famous mustache. This SuperDisc also includes the original stereo recording for your CD player.

More About Vince Guaraldi

It just isn’t Christmas without Schroeder sitting on the floor, crouched over his miniature piano, playing the tune he named after his neighborhood pals. "Linus and Lucy" is one of the most recognizable jazz standards of all time. It has been covered by artists as diverse as Oscar Peterson and Steve Vai, and is indelibly connected to the life and work of Charles Schulz.

From the Artist
More About Monster Superdiscs

SuperDisc plays music in High Definition Surround™ (HDS™) and works with any DVD player. Every SuperDisc recording has been carefully remixed and remastered to bring out the best performance possible from today’s home theater and car stereo systems. You’ll hear more clarity, punch, dynamics and vocal presence than the regular CD. SuperDisc also includes high definition digital music files. Encoded directly from the master recordings at the highest resolution possible these digital music files will sound better than if you "ripped" the music from the CD yourself.

Monster Music Delivers A Surround Experience Even When You Don't Have A Surround Sound System.
Also included on your SuperDisc are digital music files specially encoded in Dolby® Headphone surround. This new technology makes it possible to get a virtual surround sound experience from ANY pair of headphones on any portable music player, including Apple® iPod®.

THX™ Certified
Audio quality, multiple surround mixes—even the digital music files have been THX certifed for high-quality sound.

What Else is on the Disc?
• Home Theater Performance Tips: Get the best performance possible.
• THX Optimizer: Easy calibration for your system.

Tech Notes
• Superdiscs are not DVD Audio discs, they are compatible with any DVD player.
• Surround audio encoded in Dolby Digital(448kbps) and DTS 96/24 (1.5Mbps)
• Digital Music Files: WMA (192Kbps), AAC (320Kbps),

About the Artist
Charles Schulz was in a San Francisco taxi when he first heard the Vince Guaraldi Trio. The playful jazz melodies and light, allegro tempo seemed the perfect accompaniment to a documentary he was calling A Boy Named Charlie Brown. The performance he heard was a live broadcast from a local nightclub. Schulz demanded to be driven directly to the club. He told Guaraldi about the pilot for a documentary and asked if he would be interested in collaborating. The San Francisco native known as Dr. Funk had already achieved great success with the Grammy-winning single, "Cast Your Fate To The Wind." He liked the idea and composed what was originally called "Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown." In 1965 Schulz suggested that he do a Christmas album. The trio consisted of Fred Marshall on bass and Jerry Granelli on drums, they recorded in a San Francisco studio in 1965. Those recordings became the soundtrack for the classic television special A Charlie Brown Christmas and one of the most popular holiday albums of all time.

Customer Reviews

CD included is NOT the remastered version
Well, I've ended up purchasing both of the new releases of the original Charlie Brown Christmas music: this one (the DVD/CD release) and also the remastered version just on CD (with the yellow background cell artwork on the cover).

On this release, you get a DVD and a CD. For some reason, the CD included is NOT the remastered stereo version. It appears to be just a reissue of the original Fantasy Records release on CD. Without the remastering, the sound is brighter, but also much noisier. Some, however, seem to prefer the original, especially if it's what they grew up listening to.

The DVD, on the other hand, has the new, beautifully remastered (some would say re-mixed) versions, in a variety of surround formats, etc. I haven't played them on a surround system, but even just listening to the high-definition stereo tracks through headphones was truly wonderful. Oddly, the songs are not in the same order as on the original release.

Now, about the digital sound files that are included on this DVD for your iPod. The liner notes claim that these files provide a better sound than if you were to rip them from the CD yourself. Well, this is true if you just take the CD that came with this package and rip the files -- because you are then comparing the original release with the remastered version.

Not good enough.

So I went back to the store and bought the remastered CD, and ripped those to iTunes using the Apple Lossless conversion. The result? The files that I ripped myself have about twice the bit rate as the ones provided on the DVD here. They don't sound "twice as good," but on good headphones they do sound clearer, more distinct, and more alive than the pre-made versions on the DVD. Musically, they appear to be identical in terms of the take, the mix, etc. (I haven't confirmed this for every single track).

It's a bit misleading that on the back of the package, this DVD/CD release mentions compatibility with "Apple Lossless," as if they had provided digital files already encoded for you in Apple Lossless. They have not. The files provided have a bit rate of 320 kbps, less than half the bit rate of the Apple Lossles files I ended up ripping from the remastered CD release.

Overall, I'm certainly not sorry I purchased this DVD/CD package, or the remastered CD. The remastered CD is great for the car or office, and provided the best files for my iPod. This DVD, on the other hand, is great for a home theater or DVD-based audio system that can take advantage of the surround and/or hi-definition stereo, and hey, it includes the original recording on CD as a bonus!

I would call this a 5-star release, but I am deducting one star just because of the lack of clarity and slight misrepresentation in the packaging about what's included. I applaud Monster Music for the job they have done with these recordings, but they should know that people who invest in these sorts of releases would like to have as much ACCURATE information as possible about what they are buying.

Charlie Brown in surround!
'm really quite pleased with this SuperDisc release. The surround sound is fantastic with three different versions of sound you can listen to in either Dolby Digital or DTS. While the extra cd soundtrack isn't the "remastered" edition, it definitely has a much enhanced stereo sound compared to the original late 90's Fantasy release (in which I compared both). I'm extremely happy with this purchase and suggest any fan of this music to get it.

Better Than Ever...
This was amazing-it is hard to believe that they have never gone back to the original session tapes and remixed this before now. It is just like they are in the room with you with Vince spread across the front channels and the drums and bass coming from the rear. A real must for all fans!