Customer Reviews

NIV Audio Bible New Testament Dramatized CD

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Consisting of 16 audio CDs in plastic sleeves in a zippered box, here you have the entire text of the NIV New Testament in audio format. A brief overview of the strengths, weaknesses, and benefits of this great product:

Strengths:
1. Overall it is very respectful.
2. The voices are generally not overly dramatic, and yet sufficiently expressive.
3. The voices are very clear and pleasant to listen to.
4. The music and sounds are mostly calm, appropriate and respectful.
5. Using different voices for different speakers enhances the hearing of the text and the listening experience.
6. There are different narrators for different Bible books, giving some variety in style.
7. The text is exactly the NIV text, word for word.
8. There are helpful brief introductions to each Bible book.
9. Each chapter is on a separate track, so it is easy to select which chapter to listen to.

Weaknesses:
1. The sounds and music are sometimes overly dramatized, occasionally detracting from the Biblical text.
2. The decision as to which voices should be used is sometimes subjective and interpretive. To be fair, the audio Bible simply follows the interpretation suggested in the headings of the NIV translation, so this is more of an issue with the translation, not the recording.
3. Although the chapters that are on each CD are printed on the CD itself, an additional booklet with this information would be helpful.
4. Some Bible books are read somewhat too fast by the narrator.
5. This product only contains the New Testament, and the package containing both Old and New Testament is not significantly more expensive.

Benefits:
1. You can listen to it while you are travelling or are busy doing other things.
2. You notice things in the Bible that you overlook when you are reading it.
3. You don't need the energy to absorb the Biblical text, unlike reading.
4. You can easily listen to several chapters at a time, or a whole book.
5. Children love listening to the familiar Bible stories - straight from God's Word

Our family has benefited immensely from this product, and you are sure to find the same! However, be aware that this particular product only contains the New Testament (16 CDs). Zondervan also offers the entire Bible in 64 CDs, which for the little extra money is much better value because it includes the whole Old Testament as well as this New Testament. Purchasers would do well to consider spending a bit more and getting the complete version, since the quality of the Old Testament production nearly matches that of the New. Very highly recommended!

I was totally blown away by this recording! The narration is superbly done (whoever does it) and so easy on the ears you might forget you're listening to it and find yourself "re-living" it--much like radio listeners of the past once did. The quality of the recording is top notch. There is music made specifically for this recording but it doesn't start and stop in odd places as some audio Bibles do and it doesn't blare up from the background to distract you from what is being read. It is perfectly complimentary to the reading and you forget it's there . . . but wouldn't if it dissappeared! And if that weren't enough the producers have added introductions to each section and book of the Bible. These are read by a different (female) voice so that there is no confusion that these portions are not in-and-of-themselves part of the scripture. And they're wonderfully done and informative. Of course, if you don't want to listen to them you can always skip past them (on the CD).
I highly recommend this recording. Unless you just don't like dramatizations of the Bible I can hardly think of anything anyone would dislike!

Reasons for buying this:

a. The NIV is a very good translation.
b. It's a good memorization tool.
c. It's a good aid to your Quiet Time and Bible Study (especially when driving long distances in the car equipped with a CD player).
d. Some people learn better visually. Others learn better audibly. Others learn by doing. This is good for people who learn well audibly.
e. This is well-made as evidenced by it being a winner of the 2002 Audie Award (no small feat).
f. I liked the multiple voices. It makes it easier distinguishing when different characters are speaking. Most of the characters' voices are very well-done.
g. Effective sound effects (e.g., storm in the boat; groaning voices in Revelations).
h. The narrator has a good, clear voice.

Reasons for not buying this:

a. Jesus' voice lacks passion. Even in passages when Jesus was angry (e.g., when he was whipping the money-changers out of the temple in John 2 ) or when Jesus was very sad (while being "deeply moved" during Lazarus' resurrection in John 11), the emotion in Jesus' voice hardly changes. Most of the time, he sounds like a scientist narrating fact after fact.
b. It would be nice if each book starts on a new CD, but Zondervan decided it was too important to minimize the number of CDs. Why can't the book of John start in its own CD?
c. Not a biggie, but the "good guys" have "nice-guy" voices, and the "bad guys" have relatively "evil" voices. Some of the "bad guys" in the Bible are actually well-intentioned but misled people.
d. You may not like the background music (others may not agree, but I wouldn't have minded if they matched the background music with the tone of the particular passage).
e. Sometimes, the loudness of the voices changes too much (in Revelations, I had to keep adjusting the volume knob as it sounds like the narrator sometimes is not as close to the mike as he should be).
f. I wish it would be more accessible in terms of price (it's the Bible after all).
g. You may want the full bible (Zondervan has that version as well).

SUMMARY: This is not for people who (1) often listen to audio books and (2) are distracted by over-acting.

Coming from the perspective of one who (1) listens to a LOT of audio books and (2) worked 3 years in the acting industry, this recording of the Bible is NOT for everyone. Although it may be perfectly suitable for many people (perhaps most), to others -- like myself -- it is not the best option as it is extremely distracting on many levels. To people like me, a simple reading (perhaps like Max MacLean's) is the best option.

(1) There is constant music throughout the entire thing, it never lets up, there is never silence behind the text except for the 2 seconds it takes to go to the next song. Some of the music is okay and doesn't really distract from the text, but much of it is very cliche and used as a tool to provoke the "right" emotion of the moment with trite musical mechanisms.

(2) Although most of the narrators actually did quite well, most of the voice actors in this production seem like they were pulled from Christmas pageants -- over-acting, melodramatic, fake. This too is extremely distracting. Instead of letting the text pull them into emotion, they try to force the text into whatever emotion they think they are suppose to have at the moment -- a common mistake in untrained actors. It seriously hampers the text's communication.

(3) Direction/Production made some poor decisions, especailly in narrative sections. For example, often when it is said that a group of people said something, they actually have a group of people say something all at the same time, which really just makes me laugh because it sounds so ridiculous -- again, distracting to the text.

Overall, this production does not let the text be king, it tries to contrive everything according to its own interpretation of how it should be. This is necessary to an extent for any audio recording of a text, but this production takes it to the absolute extreme. As I said already, this may be wonderful for many people. However, if you are a frequent listener of audio books, this is probably not for you. And this may sound very elitest, but if you are a lover of art that is carefully done, this is probably not for you either.

I just completed listening to about 5-6 hours of this new recording and was very impressed! The recording quality is excellent! (Far better that any audio bible I've heard.) The voice talent is top notch and I like how different narrators play Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc. The recording really comes to life... much better than one voice doing all of the reading. The music background and sound effects never distract you, but help put you right in the middle of the story. The triumphal entry and crucifixion scenes are incredible! I highly recommend it!

I just want to warn people before buying this that there is another version of this Bible CD that includes both the new and old testements.
I only own the New Testement version but let me say that the sound quality is great, the dramatization is great and even the sound effects are great. Could I find fault with it? Sure, I could nit pick and disagree on an emphasis here and there but overall this was a good purchase.
I also like the NIV version of this Bible since I am distracted by the "thees and thous" in the KJV and appreciate this straighfoward translation.
The new testement version (this one) is 30 something dollars and the complete bible CD version is 70 dollars. Personally I think for this kind of quality the price is well worth it. After all, it seems that all too often people out there try to use the word of God to rip people off and so it's nice to see these fabulous CDs priced so fairly.

My daughter bought these for her Dad's Christmas present. He listens to them while on the treadmill. Great for anyone that doesn't have the time to sit down and read.

Our NIV Audio Bible New Testament Dramatized CD came quickly and in good shape.

It's been great so far! I love the animation. It's awesome to hear the different voices, etc. It helps me visualize!!

FIRST : GET THE VERSION WITH THE ENTIRE BIBLE I have listened to this for a few years now and I absolutely Love it
It is SOOO Much better than the BIBLE EXPERIENCE Audio Bible. All the readers on the Zondervan do an excellent job.
I completely disagree with the music being distracting. It adds to the scenes and is well done also.
The voices are very believable . You won't be disappointed with this .