Opeth - new album "Pale Communion"

If you mean that the front stereo pair is out of phase, I have no clue, but I have concluded to my own satisfaction that there is something 'wrong' with the surround mix. The stereo mix is definitely more bassy, and better for it. The acoustic guitars on the surround mix sound great, but there seems to be no weight at all to the recording: even the cymbals have a lot more physicality on the stereo version. It may be a deliberate choice, but I can't understand why anyone would choose that.

 

That analysis of the individual channels seems to correspond with what I am hearing. There is a lack of bass and some other frequencies seem off to me (out of phase I am guessing). The stereo layer of the BD sounds off to me as well (perhaps the FL channel is out of phase on it as well). With the stereo track, there is low bass but above 80 Hz it sounds weird. I have all frequencies below 80 Hz going to my sub, so in a 2.0 track that bass is getting there and being output (no LFE channel in stereo, so no concerns over phase issues). I think the stereo layer is defective too. I've compared it directly to the CD and the CD sounds markedly better. The BD should sound at least as good if not better.

I'm going to test the tracks later today by reversing the speaker inputs on the FL channel for the stereo track. I can also do the same on the 5.1 for the FL and for the LFE by adjusting the phase setting on my sub.

 

Uh-oh. I hadn't even thought to try that.

 

Who's decision was it to use the font? I can barely read anything in the booklet on the CD/BR version.

 

I wonder if SW can maybe give us some comments on the situation (if he still posts here). I'm sure he won't be too happy knowing that his mixes are out of phase. RR has really dropped the ball on this release in many ways. First, the delayed release date, then the vinyl production errors resulting in no one in the USA being able to order or find the LP anywhere, and now possible authoring errors on the disc.

 

This affects the blu ray only, correct? I've listened to PC exclusively via the standard cd save for a quick listen to Eternal Rains and the two bonus tracks. The cd sounds great.

 

Yeah, the CD is one of the best sounding CDs I've heard in years from a contemporary act. It's just the BD from what I've read.

 

Yes, there is. I looked at the waveforms with Audacity and it is obvious that the Left and LFE channels have their polarity reversed. I fixed and with Audacity (you can select a channel and apply the "Invert" effect and it sounds like you would expect from SW.

 

I was in error with my comments about the stereo track on the BD. It appears fine after just re-listening to it. The channels are not out of phase. When I reversed the speaker inputs to test then it was clearly out of phase (as it should be). Ignore what I said about the stereo layer of the BD possibly being messed up. In jumping back and forth repeatedly between 5.1 and 2.0 yesterday I probably confused myself.

 

I also should have thought about the other changes in the chain from how I play my CDs vs. how I play my Blu-ray discs. With CD, I feed the digital out of the player into a Schiit Bifrost Uber DAC. The analog outs of the Schiit DAC then go into an all analog 2-channel preamp with analog bass management for the sub. With blu ray discs, my oppo player decodes the True HD track but sends the decoded PCM over HDMI to a Marantz 8002 receiver which then outputs the 5.1.

I did not think of this difference when I said the CD sounds better than the BD. With the chain I am using for CD, it actually does sound much better than the stereo BD and the chain I use for that...............my fault in indicating a a possible error with the BD. I do love that Schiit Bifrost Uber DAC though.

 

Blu Ray is defective, out of phase. Complain and demand a recall/ reissue/ rectification.

 

I always wonder how they screw up these sort of things.

I'm sure the mix was perfect when it left SW's computer.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'm trying this now. I'm not very familiar with Audacity, but I had already ripped the disc to 5.1 flac. In Audacity, I should invert the first and bottom track and then export, right?

 

Depending on the layout, the LFE channel could be the 4th track from the top.
FL
FR
C
LFE
RL
RR

 

For the surround mix, changing the speaker terminals on the FL channel, and changing the phase 180 degrees on the sub and only sending the LFE channel to my sub made the disc sound correct (I did not not cross the other 5 channels over to the sub at 80 Hz....just ran them full range). So thanks to those who identified the issue as being inverted phase on the FL and LFE channels. While the disc is defective, and I sincerely hope RoadRunner will address this issue with a fixed replacement disc, at least there is now a workaround to get the disc playing properly (although I really wish I could cross all the channels at 80 HZ, but If I did that then the correct phase for those signals routed to the sub would be in conflict with the out of phase LFE track also going to the sub).

The SW mix is great as expected. This album is made for surround. I particularly like "Moon Above, Sun Below" and "Goblin" in surround. There is a lot going in on "Moon" and the surround mix fully exploits that. "Goblin" has the muted, staccato guitar passages in the rear speakers which contrast nicely with the main melodies and riffs up in the front.

 

It's unreadable on the LP sleeves, too...

 

I informed Steven Wilson of the screw up: as expected of course the problem doesn't come from his end.

My guess is authoring...

 

We have pinpointed the problem and it indeed came from authoring.

Paschal Byrne's 5.1 mastering is fine. All he did was filter the LFE, bring up the vocals, and a slight EQ on the rest, no phase invertion.

If I hear anything new I'll let you know.

 

The HDtracks download sounds AMAZING, picking out lots of little details I didn't catch on the 16bit version.

 

Reversed the Left/Right on the Front Left speaker and set all speakers to full range or large. Oh my gosh what an amazing record.

Hopefully there can be some kind of resolution but I can also live with having to change the FL phase on each listen. With the speakers out from the wall it's a pretty quick and simple process.

 

The 5.1 mix is excellent once corrected. I was able to make a flac with inverted LFE and front left. Now this is how it is supposed to sound!

 

Darn... one shouldn't have to do that....

 

I bought the CD and love it. Does the blu-ray only contain a 5.1 mix?

 

No, also Hi-Res 96/24 stereo and 2 bonus tracks.

 

Do you happen to know who mastered the vinyl? Or was it just a straight transfer of the high res files on the bluray?