Simple Minds -Sparkle In The Rain: 5 disc deluxe edition (March 2015)

You're out of luck, it's a done deal.

 

Some single-digit DR values from Disc 2.

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/86086

 

Yikes!

 

That's not too pretty, but to be honest the second disc is so short of really essential material that its DR value is virtually irrelevant.

 

Who has compared the non-defective version of this with the first remaster?

 

Disc 2 has extended mixes generally intended for club dance floors. I expect those mixes to be compressed even on the original vinyl (but I might be wrong of course)

 

So jacked-up sound and un-essential bonus material add up to a disappointing release. The most useless 18 euros I spent this year (until now).

 

Yes, but how does it sound?

 

Very "in your face", sometimes fatiguing. May depend on your equipment. I listened to it using a Shure SRH 1840, which is quite unforgiving. So your mileage may vary.

 

I spent £45.99!... but the errors on the DVD meant that I could return it for a full refund with a clear conscience. That surround mix may well be worth buying again at some point in the future, but the boxed set is a waste of money.

 

I agree that it is not worth that price. I bought it on Amazon Germany and it was about £33 which is still a lot of money but a bit more reasonable. Considering that the live CDs are nothing to write home about the BluRay disc is probably the best option to enjoy the new stereo and 5.1 mixes (once they release fixed copies).

 

From SuperDeluxeEdition,
Steven Wilson himself:

"Hello folks, this is Steven Wilson – I did the new mixes of Sparkle in the Rain that are on this edition. It’s been difficult for me to monitor because I’m in Europe on tour and therefore not in my studio, but I have been able to establish that unfortunately there are issues with the transfers of both the stereo and the 5.1 mixes. The issues with the 5.1 are less obvious, but the bottom line is that it does not sound as it should. I’m not sure what happened exactly, it may have been some kind of file corruption, but before you ask; no I wasn’t sent any kind of check disc, though I have had assurance that I always will be in future. We will sort this out, but I need to ask you to be a bit patient with this one, it’s probably not going to be a “quick fix”. My apologies."

 

I am told he is flying to Las Vegas this very moment to rework the 5.1 mix with Stuart S.

 

The issues with the 5.1 mix were real obvious to me immediatly. I am very glad he has responded and acknowleged the mix does not sound right.

Cant wait for a fix, I would love to regain my faith in this expensive project and SW himself.

 

Never lost faith in the man. It was obvious that things went wrong, like you said. The fact he puts out a statement actually confirms the faith I already had.

 

Seriously I don't understand what the problem might be with the 5.1 mix apart from a possible error in the channel placement.

 

I haven't worked with Steven on this particular mix so I can't say for sure, but it might be some inverted phase issues like for Opeth Pale Communion?

 

We'll just have to wait until things get sorted.
My speculation is that we won't know how "off" these tracks truly are until we hear them as intended.
What comes to my mind is Skylarking. Always thought there was something off about the SQ.
Put it up to Rundgren's production. After hearing the corrected version, the original pales in comparison.
Not positing that this is in anyway related to SITR as to me the stereo doesn't sound mono really or anything like the bad Skylarking,
just really small and squashed like it was recorded in a cardboard box with one mike that had a towel draped over it.
How's that for technical description

 

Sure the sound only comes from my 2 fronts - no subs, but ..

Honestly I like the Mono version better than the 5.1 mix. The 5.1 mix reveals more of the flaws.
I did not realize my 2 fronts can handle and display the full range without the subs so well.

 

Dang, I hope this doesn't herald the demise of the SM reissue campaign. I don't see any way they can make money on this release now. It's great that they're going to sort out the problems for the fans, but this is going to be a huge financial loss. I hope Universal doesn't decide that it's just not worth the risk in the future.

 

I hope it's incentive to sort these problems out before they release something, they have nobody to blame but themselves. I'm sure the issues have scared off more than a few potential buyers. Requesting replacement discs is always a hassle and mistakes like this seem to becoming more and more common.

 

With the amount of cock ups Universal have made recently on many releases I'll be waiting now until anything they release that I want is actually out, and I've read reviews, before I purchase anything, particularly on big ticket items.

 

Mel's snare through out the whole remix (too loud and sometime sounds like a disco sex whip), the inversion of the peak dynamics (Forbes's low bass extension) with missing crashes in the Waterfront, and the low center mix (Jim's voice) are an instant giveaway and red flag. The other problems are more subtle.

The mono mix seems like its from a different remix to me.

 

It isn't rocket science to get this stuff right, and some people should lose their jobs over this and other recent debacles. In my line of work we actually have a rigorous QA/QC procedure and even have people whose title is Quality Manager. Universal needs to step up or get out of the music business.

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but as a huge music fan I want a sustainable and successful business model to be in place. Pricing these boxsets sky high and then not delivering is not going to help any of us who still like physical media.

 

I seriously doubt that Universal will lose money on this. Of all the copies sold, how many of the purchasers hang out in audiophile forums and - even being advised of the problem - will be bothered to write in for the replacement? How many were ever going to listen to surround sound mix or a high rez mix in the first place, or even had the equipment to reproduce it? Moreover, the profit on each individual set sold must have been absolutely enormous.