Blu-Ray Audio: Queen's A Night at the Opera

I made the mistake a while back to compare CDs in my new Rega Saturn-R to the vinyl counterparts. I won't bore you with the details, but nonetheless, I was so disappointed I returned the $3,000 dedicated CD player and went back to enjoying vinyl and the occasional CD in my cheap-o Pioneer blu-ray player. Then, my dad bought the new Oppo and I just had to get one... so, I did.

I started gobbling up new CD and SACD issues all over the place and have been having a blast. I recently ordered the Stevie Wonder "Keys" BR-A disc, just to try one out. After reading all the negative comments all over the Net, I had low expectations. But, being one to never err on the side of caution (my dad was a Betamax man and went the dbx route in the 80s... me, an HD-DVD advocate), I thought what the heck.

I was really impressed with the Stevie disc and just bought another dozen or so titles.

The Queen reissue... I have my CD copy from the mid 1980s (from West Germany) and always thought it was pretty good. I played a few cuts from the CD, as it had been some time. It was probably not as good as I remembered, but it was OK. Freddie's vocals sounded nice, but it was bit thin overall.

I popped in the BR-A and was blown away. Everything opened up. Vocals center, warm and spacious. Drums, tight and loud. Bass was clear and deep. Guitars, awesome. The delta between the two versions was huge. Just curious if anyone else has heard some other titles worth tracking down. I really enjoyed the review on Never Mind the Bollocks.

 

Thanks for your post. I excluded this Blu-Ray from my "to-buy" list because it has a DR of 9 against 11 for the original CD; however, your post may make me reconsider this decisions.

 

This first 80s Queen CDs of "The Game" sounded quite poor - like a third or fourth generation tape copy. One of the reasons both Hollywood and also EMI remastered the Queen catalogue again with audible different results.
Nearly every later release of "The Game" sounded better including the original vinyl, so the praise about the BR-A should be seen here with a little caution. In this case the comparison between the DVD-A would be the way to go.

 

Isn't the Blu-ray the same mastering as the Bob Ludwig remaster? If yes, I will definitely stick with my DCC Gold CD.

 

It's very thin. The opening track is particularly unconvincing.

Bob Ludwig's remaster is impressive.

 

Whoever owns this...can you tell me...does this Blu Ray have any mastering credits? If it is the Ludwig remaster in Hi-Rez, I am going to grab it...

 

The SHM-SACD is from the Ludwig remaster (in case the Blu-ray is not).

 

thanks...that's good to know...

 

Which 5.1 mix is included on the blu-ray audio? Eliot Scheiner's original or the remix that was said to have been done by Brian May?

 

^ The Brian May mix.

The "original" Scheiner mix was only issued on the few earliest DVD-A copies and has been officially deleted since.

 

Thanks. I have been thinking about getting this, but there seems to be confusion as to what mix is on the blu-ray.

 

Is there a big different between the Elliot Scheiner and the Brian May 5.1 mixes does anyone know ?

 

Uh. I have this! I do believe…or maybe something rarer.

I have a DVD-A promo copy given to me at a surround sound conference. A fellow in the know at Dolby told me later that something had been edited before the actual DVD-A release. But I don't remember what! Anyone have a clue?

I'm not really a big Elliott fan, since he is one of the "virtual center" guys and I philosophically disagree with that (yeah, Alan Parsons, I mean you too). It is just not the same as a hard panned center; the room echo is quite different as Tom Holman used to vividly demonstrate. Plus, move off center a bit, and now you get phase interference/comb filter effects.

Also more ironically, the first ELS Acura system (in the TL) doesn't pan properly-some coworkers made a special DVD-A that panned from channel to channel and got some weird effects, like the sound moving along the floorboards and such.

 

The standalone DVD-Audio has all the tracks in true 5.1 except for "God Save the Queen", for which the multitrack master had been lost and an up-mix from stereo was created instead. The later 30th Anniversary DVD+CD, I believe, duplicates the same mixes except it adds Brian's true 5.1 mix of "God Save" (made after the master was found), with the Ludwig-remastered stereo. Basically the Blu-ray is exactly the same audio content (but no video).

 

I have a bunch of the Blu-ray audio discs and here are the ones I find to be really worth it:
Lionel Richie-Can't Slow Down
Beck-Sea Change
The Who-Quadrophenia
Tears For Fears-Songs From the Big Chair
Bryan Adams-Reckless
Bob Marley-Legend (the most recent version)
XTC-Drums and Wires and Nonsuch
Van Morrison-Moondance
Neil Young-Archives, Le Noise, A Treasure
Tom Petty-Damn the Torpedoes, Mojo, Live Anthology, Hypnotic Eye
Jethro Tull-Aqualung (deluxe set)
Pink Floyd-WYWH, DSOTM, Division Bell
Clapton-God Give Me Strength box set

 

If you have a promo copy that's the "original" Scheiner mix.
Almost everyine who has heard both agrees that the Brian May-supervised remix (either the early one without true surround on God Save the Queen or the corrected one) is vastly superior.

I don't mind Scheiner's style but I agree there have been better sounding remixes since his early works.

 

Exactly. And the recent 2011 ANATO stereo remaster is in fact the original 30th Anniversary Ludwig stereo remaster with only a tape defect corrected.