For some reason I had thought of the Geffen releases as being remasters as well but, it appears that they are just, for the most part clones. I will say they haven't been remastered as many times as many other bands which is a good thing. ES, Skylarking remasters done at Andy's behest sound pretty darn good.
Can't argue with the DR db, but I did crank the blu ray and didn't feel pumping like I did with Pepper 50. I didn't find it fatiguing at all. As I posted earlier, I was only annoyed with the now-distant and echo-y vocals on Towers Of London, my favorite song. Same comments go for Drums & Wires, which I also picked up recently. The originals are there in DR 13 glory if the remix isn't your bag.
Oh yes, they are good examples of remasters that exceptional. As much as I admire Giles reasons for doing what he did with the Pepper remix, I miss the dynamics.
Just listening to the stereo remix for the first time after receiving Black Sea as a Christmas gift. This is also my first time hearing the album itself, as XTC are one of my more recent discoveries. In my opinion SW has done an excellent job yet again - the mix has great depth, separation and clarity. I noticed a few comments further up the thread about limiting and compression - I think the choices made here suit the music well, and provide the mix with some punch. Musically it is a great album too, and a great addition to my collection!! In terms of how I would rank this reissue alongside the other XTC remixes I have heard, I would put Black Sea a close second behind Nonsuch, with Oranges and Lemons a distant third.
Last night, after playing the Black Sea remix, I played a few tracks from the Nonsuch SW remix, and I've had a slight change of heart regarding my comments on the limiting/compression applied to the Black Sea Stereo remix. Nonsuch was definitely mastered at a lower level, as I had to increase the volume on my amplifier in order to match the level at which I listened to Black Sea. Transients were definitely reproduced more cleanly on Nonsuch, and the mix 'breathed' a lot more. I still think the Black Sea remix is excellent - it has excellent clarity and separation, however it definitely seems to have undergone a little more processing than Nonsuch. Some light/medium compression/limiting does not bother me too much, only heavy compression does, however I know opinions on this are varied on the SH Forums, and I can see how it may bother some people.
Man, this remix is making me realise what an amazing drummer Terry Chambers is/was. SW really has brought some emphasis to his drumming on No Language in Our Lungs, for example. So much punch and clarity. Gotta play this through my headphones.
A couple other cool details I picked up on the remix.... - the background humming on Generals and Majors; - the bell percussion on Towers of London; - Terry Chambers and his Latin style drumming on Living through Another Cuba. Love the layered vocals on that track now too. More details to follow....
I received this CD for Christmas. My situation is thus that i don't have my LP collection with me and so i haven't heard Black Sea in about 15 years. I would've bought it on CD sooner but I knew the re-issue was inevitable. ANYWAY..... I don't even know what to write after listening to it three days straight. What an incredible record, it's even better than i remembered. And on my very average system, it sounds warm. Those first few guitar chords of "Respectable Street" sound like they're in the room. Every song is incredible on this one. My fave XTC? Maybe.
I came away with exactly the same impression. There's a directness to the sound which you don't get with many mixes. Well done Steven Wilson!
I don't know if anyone can help me, but here's my dilemma: I decided to record the XTC instrumental mixes into my wave editor, so I can make CDs of them. I have no blu-ray player in my computer, so I cannot rip the files, I have to do them as I would do needledrops. My blu-ray player is hooked analog L+R out to my amp which is then hooked to my computer. My vinyl needledrops are beautiful sounding, with full dynamic waveforms in my editor, BUT my BLU-RAY "needledrops" seem to be pre-limited when I record them. My recording levels are not clipping, but you can see from my screenshot that they flatten out at -6dbs. Why is this? What is going on?! BTW the screenshot is completely unfutzed with. This is what the wave looked like during recording. Any suggestions (other than getting a blu-ray player/recorder for my computer) would be helpful.
There something in that chain that’s overloading. What soundcard are you using? Are you using line or mic level input?
Any speculation on what could be next in the series? Mummer? Please let it be Mummer. I would even accept Big Express.
My guess is it has to be the analog output of the Sony blu-ray player, because in every other way the set up I'm using is the same for my disc and tape transfers and I've not encountered this problem before. I can even set the record-in levels either higher or lower, but the cut on the wave remains constant. I also have made sure that any audio processing the player does is off.
I believe Andy has said that they specifically looked for the Mummer multitracks, but so far they remain missing. Same with English Settlement.
Check all your menus. There might be a limiter/compressor setting so that movies aren't quite as dynamic at lower volumes. Many Blu-Ray and DVD players have that feature.
Now that I've listened to the remix through my headphones, I have to say how creative and musical the basslines are in every track. There's quite a lot to admire in Colin's playing. And it cracks me up how some of the lead licks on Generals and Majors sound like they're out of tune/don't make sense, yet they manage to get away with it.
That I already ripped my copy and how I did it. Didn’t want to take up forum space since every time a release like this comes out, people want to know how to get the music off the disc. A $60 drive, MakeMKV, and DVD Audio Extractor has made portable all my discs from the Beatles’s movies stereo remixes, a dozen concert films, and flat transfers and bonus tracks from Yes, XTC, Gentle Giant, Steven Wilson, etc.
I’m a follower of the Yes, Crimson and XTC Wilson 5.1 remixes. For me, Black Sea is the most interesting, immersive and revelatory release yet - absolutely stunning. Out of all the surround music and video discs I have, this is my favorite ever.
