Sgt Pepper Surround Mix

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by markshan, May 27, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. 007james

    007james Forum Resident

    Location:
    nyc
    I'm ready for another thread myself " Does Sgt Pepper's Sound better on Sunny or Cloudy days"?
     
  2. geekzapoppin

    geekzapoppin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charleston, WV
    I'm going to buck the system and say that I'm disappointed in the surround mix. It's essentially "wide stereo with occasional sounds in the rear". If it meant that the sound stage was increased so that I was hearing instruments more clearly I might feel differently. I'm one of those folks who prefers that if you're going to make a surround mix, it should be an active surround mix that offers an experience that is entirely different from the one available in stereo. This mix, and the one from 1+, were both way too conservative and bland for my tastes. I know that I'm in the minority, though.
     
    JimW, Scotian, vonwegen and 5 others like this.
  3. texquad

    texquad Senior Member

    Location:
    Home of The Alamo
    I took the audio from the DVD dts 5.1 and reburned it to play in my Acura. I then listened to the individual tracks on each song on my computer. I was blow away by stripped down vocals, guitars etc. For me I enjoy this kind of presentation more than outtakes that I'll probably only listen to one time.
     
    BeatlesBop, scobb and raphph like this.
  4. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Cloudy.
     
    Marc Bessette and scobb like this.
  5. daveidmarx

    daveidmarx Forem Residunt

    Location:
    Astoria, NY USA
    Sunny. :D
     
    scobb likes this.
  6. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Well, a good friend invited me over tonight to hear this, and sadly I completely agree with your assessment. I really see this mix as a missed opportunity, which is quite disappointing given the wonderful job I thought they did on the "Love" surround mix. In particular, LSD and Mr Kite were very underwhelming. Given the work that Giles had already done cutting apart the Lucy track, I totally expected a psychedelic treatment where the notes were floating around the room randomly like colored dots in front of your eyes when the Mescaline kicks in (or so I've heard). In the same way, when Henry the Horse starts dancing, I felt it would have been entirely appropriate to center the organ but have the effects spinning around you in a dizzying manner, the way the organ on a carousel would remain stationary as you ride, but all of the sounds from outside would be spinning as the ride twirls. "Day in the Life" was nice, but pedestrian. A treatment completely not befitting that song. Only two songs actually benefited from the surround mix in my estimation. The separation given the small ensemble in "When I'm Sixty-Four" gave an interesting freshness to that tune (not one of my favorites on the album) and "Penny Lane" was literally the only mix that had me hearing things I hadn't before. Again, the fact that the whole album didn't do this is a wasted opportunity.

    You didn't even mention the most egregious blunder of all. The LFE channel is an awful mess. For starters, it is entirely too loud. My friend had to turn his sub down twice just to get it to "play nicely" with the other channels. Once that was accomplished, it was horrible "flubby" and indistinct. Plus, it seemed to only carry far too much of Paul's bass fundamental but I heard little to none of the kick drum fundamental. It's really all but inexcusable IMHO.

    In a way, this is probably appropriate for a 50th Anniversary release. For fifty years I've heard about how the mono was the go to mix and the stereo was an afterthought. With this release it seems that the stereo is finally the go to mix and the surround was treated as an afterthought.
     
  7. dudley07726

    dudley07726 Forum Resident

    Location:
    FLA
    I thought it was odd that Ringo's drumming during ADITL was in the Right Rear channel. It should have been in the front.
     
  8. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    I mainly got the box for the session outtakes, the book, and the DVD (and a little bit for the mono mix). I'm guessing that in order to hear the surround mix properly, I would have to invest in a more elaborate speaker system for my TV (which presently is all self-contained within the TV itself). Can some of the tech-heads on the forum enlighten me on this?
     
  9. lennonfan1

    lennonfan1 Senior Member

    Location:
    baltimore maryland

    I'm still waiting for box to arrive tomorrow, so will comment more fully, but I already understand what you're saying.
    When I heard they recycled the Strawberry Fields 1 mix I got sick in the stomach, literally. It deserved so much more as a surround mix, there should be panning, it doesn't always have to fly around the room but a noticeable front to back pan is actually called for, and that mix is conservative to say the least, and that song is anything but conservative. Pepper is a drug induced la la land and so OF COURSE it should go crazy here and there with panning!
     
    JimW, namahealani and Tristero like this.
  10. Ephi82

    Ephi82 Still have two ears working

    Location:
    S FL
    I'm stumped on something

    The Blu Ray sleeve says under audio content that the last two songs are SFF and Penny Lane. Same printed on the disc holder.

    However, when the disc is in the player, the top menu does not show these tracks? The last thing you can you hear in the audio section of the Blu Ray is the run out groove stuff. I've tried to pressing fwd at this point thinking that maybe the tracks are there, but no.

    Is this a disc authoring error? Anyone else have this problem?
     
  11. Onrd

    Onrd I am not a number

    I never noticed any issues with my Mirage subwoofer. I found the bass to be extremely well detailed (and I'm a bass player). Obviously, system setups drastically affect the perception of the sound.
     
    fredblue and audiomixer like this.
  12. Sick Sick Phil

    Sick Sick Phil Forum Resident

    the beatles didn't intend for you to break up the set. You shouldn't do it.
     
    Mickey2 likes this.
  13. Ephi82

    Ephi82 Still have two ears working

    Location:
    S FL
    Lol, well they got their $117 so they have no say in the matter!
     
    Keith V and Jaap74 like this.
  14. Dinstun

    Dinstun Forum Resident

    Location:
    Middle Tennessee
    It's a different menu selection:

    [​IMG]
     
    andrewskyDE likes this.
  15. Dinstun

    Dinstun Forum Resident

    Location:
    Middle Tennessee
    Regarding the menus on the Bluray, I really dislike when they use the music on the menus for a music disc. I don't want "With A Little Help From My Friends" blasting away at me when I'm trying to cue up the Pepper album!
     
  16. dobyblue

    dobyblue Forum Resident

    If you have your equipment set up correctly, aside from possibly a very minor difference in volume, there will be no differences; it's bit for bit lossless compression so it would be like compressing a Word document using .zip and .rar and asking people what differences were there with the story when you unzipped, did .rar delete more consonants than the .zip compression, etc.

    I see no need to include both TrueHD and dts-MA in 2017, including dts-MA and PCM 5.1 tracks would make the most sense because then you've covered every surround set-up.

    Those with Profile 1.0 players and non-HDMI receivers can go 5.1 PCM over analogue, those with newer players without multichannel outs and non-HDMI receivers can bitstream the 1.509 Mbps dts lossy core, etc., etc.

    My preference on discs is PCM or TrueHD because they're easier and quicker to rip/back-up, but dts-MA/PCM combo makes the most sense from an equipment standpoint.
     
    Plan9 and quicksrt like this.
  17. Steve G

    Steve G Senior Member

    Location:
    los angeles
    I too would buy the Blu-Ray surround but have no interest in spending $150 for Pepper. I hope they do release it at some point.
     
    vonwegen likes this.
  18. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    such is life...
     
  19. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    Not to worry. They won't....
     
    Steve G likes this.
  20. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Is this a joke?
     
  21. dobyblue

    dobyblue Forum Resident

    In addition to asking if someone doesn't want their Blu-ray, you can always buy the set and then sell it without the Blu-ray for a reduced cost that may appeal to people. I almost did this with the latest Soundgarden box set (Badmotorfinger), was going to buy it for $125 and then sell it sans Blu-ray for $80 but someone agreed at the last minute to sell me their Blu-ray for US$30 which was perfectly in line with what I wanted to spend.
     
  22. Ephi82

    Ephi82 Still have two ears working

    Location:
    S FL
    I understand.

    You will see the disconnect I have noticed if you look at the sleeve that holds the disc. On the left, under "audio content" SFF and Penny Lane are listed. Obviously, this is a mistake. I wonder if all the sleeves are printed this way?
     
  23. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    So you hear kick in your LFE? I agree that the tightness is system dependent, but not the mix.
     
  24. Ephi82

    Ephi82 Still have two ears working

    Location:
    S FL
    Great point, really under appreciated by many who are on this forum.

    One really has to take some time properly setting up a surround system, especially integrating LFE. I have learned a lot of lessons over the 15 or so years I have listened through my surround system. I have to come to believe that having all the speakers from the same manufacturer and "family" is really important. Having a decent sub, and proper sub crossover settings are real important as well.

    Going back to the Sgt Pepper music, I have no problem hearing an accurate kick drum, incl the slap of the beater on the kick drum. The bass sounds great too, instantly identifiable as a Ric 4001
     
    audiomixer likes this.
  25. Dinstun

    Dinstun Forum Resident

    Location:
    Middle Tennessee
    Well such sucks sometimes. :)

    I suppose I'll just mute the audio while in the menus, so the such doesn't suck so much.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine