Queen's "A Night at the Opera". The XXXth Anniversary release has a tough challenge*

Thank You Steve!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, it looks like we have the previous mix by Scheiner/May EXCEPT for God Save The Queen

 

And the piano part before " I see a little sillouetto".....Scheiner had them hard rear....May asked him to bring them forward a bit.

 

You're welcome.

 

hahaha.....he only thanked me cuz I answered his question...

THANK YOU TOOTULL!

 

Youre welcome! The main difference is of course that the whole thing has been remastered by Bob Ludwig. The original 5.1 mix was mastered by Ric Wilson and Jeff Levison. And of course the rather spectacular new menus, packaging etc which make it a much more attractive option than the previous version. It sounds different too - although I havent really had the opportunity of sitting down and comparing the two mixes to really note detail. The 5.1 mix of God Save The Queen is pretty cool tho.
All in all Im very glad I got it.

Steve

 

Hopefully Ludwig's mastering took off that Roy Thomas Baker "edge". He loved being in the red and making everything crunchy, so some good mastering should help.

 

PCM 96/24, new surround mix, clearer sound, nice packaging, videos, interesting interviews?

I can't wait for the disc to arrive... it sounds as if Queen outdid Pink Floyd for their own XXXth Anniversary release!

 

Anyone know how much the original A Night at the Opera DVD-Audio disc with light blue spines goes for? I'd really like to score a copy.

 

Good question! Has anyone seen this disc?

"I point this out because it's possible that copies of the 'Scheiner' version will show up on the Internet. And you might want to do your own comparisons, because May has made some things better but other things worse" -Ken Richardson

 

I did an ebay search.....nothing.


I might start a thread at QQ and see if anyone has it/heard it.

 

So, the "God Save The Queen" surround mix was "produced" by Brian May. It seems these days they hand out "producer" credits in the entertainment industry like M&Ms. Like when Who reissues had the "Produced By Jon Astley" credit first. No, Astley compiled and supervised a reissue, he didn't "produce" anything. Same thing when you read "compilation produced by..." or my favorite, "sound produced by..." Seems to me that the sound was produced by the original artists and producer/engineers.

Yeah, I know I'm nit-picking on a technicality!! It just felt like the thing to do.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Have a safe and happy one!

 

basically means...

"Do this"........engineer (Fredriksson)does it...." do that"...engineer does it...." no, no good, do this".....engineer does it....

Produced By Brian May!

 

2002-May referring to the original album "I was the only one who could remember where all that bounced stuff was meant to go!"
Certainly dts had initially hoped to get the disc out for the holidays. That would explain the decision to go ahead without May. The holiday rush could also explain why the cover of the first pressing was badly produced art.(edit)Delayed to April 30,2002 dts admitted that May was guiding a re-remix, the label was still allowing it's PR firm to send out copies of the first remix for review, May and Scheiner worked together for ten days in January, finishing on the 16th-but as late as March 14, dts was still using the first remix for demo listening sessions.
- Finally, it's real tough to give dts the benefit of the doubt when it says that May's changes are minimal, few, and discernible only to a handful of sound geeks-and the changes turn out to be substantive, numerous, and obvious to anyone with a pair of ears.
Ken Richardson-2002

 

Just some info.........

I saw this today on vinyl. It comes in an outer paper envelope which said 'Half speed master(ed)'.

 

Dunno... part of the appeal of the Thomas Baker Queen albums was that "edge", IMHO. Take it out, and Bohemian Rhapsody turns into something different...

 

True, but the mastering on the DVD-A 5.1 is a bit grating at times, so maybe it's better now.

 

I'll know for sure tonight. Apparently, the disc just arrived! Can't wait to get back home.

 

I picked this up at the 9.99 sale today. Unfortunately it wasn't included in the sale but was on sale for 19.99 instead. It mentions the 24 bit stereo mix was created from the surround mix with the wording "5.1 audio conformed to stereo by Scott Elson". Well, anyway, I guess that's what that means. Am I right?

 

I've never heard this album before. The song '39 is really cool. Doesn't even sound like Queen.

 

"conformed to stereo?" Why doesn't that phrase fill me with confidence?? Sounds to me like a euphemism for "fold down."

Not an issue for me really, because I don't plan to get this. I have the DCC and the previous DVD-A, which both sound fine to me.

 

So did Ludwig get to use the master tapes for the CD, or was he resigned to the new digital master May was showing off on the Greatest Hits I DVD?

Anyway, I don't see this beating the DCC, so I'm going to stick with it.

 

I'm sure it beats the DCC. Powerful bass and videos on the screen for each song.

I didn't know that they still did half speed mastering. That reminds me of the 80s. Maybe its coming out on a chrome cassette also.

 

Uk posters still wanting this should get over to www.101cd.com by 10pm tonight (26/11) for a copy, delivered, for £9.99.

 

Why wouldn't you consider the possibility? You haven't heard the new album, so why not giving it a chance? It's 96/24, it's from the master tapes, it's from Bob Ludwig... it could beat the DCC...

 

The stereo version is actually 24/192 as shown on the Denon's display.