Deluxe Edition of "Imagine" Coming Soon! (Remixed 5.1 and Remastered Quad audio)

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Sorry if this has been posted already--I'm not really a fan of Imagine, so I haven't been following this thread carefully--but at the end of an NPR story about the "How Do You Sleep?" studio footage that @privateuniverse posted about above, there's this:

The Imagine box set also includes ... a 5.1 surround sound mix. Engineer Rob Stevens wrote to NPR to say, "Our approach, meaning Yoko and myself, was to make the listening experience as if one had the exceptional privilege of sitting in the middle of the studio with the players either around them (the 5.1 surrounds) or in front of them (the stereos), without any of the effects or sweetening (strings, chamber echo, tape slap, etc.) that were subsequently added. We had a hunch that the initial performances stood on their own, even though at the time the sweetening clearly helped the record reach the heights that it did and continues to do."
 
Sorry if this has been posted already--I'm not really a fan of Imagine, so I haven't been following this thread carefully--but at the end of an NPR story about the "How Do You Sleep?" studio footage that @privateuniverse posted about above, there's this:
It sounds as though some overdubs have been removed for the new remixes! o_O
 
So the Quadrasonic mix is legendary for being fairly fake sounding Quad - judging from both SQ LP and 8-Track carts folks have heard and reported back on.

Is it possible that this nice mastering direct from the 4-chan tapes could be stunning and 1000% better? Like maybe they screwed around in mastering and blew an actually nice discreet mix?
 
It sounds as though some overdubs have been removed for the new remixes! o_O
My understanding is that there will be different surround mixes for the studio album and the extras. The extras, such as this studio footage, are mixed without reverbs, rough, and with an approach that puts you in the middle of the room. A totally different approach was used for the studio album.

Here's the diagram of the 5.1 mix for the studio album:
Sleep_5_point_1_Lennon.jpg


For the Raw Studio Mix, How Do You Sleep was mixed as follows:
Front Centre - John Lennon: electric guitar, vocal
Front Left - Nicky Hopkins: electric piano
Front Right - George Harrison: electric slide guitar
Surround Left - Alan White: drums
Surround Right - Klaus Voormann: bass
 
I'm not sure how limited the deluxe edition is but it is now 'Currently Unavailable' on Amazon UK. The delivery date for mine has also slipped to Tuesday...
 
A review of the surround discs is up on Audiophile Review
While I am glad that he thinks the set is great and I believe it is. The writing in this overview leaves much to be desired. The quad mix I was interested in, yet the reviewer is not clear enough, saying discreet layout, yet vocals coming from all four speakers and a forward approach. Then using the word "Immersive" too many times.

It's like when folks used to toss around the word "aggressive" (to describe a surround mix) five or ten years ago and thankfully have stopped using that word.

And the 5.1 mix, it too is described in a less than clear way. Piano parts on "Oh My Love" are they centered or panned? Not good and clear writing there.

Oh well, I think he means it's beautifully done.
 
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While I am glad that he thinks the set is great and I believe it is. The writing in this overview leaves much to be desired. The quad mix I was interested in, yet the reviewer is not clear enough, saying discreet layout, yet vocals coming from all four speakers and a forward approach. Then using the work "Immersive" too many times.

It's like when folks used to toss around the word "aggressive" (to describe a surround mix) five or ten years ago and thankfully have stopped using that word.

And the 5.1 mix, it too is described in a less than clear way. Piano parts on "Oh My Love" are they centered or panned? Not good and clear writing there.

Oh well, I think he means it's beautifully done.

Just a few points...actually compared to other "reviews" I have seen recently...I've seen worse...of course I wasn't giving out demerits for the excessive use of "Immersive"..but just a word of caution...if you are going to penalize this writer for such transgressions...it would be wise for you to set the example by proofreading your post to minimize the errors...fair is fair...I'm sure you intended to use word...not work in your crucial observation...one more item of note...I hate to disappoint you but I still use that pesky "aggressive" word in regards to surround mixes...it's meant to be descriptive of the path taken by the mixer...of course the real test of this article will come when others get to hear the reviewed material for themselves to see if the points were accurate...
 
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I agree it's probably to be taken with a grain of salt, but man that review was a tough read. I'd like to know who invented this idea that surround mixes are supposed to resemble live performances. Studio-recorded material, presented in mono or stereo or surround, is not intended to sound like a live performance.

This is a gently immersive mix, ideal for those of you who don't like overly immersive mixes with sounds coming from behind

To me this is a paradoxical statement. How could you like surround sound, yet not like sounds coming from behind?

I wonder what this reviewer would say about an old Columbia quad mix (like the D-V Poco disc)- would that get a bad review for sounding "unnatural"?

The real kicker for me is the review saying the old quad mix is "more immersive" than the new 5.1. I've heard the old quad mix in its discrete form on Q8 and it basically sounds like mono in 4 channels.

Those sound maps are a brilliant touch though, wish more surround releases included them.

Can't wait until the reviews start trickling in here...
 
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