DVD/DTS Poll The Police - Every Breath You Take [DTS CD]

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Rate the DTS-CD of The Police - EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE


  • Total voters
    40
5/10 here.
The first 6 tracks are simply great.
After this, it suffers from the curse of the compilation album - the whole approach seems to change from nice & open, to overcompressed and insipid.
The first 5 tracks, though, are just wonderful. You can hear the attention to detail and the production is not cluttered.
From "De Do Do Do" onwards it is a different animal and you can hear the modern disease of too much master buss compression clear as day. Or rather, clear as mud as this is how bad it sounds to my ears anyway.

It's a really great argument against compilation albums in general - too many years between the tracks, and the tracks themselves are all out of context with the album they were meant to be heard as a part of.

Buy this if you are a serious fan.
Otherwise only if you really, really like the classic singles from the first 2 albums.

Failing that - forget it.
 
I loved it, personally. One of my earliest DTS purchases, and one I still listen to on a relatively regular basis (although of course I usually reach for the SACD version instead - same mixes).

I thought the mixes themselves were really consistant and tasteful. I guess my ears aren't attuned to hearing stuff like compression and whatnot. And I'm used to hearing these tracks out of context anyway - it's a greatest hits album, after all. I own their entire catalog anyway, if I really want to hear stuff in the context of their original albums. (Although, of course, it's a shame they didn't bother to remix the rest of their albums for surround, as well - after hearing the handful of "Synchronicity" tracks in 5.1, I'd kill to hear the rest of the album done that way.)

I gave it a "9".
 
A '7' overall...I find this to be a mixed bag, though that's to be expected from most comps. The early material--which was less elaborate than the later material--ironically, comes off best, and I think their best stuff(with the exception of "Every Breath You Take")came early.....

But the rating also is lower because a few cuts are remixed so radically they might as well be alternate takes...indeed, a few of them are! I was also peeved about the skimpy dozen tracks, and some missing stuff, like the great(if unheralded)"So Lonely." Granted, what was missing turned up on the DVD edition, but that's a whole other enchilada, and with problems of its own....

Even so, some great music here...but still, the misgivings remain, though it sure is an interesting listen!

ED
 
A buddy of mine has this on SACD and he played it for me in surround one night and I was absolutely blown away. Since I don't have an SACD player, I bought it on DTS CD. It appears to be the same mix and it's excellent. My ear can't distinguish the difference in sound quality between the DTS and the SACD, so it's just as enjoyable for me. Probably in the top 20 multi-channel discs I own.
 
The mixes are identical, AFAIK. The DVD edition has surround mixes, but those vids for songs that didn't appear on the DTS or SACD editions have a curiously 'faux' rear channel sound, though obviously someone did their best to integrate them into the 5.1 whole.

ED :)
 
I have only the DTS version and the begining of the disc is super. But after the 6-th play somehow it is changing, I don't know how, but not in good.
I like it ok, but I would much prefer the original albums in 5.1, not a Best Of...
 
SoNic said:
I have only the DTS version and the begining of the disc is super. But after the 6-th play somehow it is changing, I don't know how, but not in good.
I like it ok, but I would much prefer the original albums in 5.1, not a Best Of...

I haven't heard the DTS version but I have the SACD 5.1 version and it is one of my favorite high resolution discs. I also have several of the Police albums in SACD stereo but the 5.1 compilation is so much better, content and sound quality wise.

Chris
 
The DTS version (A&M - 71021-51053-2-1)

Disappointing. The music is good, but the "mix" sounds for all the world like they ran it through a dolby surround IC and called it a day.

5 of 10.
 
The mixes are identical, AFAIK. The DVD edition has surround mixes, but those vids for songs that didn't appear on the DTS or SACD editions have a curiously 'faux' rear channel sound, though obviously someone did their best to integrate them into the 5.1 whole.

ED :)

I was wondering if they were the same.

I saw a copy of the straight dts disc recently, but I have the DVD of 'Every Breath You Take' so I passed on it.

BTW, I don't turn on the video... I just set it up for dts audio track and the turn off the display.
 
Does this have an alternate version of de do do do, de da da da? Doesn't sound right to me, but I may like it better than the regular version. What's the explanation for this?
 
(I’m commenting/ voting on the SACD. Doesn’t seem worth requesting a new poll this late in the day but I'm happy to be corrected.)

Listening to this disc made me realise how simple the original recordings are - there's not really much to play with. So the mixes are in some ways quite subtle, but they do a good job with what they've got. The drums don't really jump out, but the vocals and bass are good, and every nuance of the guitar is revealed - there's some simple new wave sounds but also lots of gentler chiming stuff that was maybe lost on me before. And many of the songs feature simple keyboard drones which really throb on this disc. The drums seem biased towards the left; maybe that's the way Stuart Copeland liked it, or maybe it's just me.

I thought the version of De Do Do... sounded different, and according the Wiki, it is a previously unreleased version. There is a remix of Message In A Bottle (as well as the original version) but I couldn't hear much difference. There’s also the ‘86 version of Don’t Stand. I would have preferred the extended version but at least the newer version is radically different to the original, so it’s worth hearing both.

The disc is an hour long, so I can't really complain, but I wish there was more of the early stuff on there. I suppose the later pieces sold more. But even those later pieces that I was bored with hearing on CD, are so much more interesting in hi-res 5.1.

Overall, sound 9, mix 7 = 8.
 
Interesting take on this; Just bought the DTS 5.1 surround; in my new Acura A-SPEC/ELS, the sound is crisp, clean, & the surround is just decent; therefore a 7
Obviously, some songs better than others, but overall, I'm glad it's in my car collection!
I never understood, why some DTS CD's, show Album titles, tracks, etc., & some don't; this one does NOT!
Wish someone could clarify
 
Interesting take on this; Just bought the DTS 5.1 surround; in my new Acura A-SPEC/ELS, the sound is crisp, clean, & the surround is just decent; therefore a 7
Obviously, some songs better than others, but overall, I'm glad it's in my car collection!
I never understood, why some DTS CD's, show Album titles, tracks, etc., & some don't; this one does NOT!
Wish someone could clarify

As pertains to your last question: Metadata on audio discs explained: https://cdrguru.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/metadata-on-audio-discs/
 
Taking a quick look at this now (DTS-CD ripped to 5.1 FLAC). Looks like it's another one of those mixes where there IS some discrete info, but the rears are too low.

I took a couple of tracks and pushed the rears up +6 dB and the center +2 dB. It worked really well on "Message In A Bottle"- the guitars and organ are almost completely isolated in the rears, and there's an exposed drum track in the center that's pretty cool. The little guitar licks on the outro ("sending out an SOS...") are totally in the rears. Really nice mix on this one (y)

"Walking On The Moon" is also quite good- nice guitars in rear only

On the other hand, "Roxanne" doesn't yield anything in the rears except drum reverb and backing vocals over the chorus, which can also be heard in the fronts. "Every Breath You Take" is basically double stereo, but no drums in rears and some thick echo on the rear vocals.

"Message In A Bottle" straight off the disc:
message_before.jpg


"Message In A Bottle"- +2 dB Center +6 dB Rears
message_after.jpg
 
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Taking a quick look at this now (DTS-CD ripped to 5.1 FLAC). Looks like it's another one of those mixes where there IS some discrete info, but the rears are too low.

I took a couple of tracks and pushed the rears up +6 dB and the center +2 dB. It worked really well on "Message In A Bottle"- the guitars and organ are almost completely isolated in the rears, and there's an exposed drum track in the center that's pretty cool. The little guitar licks on the outro ("sending out an SOS...") are totally in the rears. Really nice mix on this one (y)

On the other hand, "Roxanne" doesn't yield anything in the rears except drum reverb and backing vocals over the chorus, which can also be heard in the fronts.

"Message In A Bottle" straight off the disc:
View attachment 35779

"Message In A Bottle"- +2 dB Center +6dB Rears
View attachment 35780

I have both the DTS RBCD 5.1 and the SACD and I much prefer the SACD multichannel disc.

Sjcorne, do you have the SACD on hand to do a similar comparison? Cranked up, the SACD sounds amazing on my system.
 
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