HiRez Poll King Crimson - Red [DVD-Audio/Blu-Ray Audio]

AZK said:

Hello everybody.
I cannot switch to hi-rez multichannel on my multiplayer (Denon 1400). The same situation is with some Porcupine Tree cds.
Somewhere Neil wrote that dvd-audio can have up to 9 groups. Red has 7 groups and in any I cannot find 5.1 hi-rez. When I am choosing "Advanced resolution multichannel" from menu I get only 2 channel stereo hi-rez. Changing the groups I can listen (for example) to bonus tracks in 5.1 hi-rez (amazing!!!, superb!!!)
I did not received Lizard nor ITCOTCK and I do not know how it works on other KC discs.
Maybe somebody knows how to solve this problem?

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I have exactly the same problem and i can not access the 5.1 hi-rez track (I play the discs on a Marantz DVD6400 DVD player).
I can access the bonus tracks on 5.1 hi-rez but not the album which only plays in hi-rez stereo.

It seems to happen the same when I have the choice between several tracks. I have been doing tests with DVD-A with only a 5.1 hi-rez track and in this case i can read it, but when the DVD-A offers the choice between stereo and 5.1 in hi-rez, it seems that the player choses only 5.1 track and that i can not change it.

I've try i think all sound configurations in the player menu, and i do not know what to try. has anybody an idea ?
thanks in advance.
Do you know how to reset this player to default settings ?

Bertrand

AZK said:

Unfortunately it did not help. Maybe something is wrong with my player.
Please tell me is it correct:
- In group 5 I have two audio to choose: 1st is 2ch PCM bonus tracks and 2nd is 5ch DTS
- In group 1 I have two audio: both are 2ch MLP.
How it should look like? The first audio 2ch and the second 5channel?
Thanks for your help.

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Is it at all possible your DVD-A section is one of these "Stereo Only" jobbies?
Can you please tell me the make & model, and preferably drop me an email with full details. I really want to get to the bottom of this problem.

Angrom said:

I have exactly the same problem and i can not access the 5.1 hi-rez track (I play the discs on a Marantz DVD6400 DVD player).
I can access the bonus tracks on 5.1 hi-rez but not the album which only plays in hi-rez stereo.

It seems to happen the same when I have the choice between several tracks. I have been doing tests with DVD-A with only a 5.1 hi-rez track and in this case i can read it, but when the DVD-A offers the choice between stereo and 5.1 in hi-rez, it seems that the player choses only 5.1 track and that i can not change it.

I've try i think all sound configurations in the player menu, and i do not know what to try. has anybody an idea ?
thanks in advance.
Do you know how to reset this player to default settings ?

Bertrand

Click to expand...

Bertrand.
It is not clear from your post what you cannot access - one moment you are saying you can only access stereo, but in the next you seem to be saying you can only access surround!
What should happen with the main album is this:
Hit "PLAY" from main menu & you will get the stereo or surround stream, depending on your player setup. If you cannot access surround here with the player set to multichannel, then either there is a problem with the player or a problem with the player setup and/or amplifier connections.
The disc is authored in PGC Block mode, maning ion Group 1 you have both stereo & surround streams and these can both be accessed either
A - by pressing the AUDIO button on the remote & swapping streams from there, or
B - by going into AUDIO SETUP & accessing the stereo or surround options from there.
Any different operation means that there is either a player or a firmware fault, and a problem to be solved.

Again - please send me an email with full details, including make/model/connections used of ALL equipment.

I just received Red from Amazon.uk and have listened to the stereo and 5.1 on the DVD Audio disc. This is a phenomenal release and thanks to all that were involved with its creation.

I give it a 10.

I was just listening to "Red" this morning (a nice eye and ear-opener) and found myself switching back and forth between the hi-res stereo and surround tracks in Group 1.

It's been said that this album - especially since it's essentially a power trio record - doesn't benefit all that much from the expansion from stereo to surround.

Holy moley, switching back and forth from stereo to surround sounded like toggling between AM and FM radio. Wow. Did not expect that.

It's strange: I never really embraced this album when I bought it on vinyl about 25 years ago (still have it), but I oddly crave it now. The jarring, harsh passages contrasted with the lyrical and haunting delicate melodies is quite an experience.

And holy ****, Bruford and Wetton are on friggin' fire toward the end of "Providence." I am completely looking at Wetton's bass playing in a whole new light. They are as tight as clockwork.

When you see discs done as well as these , it annoys that this format never got the support it deserved .

I was probably a little too young when I first heard KC but this time around , and done as well as they are , its an absolute joy

~M~

Felix E. Martinez said:

I was just listening to "Red" this morning (a nice eye and ear-opener) and found myself switching back and forth between the hi-res stereo and surround tracks in Group 1.

It's been said that this album - especially since it's essentially a power trio record - doesn't benefit all that much from the expansion from stereo to surround.

Holy moley, switching back and forth from stereo to surround sounded like toggling between AM and FM radio. Wow. Did not expect that.

It's strange: I never really embraced this album when I bought it on vinyl about 25 years ago (still have it), but I oddly crave it now. The jarring, harsh passages contrasted with the lyrical and haunting delicate melodies is quite an experience.

And holy ****, Bruford and Wetton are on friggin' fire toward the end of "Providence." I am completely looking at Wetton's bass playing in a whole new light. They are as tight as clockwork.

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I was feeling a bit left out here.
Although the AM/FM comparison is a bit extreme(it's more like 8 track to LP), I agree...
I can always spread out the Real Hi Res Stereo mix on DPLII...

kap'n krunch said:

Although the AM/FM comparison is a bit extreme

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LOL, hyperbole, yes, but it was a startling difference...

Felix E. Martinez said:

And holy ****, Bruford and Wetton are on friggin' fire toward the end of "Providence." I am completely looking at Wetton's bass playing in a whole new light. They are as tight as clockwork.

Click to expand...

This interplay as I witnessed in 1974 is why I still play bass today. I've been fortunate to feel at least a tiny fraction of that exhilaration in my band days.

Even though I've had the record since day one, and there are three guys on the cover, I've never really considered it a trio record in the conventional sense. Listening to the trio versions is very educational!

Completely exhilerating and captivating 5.1 mix. Like others here, I waited for the moment the wife pulled out of the driveway to rotate the volume control in a clockwise direction. The bass thrust at the end of Nightmare would have caused a panic attack!

I just got thru with Red this evening after listening to Crimson King. Wow

Totally different style of music. I was familiar with ITCOTCK since I'm a 60's gen'er. Red sounds more like a cross between metal, grunge with jazz overtones. I wonder if Steven Wilson was inspired by this album since it sort of sounds PT-ish

Music wise, I like the musicality of Crimson King better, but surround mix wise, Red is hard to beat! 10
I really like the layering & dimensionality of the sounds.

That's 10 for 2 of them I'll listen to Lizard tomorrow.

This is not merely ambience surround, but a great example of what 5.1 music can be about. Pity we don't have more of 60-70's era albums that were done in quad, like the Santana's, released in SACD/DVDA. I know I'm very pleased that we got the ones we got, like the Moody Blues, Genesis, Doors, Police, DSOTM, and many others. But it would have been nice if all the ELP and Yes catalog could have made it before these formats disappear.

ss9001
Steve

ELP will be 40 in 2010 and they can't convince to buy mere stereo yet again. BSS DVDA proved what can be done.

I gave this one a 9. Although album-wise I like Red better than Court, the 5.1 mix of Court is absolutely outstanding (gave that one a 10)

I dig the trio versions, and like some other folks, I was not a huge fan of Providence, but hearing it in 5.1 gave me a new appreciation of it. I wish there was more bass on some tracks, but I won't complain too much; I'm just happy to be getting quality surround titles these days.

Great job guys! Definitely looking forward to more KC in the future.

Did anybody notice the distortion on the drums in the title track (5.1 Mix, front channels)?
At first listening I thought there was something wrong with my equipment, but other Discs played fine and it only occured on the title track of RED.
Or is it a fault of my DVD?

bloop said:

Did anybody notice the distortion on the drums in the title track (5.1 Mix, front channels)?

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On the cymbals, you mean?

Finally got around to voting on this one as I needed to take more time to listen to it properly. I will not listen to this title as much as ITCOTKC or Lizards as I have a personal preference towards symphonic side of prog and Red is a tougher listen for me. I like the added touch of the violinist in this part of the KC lineup and first song Red sure starts things off in a bang.
For my own tastes I would score a 8 for the music but for the mixing and mastering its a definite 10 so will give overall score as a 10 based on that.

peter

Hi, i also noticed distortion on the first track "RED" in 5.1 DVD Audio section (in the fronts, specially right front channel), im not sure what causes it or if it is just the fuzz on the instruments (or if it is expected), but i also thought my speakers were damaged or something like that, i listened to the stereo section and that distortion is not perceivable.

Overall i gave it a 10, this disc is excellent¡¡¡¡¡¡ i was born in 1976, so i never really grow with King Crimson, but this record is phenomenal, for me is undated, it could have been launched in 2010 and maybe a lot of people would have listened to it.

Starless and Fallen Angel (trio mix) are superb.

Red is an album with lots of distortion *built in*. I suspect you're just hearing what was intended.

I don't hear what some of you are calling "distortion". I am hearing instruments that are recorded with effects and overdrive in the chain, not some kind of recording or mastering distortion. But I am hearing an album that was not recorded all that great. Wilson did what he could with it.

Yeah, the distorsion lies in the respective instrument, no problem here.

Wow, Trio is so good, I can't believe it. I often used to skip it on the LP when listening as a kid, but in the surround mix, cranking up to -6 dB, this great space, the violin slowly moving around... Fantastic.