MUSIC ONLY! What's Your Latest Blu-Ray or Blu-Ray-A, Concert or Music-Related?

keenly said:

I have the tracks ripped and open in Audacity. The compression is clear to see. The Elton John SACDS have as almost as much compression as modern CDs, that is far too much.

Do you want me t take photos of the tracks in audacity?

Click to expand...

Go ahead.. take pics of whatever you like.

Are you sure you're talking about the 5.1? The Stereo on the EJ SACDs IS dreadfully DR compressed.

How are you doing this analysis? You're taking the 6-channel out from an SACD player into a soundcard on your PC?

Are you arguing with the findings posted on the DR Loudness Wars site? I see you've ignored my post so far.

I want facts not opinion, otherwise your constant bashing of these SACDs has little or no credibility.

fredblue said:

Go ahead.. take pics of whatever you like.

Are you sure you're talking about the 5.1? The Stereo on the EJ SACDs IS dreadfully DR compressed.

How are you doing this analysis? You're taking the 6-channel out from an SACD player into a soundcard on your PC?

Are you arguing with the findings posted on the DR Loudness Wars site? I see you've ignored my post so far.

I want facts not opinion, otherwise your constant bashing of these SACDs has little or no credibility.

Click to expand...

Yellow Brick Road DVDA. Candle in the wind.
FRONT CHANNELS on 5.1 mix

VERY compressed.

fredblue said:

Read my post two posts back about the Dynamic Range on the Captain Fantastic Surround mix and learn something from people who know more about these things than you or I do.

Click to expand...

Audacity is more specific. I have EJ SACDS ripped to DVD Audios. I can look at each channel. Rears on EJ are mostly OK however from L/R are very compressed(5.1 mixes), in fact they are almost at the pint of digital clipping.

Storm Corrosion - BDA
Beck - Sea Change - BDA

anandchristi said:

Storm Corrosion - BDA
Beck - Sea Change - BDA

Click to expand...

These sound great.

Noel Gallagher High Flying Birds Live. Annoying interviews in between songs. OK sound, not great, not bad by any means. This concert does not really capture the sound of the 02 arena, nothing in rears, not even ambiance, most of the crowd in fronts. Excellent songs, much better than i expected. I had not hear the CD prior and was impressed with the new songs. Shame about the editing.

fredblue said:

Just arrived:
Modern Cool - Patricia Barber (BDA).

Click to expand...

Be prepared. The surround is a letdown. Track 1 is great but after that it seems as though the guy mixing loses interest.

wavelength said:

Be prepared. The surround is a letdown. Track 1 is great but after that it seems as though the guy mixing loses interest.

Click to expand...

ah that's a shame iirc LizardKing also mentioned one time the surround mix was nothing special. I trust both your judgement so I'm sure I'll be underwhelmed now, still I found it at a decent-ish price so I thought what the heck I'll go for it. thanks for your insight, I do appreciate it

fredblue said:

ah that's a shame iirc LizardKing also mentioned one time the surround mix was nothing special. I trust both your judgement so I'm sure I'll be underwhelmed now, still I found it at a decent-ish price so I thought what the heck I'll go for it. thanks for your insight, I do appreciate it

Click to expand...

The sonics are top-notch however.

keenly said:

Audacity is more specific. I have EJ SACDS ripped to DVD Audios. I can look at each channel. Rears on EJ are mostly OK however from L/R are very compressed(5.1 mixes), in fact they are almost at the pint of digital clipping.

Click to expand...

there's more detail in waveforms but you can't dispute the DR info.. there's more than acceptable dynamic range by modern rock & pop mastering standards. also, it's compressed (i.e. maximised) and therefore "loud" (louder than it should be) but not horrendously so and there's pretty respectable dynamic range intact anyone can see that, which just means it can't - and doesn't need to be - cranked as loudly while still getting everything across pretty much intact. I agree we have our volume controls and it shouldn't happen but it does and it has in the case of these mixes, deal with it and move on.

I've even seen other members here who are much more technically-minded than me argue that compression can enhance a surround mix rather than be detrimental, in ways that Stereo mixes might suffer if subjected to the same compression. whether or not anybody else here can be bothered to engage you I can't say.. but given the choice of slightly loud but excellent 5.1's of Elton or No 5.1's at all, I imagine a lot of folks here would rather have these excellent mixes than not.

oh and if you want to see terrible compression on Elton's stuff, there's much worse. try out some of the remastered CDs for example.. analyse those and get back to me when you're faced with box hedges for waveforms!

Two wrongs don't make a right, in an ideal world none of these would have unnecessary compression applied but the compression on the EJ 5.1's is far from the worst example you could find.

you droning on about it all the time on here puts new people off who would be missing out on some great examples of 5.1 mixes and bores to tears people like me who know this music inside out and have much 'worse-sounding' (i.e. Very dismally DR compressed and badly EQ'd) versions of these same Elton albums.

Meantime, there's a lot more in 5.1 beyond Elton John and it would be nice to read some post by you that has something genuinely positive and constructive to say about something on here.

Like I said earlier, I'm all for free speech and you have as much right to have your say as anyone but from here on I'm less inclined than ever to give more than a cursory glance to your 'one-note' posts and then ignore them.

wavelength said:

The sonics are top-notch however.

Click to expand...

thats great news, thanks I'm all about the tender mercies of this hobby

Regarding Post #529, I couldn't have said it better.

fredblue said:

.... box hedges for waveforms!

.....

Click to expand...

I like that term:

Have a look at a "box hedged" Nirvana:


The EJ looks quite good compared to that....

EJ may be compressed - but it could be a lot worse....

Perpendicular said:

Regarding Post #529, I couldn't have said it better.

Click to expand...

Thanks matey some of that post probably doesn't read very well (I just went with the flow!) but really if those EJ SACDs were the worst examples of compressed CDs I'd ever heard I'd agree with keenly 100%.

I believe in fairness and credit where its due but the flip side to that is I can't just sit by and watch those discs get unfairly slated when they please a lot of people on their many merits, here and elsewhere and many QQ members long-term and newer are still discovering the many plus points of those discs - its an insult to the hundreds of people here to say they're all wrong and these discs sound like hell. They aren't perfect but they're not unbearably loud and that needs to be said in their defence.

I don't have a great system (never have and doubtless never will be able to afford a really top-flight one) I don't profess to have golden ears or have any technical knowledge, or be qualified to give anything but a personal opinion on any of this stuff.. but the good things about those SACDs are apparent even on low rent gear, to knackered uneducated ears - and people with great equipment and great knowledge and so forth here rate them too - can they all be wrong!?

FWIW I've only ever encountered unwelcome brightness with the GYBR surround mixes the other SACDs are loud but are not bright and have fidelity that utterly wipes the floor with just about every other version going. For folks who don't have the old 80's CDs and who love surround, those SACDs (in 5.1) are far and away the cheapest, easiest way to get truly excellent sounding versions of those Classic albums and the mixes are super active, injecting new life into old records. What more could anyone reasonably ask for!?

LizardKing said:

I like that term:

Have a look at a "box hedged" Nirvana:
View attachment 13849

The EJ looks quite good compared to that....

Click to expand...

Thanks LK its sad to say but there are Elton CDs that look like that too.. and sound unbearable.. just not the 5.1 on the SACDs.

LizardKing said:

Lori Lieberman - Bricks Against The Glass - Pure Audio Blu-ray - Gorgeous!!!

Click to expand...

I'll say it again: The vocals are stunning! Glad to hear someone else got it too

HomerJAU said:

Where did you find this one LK? Its on Amazon UK for 22.77 GBP (a bit steep). Doesn't seem to have been released in AU yet.

Click to expand...

Got mine from Acoustic Sounds...

keenly said:

The mastering is terrible though.

Click to expand...

Newbie question here: What exactly is meant by "mastering?"

fredblue said:

Thanks matey some of that post probably doesn't read very well (I just went with the flow!) but really if those EJ SACDs were the worst examples of compressed CDs I'd ever heard I'd agree with keenly 100%.

I believe in fairness and credit where its due but the flip side to that is I can't just sit by and watch those discs get unfairly slated when they please a lot of people on their many merits, here and elsewhere and many QQ members long-term and newer are still discovering the many plus points of those discs - its an insult to the hundreds of people here to say they're all wrong and these discs sound like hell. They aren't perfect but they're not unbearably loud and that needs to be said in their defence.

I don't have a great system (never have and doubtless never will be able to afford a really top-flight one) I don't profess to have golden ears or have any technical knowledge, or be qualified to give anything but a personal opinion on any of this stuff.. but the good things about those SACDs are apparent even on low rent gear, to knackered uneducated ears - and people with great equipment and great knowledge and so forth here rate them too - can they all be wrong!?

FWIW I've only ever encountered unwelcome brightness with the GYBR surround mixes the other SACDs are loud but are not bright and have fidelity that utterly wipes the floor with just about every other version going. For folks who don't have the old 80's CDs and who love surround, those SACDs (in 5.1) are far and away the cheapest, easiest way to get truly excellent sounding versions of those Classic albums and the mixes are super active, injecting new life into old records. What more could anyone reasonably ask for!?

Click to expand...

Tumbleweed Connection/Madman Across The Water/Mick Ronson/mindblowing :sun

PK said:

I'll say it again: The vocals are stunning! Glad to hear someone else got it too

Click to expand...

It really is stunning isn't it! I don't know why the various Amazon outlets are having such supply issues but I wish more QQ members could hear this Blu-ray, it really is sensational and I'm sure it would get 10's all round in a Poll here.