HiRez Poll Nektar - JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EYE [SACD]

keenly said:

It costs big money to do 5.1 mixes? Does SW charge that much :} DTS DVDs would do me if DVD As and Blu Rays cost too much. Maybe just press LTD edition 2500 copies or something like that? I have emailed Cleopatra to inquire.

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A 5.1 remix doesn't cost millions but it is expensive. Professional music tracks are almost always recorded "dry"(no effects) so a "re-mixer" must add(recreate in digital) all the sound effects that the original recording had.(The original tape machine was patched into a sound board that had all the effects in parallel which were then added during the 2.0 mix down. So yes, a 5.1 remix from the original multi-tracks is a big job and can be a large expense. Like timbre4 said, SW works very cheaply, that is why his services are in such demand(obviously his work being this side of genius helps as well. )

And the original tracks often didn't survive in hifi so some master knowledge is required to restore the sound without changing it.

For me, some Gentle Giant records have what I consider dissonant or at least annoying vocal melodies that I can't dig no matter how many times I force myself. I find this mostly on their first three records. Interestingly enough, their fine keyboardist Kerry Minnear, took over all musical arranging duties for their 4th album onwards and the vocal issues were solved for me. Kerry began to arrange the songs on Octopus and later. But in general, Gentle Giant is not easy listening. For me, Octopus, FH & P&G are bliss. But ya gotta be in the mood for that kind of on the edge music.

About Roye Albrighton's voice: On RTF he has a power voice from the heavens. He belts out so much volume, emotion & passion. His vocals on side two of RTF especially, are pure power, feeling & magnificence. And he can play lead guitar like the dickens! What a fabulous talent that gentleman is!

DennisMoore Jr. said:

A 5.1 remix doesn't cost millions but it is expensive. Professional music tracks are almost always recorded "dry"(no effects) so a "re-mixer" must add(recreate in digital) all the sound effects that the original recording had.(The original tape machine was patched into a sound board that had all the effects in parallel which were then added during the 2.0 mix down. So yes, a 5.1 remix from the original multi-tracks is a big job and can be a large expense. Like timbre4 said, SW works very cheaply, that is why his services are in such demand(obviously his work being this side of genius helps as well. )

And the original tracks often didn't survive in hifi so some master knowledge is required to restore the sound without changing it.

For me, some Gentle Giant records have what I consider dissonant or at least annoying vocal melodies that I can't dig no matter how many times I force myself. I find this mostly on their first three records. Interestingly enough, their fine keyboardist Kerry Minnear, took over all musical arranging duties for their 4th album onwards and the vocal issues were solved for me. Kerry began to arrange the songs on Octopus and later. But in general, Gentle Giant is not easy listening. For me, Octopus, FH & P&G are bliss. But ya gotta be in the mood for that kind of on the edge music.

About Roye Albrighton's voice: On RTF he has a power voice from the heavens. He belts out so much volume, emotion & passion. His vocals on side two of RTF especially, are pure power, feeling & magnificence. And he can play lead guitar like the dickens! What a fabulous talent that gentleman is!

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That doesn't explain why it is expensive. If you have the equipment, all that costs money is electricity, right? How does adding effects cost money? You do all this on a computer, right?

Unless it's someone like SW doing the remixing, who we know does it for love not money, I bet the costs of the engineer, studio time and so on can be quite considerable.

Also, look at it this way, Universal have an archive full of 24/96 stereo masters that need no extra work beyond plonking them on discs - Vs. time, money, effort, resources on doing remixes from multi's.

Business decisions ultimately dictate so much of what we get.. especially from the major labels. we already know the majority of 5.1 releases the last 5+ years have been largely artist rather than label driven, whereas back in both the Quad era and during the SACD/DVD-A format wars days the labels were pushing for surround mostly as a U.S.P. to flog their new formats and when they didn't take off in the way they hoped, the big boys dropped Quad and then decades later DVD-A & surround SACD like veritable hot potatoes.

fredblue said:

RTF's from the Quad don't forget, so it's a bit of a quirky mix (I love it but the sounds a bit shitty unfortunately..).

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Wassup Freddie!

I dare say you need to revisit RTF. Last night I gave it a spin and I forgot how fabulous it is. Especially side two. Like the case insert says, RTF is a 5.1 upmix from the original quad mix tape. But whatever it is, for me it works. Full sounding mix from all directions. It sounds like a fine 5.1 mix if one didn't know better. BTW, do you have Nektar - Live In New York 5.1 SACD?. I bought all the new Nektar remasters from 2004ish plus the three that were releases in 5.1. HUGE difference from the originals. Now we wait for Nektar - Recycled in discrete 5.1

DennisMoore Jr. said:

Wassup Freddie!

I dare say you need to revisit RTF. Last night I gave it a spin and I forgot how fabulous it is. Especially side two. Like the case insert says, RTF is a 5.1 upmix from the original quad mix tape. But whatever it is, for me it works. Full sounding mix from all directions. It sounds like a fine 5.1 mix if one didn't know better. BTW, do you have Nektar - Live In New York 5.1 SACD?. I bought all the new Nektar remasters from 2004ish plus the three that were releases in 5.1. HUGE difference from the originals. Now we wait for Nektar - Recycled in discrete 5.1

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Heya I dare say I do need to revisit RTF, its been a while.. I didn't get the Live disc but got JTTCOTE.. Recycled in surround would be amazing!

keenly said:

Great album. Poor, small sounding drums. It sounds like the drum kit is 6 inches wide. Poor stereo imaging. Bass way too low. I would love SW to redo the Nektar catalog, I would settle for DTS DVDs.

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Just got the SACD today in the mail and have time to listen, love that. Never heard any of it before and was prepared for a trainwreck. The surround mix is legit though it definitely has the mentioned sound issues. I find the content quite satisfying and agree, based on its qualities, a redo is justified. To be clear, it's listenable and I'm enjoying it!

A 7 from me.
Nothing wrong with the surround mix, 5.1 it ain't but so what.
Dynamics are missing unfortunately, would benefit from the 'loudness' switch we had on amplifiers of the past.