HiRez Poll Yes - CLOSE TO THE EDGE [DVD-AUDIO/BLU-RAY]

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Rate the DVD-A/BDA of YES - CLOSE TO THE EDGE


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    143
Anyone with any insider knowledge know whether more copies of this will be coming? I've had my brick & mortar checking on it weekly since release date and it is always "Out of Stock", and has never in fact ever been in stock with the big US distributors. Is this a case iof I had to buy it direct or I'll never see it? (Except perhaps on Ebay for $200.... in a year or so) John
 
This is really not working for me. Perhaps I have a bad copy of the DVD-A.

I find this to be bright to the point of harshness when played loud, (peaks of 95-100db), lacking balance between soft and loud passages (the "I get up, I get down" lines during the organ break are so soft as to be almost inaudible, requiring a volume bump that has to be turned down once the organ kicks in), and the 4-channel spread is fairly conservative, where IMO there is ample opportunity to really have at it. The "I get up, I get down" lines could have been sent to the rears at volume.

Steve's work on Benefit and the KC 5.1s are among the best 5.1 mixes I own. If I am the only one experiencing these problems, than maybe it is a faulty copy.
 
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Anyone with any insider knowledge know whether more copies of this will be coming? I've had my brick & mortar checking on it weekly since release date and it is always "Out of Stock", and has never in fact ever been in stock with the big US distributors. Is this a case iof I had to buy it direct or I'll never see it? (Except perhaps on Ebay for $200.... in a year or so) John

Amazon has them:
http://www.amazon.com/Close-Edge-Ye...9657930&sr=8-1&keywords=close+to+the+edge+dvd
 
This is really not working for me. Perhaps I have a bad copy of the DVD-A.

I find this to be bright to the point of harshness when played loud, (peaks of 95-100db), lacking balance between soft and loud passages (the "I get up, I get down" lines during the organ break are so soft as to be almost inaudible, requiring a volume bump that has to be turned down once the organ kicks in), and the 4-channel spread is fairly conservative, where IMO there is ample opportunity to really have at it. The "I get up, I get down" lines could have been sent to the rears at volume.

Steve's work on Benefit and the KC 5.1s are among the best 5.1 mixes I own. If I am the only one experiencing these problems, than maybe it is a faulty copy.

If you're getting peaks of 95-100 db but the IGUIGD section is almost inaudible, something is definitely wrong. The title track is very dynamic and SW's mix has great dynamic range, but nothing that disparate. Either your disc is defective or something else is wrong. Have you tried another disc after this to ensure something hasn't slipped in your setup? I've been listening to this album for over 35 years and I found the balance to be very pleasing and appropriate in the 5.1 mix, though it does need to be played loud. But peaks of 95-100 db are plenty loud- louder than I've played it, which is saying something. Though it does seem strange that a disc would only be defective in the way you describe.
 
:mad:@:I'm highly embarassed.....makes me wonder what our two major music distributors think they should stock. Thanks. John

YW. I see no need for embarrassment... I gave up looking for surround music in B & M's a long time ago. Maybe it's better in big cities, but in my relatively small town, the supply was always small, even in the limited "heyday" of sacd/dvd-a, and it's been pretty non-existent since.

Enjoy the disc- you're in for a real treat!
 
If you're getting peaks of 95-100 db but the IGUIGD section is almost inaudible, something is definitely wrong. The title track is very dynamic and SW's mix has great dynamic range, but nothing that disparate. Either your disc is defective or something else is wrong. Have you tried another disc after this to ensure something hasn't slipped in your setup? I've been listening to this album for over 35 years and I found the balance to be very pleasing and appropriate in the 5.1 mix, though it does need to be played loud. But peaks of 95-100 db are plenty loud- louder than I've played it, which is saying something. Though it does seem strange that a disc would only be defective in the way you describe.
It is not the entire IGUIGD section, just the lyric "IGUIGD".
I played the Benefit 5.1 again at volume, and it is still one of the best.
 
If you are using analog with the Oppo 93, then bass management is done in the Oppo, not the amp. I set my 103 crossover to 80hz. Depending on what speakers you have, try different settings. Most are at 80. I use Polk rti8 with a 12" Polk sub.
It sounds just fine. If bass overpowers I use the bass adjustment on my avr.

So I tried different crossover settings on the oppo (40 to 150) and it barely made any difference. I also set the dynamic range to Auto, and that didn't improve anything much. And I can't (won't) set my speakers to small on my amp, 'cos they're not small! Is there anything else I can do?
I listened to the accompanying cd and still found it bassy. So I compared to 3 other versions I have (original Atlantic cd bought around '90 I think! - the version on the Yesyears box, and the live version from Symphonic Yes) Both those old cd versions have less bass. Well, not less but less presence. They lacked punch. The Yesyears version is worse 'cos it's very trebble happy! So I understood why I felt the new one had more bass. It is very in-your-face powerful, so I can learn to live with it. But I do not need the sub at all. The version on Symphonic Yes doesn't sound very good, which is sad. The bass is kinda lost in all that's going on. It's a shame 'cos the performance is really interesting. Jon's voice hasn't changed over time!
 
PS- when I tried to access any of the extras, besides the 5.1 MLP of America (which is just as awesome a mix as the album is), the dvd stopped playing. Changing the setting in my dvd setup menu from audio to video gives me access to the extras, so if you are having this problem, try that solution (of course, then you lose access to the MLP mixes). I don't believe I have this issue w/ any other dvd-a's, but then again on many of them, all I ever listen to is the MLP 5.1 mix.

Even though I will rarely listen to them, what a great collection of extras. I do wish, however, that they could have included the instrumentals on the dvd, but that's just a statement, not a complaint. I doubt there was enough room. But I'd have traded the alternate album for the instrumentals.

Hello my friend from the North:

This is exactly why God gave us BluRay. :smokin

I bought the bluray CTTE and a $90 clearance Samsung player(retails for $175.00) and I revel in DTS-Master audio heaven(my receiver does the decoding). The LPCM 5.1 is fine too!

DVD-Audio(I still have my Oppo) is SO year 2002. Get with the program. (y)
 
This is really not working for me. Perhaps I have a bad copy of the DVD-A.

I find this to be bright to the point of harshness when played loud, (peaks of 95-100db), lacking balance between soft and loud passages (the "I get up, I get down" lines during the organ break are so soft as to be almost inaudible, requiring a volume bump that has to be turned down once the organ kicks in), and the 4-channel spread is fairly conservative, where IMO there is ample opportunity to really have at it. The "I get up, I get down" lines could have been sent to the rears at volume.

Steve's work on Benefit and the KC 5.1s are among the best 5.1 mixes I own. If I am the only one experiencing these problems, than maybe it is a faulty copy.

Like our good friend ProgRules said, check out your system. Maybe you have some aggressive room correction? Maybe your kids are blasting Master P in the room next door?

If the optical disc was bad it wouldn't play. There's no way your disc would play but with different dynamics than others. They do test these discs extensively. I have the bluray and it sounds fantastic.

I do agree with you about the actual surround mix. I could have gone for a more agressive mix like for example the organ BLASTING out of the rears! But still I consider SW's mix priceless and the first material thing I would grab to save if my house was on fire. :smokin
 
So I tried different crossover settings on the oppo (40 to 150) and it barely made any difference. I also set the dynamic range to Auto, and that didn't improve anything much. And I can't (won't) set my speakers to small on my amp, 'cos they're not small! Is there anything else I can do?


According to you, your amp doesn't do bass management of 6ch analog inputs, so it's a moot point. But physically large speakers can still be -- and usually are -- 'small', acoustically. That is, they don't really have the bass frequency range extension that a subwoofer would. So offloading the low bass to a sub is usually a good idea.

There being "barely any difference' between 40 Hz and 150 Hz crossover setting *in the Oppo* sounds odd to me. Those should result in notably different output from the sub. Does your sub have its own crossover? If so you should turn it off (or set it to its highest frequency if you can;t turn it off) before applying the Oppo's bass management.
 
Hello my friend from the North:

This is exactly why God gave us BluRay. :smokin

I bought the bluray CTTE and a $90 clearance Samsung player(retails for $175.00) and I revel in DTS-Master audio heaven(my receiver does the decoding). The LPCM 5.1 is fine too!

DVD-Audio(I still have my Oppo) is SO year 2002. Get with the program. (y)

Oh, I am w/ the program. I have a ps3 for blu-ray. I prefer dvd-a b/c, in general (w/ some exceptions), you can just load a dvd-a and get it to play the hi-rez 5.1 material w/o needing to turn on your monitor. I generally prefer to listen to music in the dark and I don't like turning my big-screen on and off any more than I have to. So I chose dvd-a over BR. Saving a few bucks doesn't hurt either.

Now if we're talking concerts, I'll take a BR over a dvd anyday, but of course that's a whole different story- better pic and sound. But given the same sound quality, I will continue to choose dvd-a. Not to mention, someday I hope to have a mch system in my car, where currently dvd-a RULES over BR. Of course, by the time I can get that system, there might be mobile BR. How about an Oppo universal head-unit?
 
According to you, your amp doesn't do bass management of 6ch analog inputs, so it's a moot point. But physically large speakers can still be -- and usually are -- 'small', acoustically. That is, they don't really have the bass frequency range extension that a subwoofer would. So offloading the low bass to a sub is usually a good idea.

There being "barely any difference' between 40 Hz and 150 Hz crossover setting *in the Oppo* sounds odd to me. Those should result in notably different output from the sub. Does your sub have its own crossover? If so you should turn it off (or set it to its highest frequency if you can;t turn it off) before applying the Oppo's bass management.

Another thing to keep in mind re: setting mains to small- even if they are full-range, if you're using Audyssey (or other room correction that works on low frequencies) is that it's suggested to set your mains to small regardless, so you can take advantage of the bass correction. It's possible that you're hearing too much bass b/c your listening position and sub placement has some of the bass frequencies being reinforced.

Of course, using analog in, you can't use room correction anyway, but something to keep in mind if/ when you upgrade to an hdmi set-up.
 
I prefer dvd-a b/c, in general (w/ some exceptions), you can just load a dvd-a and get it to play the hi-rez 5.1 material w/o needing to turn on your monitor. I generally prefer to listen to music in the dark and I don't like turning my big-screen on and off any more than I have to. So I chose dvd-a over BR.
Your are right - I don't want to turn on my TV either. With blu-ray I found that I can write down the button sequence (along with the Group # if necessary) on a piece of paper and insert in the disc case. It's not as simple as loading a dvd-a but it does work for most of my blu-rays.
 
Your are right - I don't want to turn on my TV either. With blu-ray I found that I can write down the button sequence (along with the Group # if necessary) on a piece of paper and insert in the disc case. It's not as simple as loading a dvd-a but it does work for most of my blu-rays.

I've tried to memorize the button pushes for my Aqualung BR, but I haven't. I need to write them down for this and my other BR's, but I'm such a procrastinator...
 
According to you, your amp doesn't do bass management of 6ch analog inputs, so it's a moot point. But physically large speakers can still be -- and usually are -- 'small', acoustically. That is, they don't really have the bass frequency range extension that a subwoofer would. So offloading the low bass to a sub is usually a good idea.

My Front L/R speakers have 2 8" woofers each, so they can handle bass just fine

There being "barely any difference' between 40 Hz and 150 Hz crossover setting *in the Oppo* sounds odd to me. Those should result in notably different output from the sub. Does your sub have its own crossover? If so you should turn it off (or set it to its highest frequency if you can;t turn it off) before applying the Oppo's bass management.

It does, but that won't change a thing since I have to turn it off completely for this particular disc. Are there other bass management settings I can change within the Oppo?

Another thing to keep in mind re: setting mains to small- even if they are full-range, if you're using Audyssey (or other room correction that works on low frequencies) is that it's suggested to set your mains to small regardless, so you can take advantage of the bass correction. It's possible that you're hearing too much bass b/c your listening position and sub placement has some of the bass frequencies being reinforced.

Of course, using analog in, you can't use room correction anyway, but something to keep in mind if/ when you upgrade to an hdmi set-up.

Well, I will try to set them to small and see if it changes anything

^ Or, you're using bass from both sub and main large speakers.

No I'm not. My sub is set to "LFE" on my amp settings, but I just might try that! Setting it to L/R+LFE will probably send some of the extra bass to the sub, which is off, so in theory should give me less bass.

Thank you guys for the tips btw. We're getting a little off-topic, but since I'm not the only one experiencing too much bass from this blu-ray, it might help others too. I'll have to test this later on this week, 'cos the wife is getting tired or having to hear the same CTTE extract with all the settings I'm trying!
 
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