HiRez Poll Beatles, The - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [BluRay]

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Rate the BDA of The Beatles - SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND


  • Total voters
    150
well..I only had to have one listen to this to vote....
after reading about boosting the rears, YES, you'll get the best results, but , then...I basically change the levels on EVERY disc I play because ...what I have said endless times..everybody's perception/gear/etc. is different...what will sound perfect for SW or ES , will need some tweaking on your system because you are not them and you don't have their gear/setup....

That having been said; Giles and co. played it very safe but very nicely...the bass is round and great; they "respected" the mono version..UP TO A POINT; and it's a great MCH experience...

boys and girls, we got Sgt. Pepper's IN MCH!!!!
HOLY SHEEEEIT!!!!
Is this a WET DREAM COME TRUE OR WHAT????

Now...I loved mostly everything...the rears get a workout (and PLEASE keep in mind that Lennon RECORDED his vocals WITH the FX all the time, so , that is why you don't get him in the rears!) and it's "a splendid time is guaranteed for all"...

now, my -1 point:
- we don't get Paul's "Thank you very much...(whatever he says)" in Sgt Pepper's Reprise nearly as loud as the Mono -nor the extra guitars , and there were some main things missing (sitar, maybe?) in SFF
AAAAAANNNNNND
they committed the ULTIMATE sin...(have they NOT learned??)
NO
MUSIC
IN
THE
MENU!!!!


Now, bring on the White album and the rest!!!

BTW, love the book!



..where are my marbles ;) ???

oh yes.. the music in the menu really started to get on my nerves after the 2nd and particularly the 3rd playthroughs.. in fact I don't really like the way the BD is authored much it seems kinda clunky.
 
I rated this a "7" based on the surround (would have preferred just buying only the blu ray, and none of the other CDs, but that's me).

My personal "10" comparative is Beck's SEA CHANGE. I'm not that big a fan of his, but man, what a beautiful sound in multi !!! It's my demo disk for my system, and even my 91 year old dad, who visited once while I was playing it, remarked on how good it sounded!

ADDENDUM: Yes, NO MUSIC ON THE MENU! Really gets on my nerves to hear a splice going over and over and over. . . .
 
I've now listened to this every night since the day I got it. I do truly love it. Even with everyone's comments, which are all valid, I still feel as strongly about this. Maybe I'm blinded by the enormity (spelling??) of Pepper and what it means to me and others. I dunno. I still like the way it sounds and I could care less that I've raised the rear channels and lowered the center. I just...don't...care.... I get a big smile when I listen to this. I can't explain it, but I do. It has one heck of a lot of warts, and again...I don't care. I just don't. Someone mentioned this doesn't sound as good as The Doors SACD from this same era. I don't know, I think it does. While it does sound different for sure, I can't pin-point why I like this so much. Could it be the fidelity and clarity that is swooning me? Maybe.....again...don't...care.

This is special to me and I just get crazy thinking about future Beatles box sets.

Many days later.....I still like my vote of 10. :) I truly feel bad for those that feel that same sinking feeling from this. Bummer... :(
 
Having spent all week referencing the various mono/stereo/5.1 mixes on this package--and as others have noted the presentation itself is a solid 10--overall, after a lot of listening to the 5.1, it ultimately gets a '9' from this grateful but mildly frustrated listener.

The frustration comes from Giles Martin's conservative fashion of remixing to 5.1. Again, as others have noted here, he did so impressive a job with the LOVE project, which makes me now believe that, without constraints--it was, after all, a collection of remixes and mashes, or whatever--he went full throttle in giving us that tingly feeling of the first time we heard some of those great recordings. For those uninitiated with the reasoning behind the package it was maddening, true; but also, keep on listening, hear the potential for future 5.1 Beatles.

Unlike a certain previous video compilation (gag, choke) this time we hear 5.1 without straining or endlessly adjusting to be sure. For the most part the mixes range from the conventional to, at certain moments, just about 'right' for the individual song and spirit of the instrumentation and original (mono and stereo) mixes (albeit problematic); that is, Martin and his associates give us extra added clarity and detail and yet keep everything 'together' in 5.1 in a way a more expansive mix might have diffused and distracted too much (though that's one I'd love to hear before I journey to Saturn to meet Sun Ra, John Coltrane, and Mr. Lennon). As it is, it's kind of like moving from the old yet wonderful original black & white (mono) to the faulty Technicolor (original stereo) to something tweaked and polished for modern ears, yet attempting to retain the magic of old (CinemaScope or, these days, I guess, Arriflex of whatever widescreen processes are used for cinema).

There is no denying some genuinely fun (if expected) touches in the mixes, which one can hear on "Lucy" and "Kite" most blatantly.
Rather than up my rear channel volumes, I moved back further or to one side or the other to get a tad better sense of separation. There are scattered moments not wholly expected, like the movement of guitar from the end of "Good Morning" in the rear to the intro of the Reprise in the front (this is probably what some wanted more than we got).

It was also that reference point that bothered me. This box includes the original mono mix, which this old kid has heard too many times to say, but the one thing a listener to this mix never forgets is that flawed transition in mono, which is a split second separation but, beyond that, what sounds like 'tape drag' during the Reprise intro (that, and before the countoff, there is an extra few beats compared to all other versions--including the original stereo and the stereo and 5.1 remixes). And so, although Giles referenced the mono in spirit, most often, in reality, he could not do the same for the new 5.1, possibly because there are some things too tough to try to mimic in the digital realm, or (IMO) maybe the time taken to remix from the original tapes was less time than it took to record PEPPER itself, with mixes so complex and intricate that any 'new' mix of any kind would be found wanting; and maybe (and I think it's true) you only get one pass at 'magic' when it comes to mixing your newest music, and the mono PEPPER had that magic (the band was around for the mono, not the stereo) and, listening to it yet again, a reminder of what is murky and hidden can be wonderful mystery (think of the muddy mess of Gary Bonds' early LeGrand recordings). The original stereo mix wasn't really so bad, just, at times and in hindsight, a bit too obvious and diffuse for comfort; maybe the mixing equipment of the time wasn't elaborate enough, maybe not enough time or thought taken with what was an 'obligatory' stereo mix in a teen world that was still mainly mono in mid-'67. That is rectified here to a degree, as with the title track intro.

Yet the minuses don't outweigh what is wonderful about this box set (and the 5.1's of "Strawberry Fields" and esp. "Penny Lane" are just close to sublime). The nostalgia/being young back then factor carries a lot of weight, but the sheer, dazzling creativity of these guys at this time--because or in spite of drugs--remains unassailable. For me it's the equivalent of a magic show with lots of 3-D lights (kind of what I saw at a Perfume concert a few years ago), sonic glitter and fuss. And still a lot of fuggin' fun.

A strong '9.5' for sonics, '8.5' for mix, '10' for package/presentation. Expensive but essential.


ED :)
 
I've been living with this in the car this week. I've been skipping around because I really like the way some tracks sound, others not so much.

My favorites are Fixing a Hole and the trio of Good Morning - Reprise - A Day in the Life, and Penny Lane. To me these are pretty damn good for their age. My biggest disappointment in Lucy in the Sky, but it might just be that I can barely listen to the song after years of loving and listening, it's too worn in my brain to enjoy and only a great surround mix would have fixed that - and sadly it's not a great surround mix. And that damn trumpet ending on Penny Lane! Why didn't they add it to the 5.1 mix since the 5.1 mix is a totally new mix. But hey, that got me in trouble at you-know-where, and so it goes. I still hear it in my head.

No matter how hard I try, I just don't like Within You and Without You. Yes, it has a decent surround mix, but I just can't warm up to that song - even 50 years later. I would have much preferred "Only A Northern Song" to be there, but alas, Paul and George Martin do not agree. :)

So, it's remarkable that after 14 or so years of QQ we finally have a classic Beatles album release that's not a film audio track, documentary track, or stage show track. We all heard that Abbey Road was coming on DVD-A way back when and now in 2017 we got Sgt Pepper. That alone is somewhat astounding.

If we get the White Album next, that would be sweet. Many songs on that double LP do not lend themselves to surround, but others most certainly do. We'll have to see how Apple handles the mix.

I fully understand how members can be disappointed, because the early Sgt Pepper stems that were out there show that a really discrete version could have been made, but with a classic album like this one form had to be followed. Too many hands in the pot and a wild and crazy mix was just not in the cards.

But vote your conscience, don't buckle to peer pressure, rate the mix as you feel. There is nothing wrong with that. But, please comment along with your vote.
 
This disc isn't for me. I just don't get on with the way Giles and Sam do things.

Well, Ox (and hey, ain't seen ya in a bit!) :music, it's like this: if you have the space in your listening area, you just move your chair (or whatever) nearer the rears and away from the fronts. Sounds stupid but that's generally what I do, though my amp does have volume controls for all channels (very seldom employed: adjust for one recording, and so many others sound wrong).

I listened to 3 of my favourite 5.1 discs (Shangri La, Matt's Mood, The Stranger) and then went back to Sgt Pepper. No thank you.

It's gone upstairs to gather dust with Endless River, Rattle That Lock, and the other failures.

Sit on it for a year or two, put it on eBay...you'll more than get your money back, heh...

ED :)
 
High marks for clarity and content, not enthusiastic about the "loudness." But you can compensate by turning your system down. Still sounds very good. Rated an 8.
 
I tossed on the blu-ray (MCH) tonight and cranked it (after raising the rears +3db). It sounds really good, better than I expected. The clarity is breathtaking, I'm hearing things that like someone else pointed out, were muddled in previous stereo mixes...now all the instruments are standing out on their own. Lots of air and the fronts/center sound big & expansive, filling the room. There's discrete elements blended in the fronts and in the rears. Like others, I was hoping for a wild ride of a mix, but this works very well.

Raising the volume on the rears definitely helped immensely. I head-banged, tapped my feet and swayed side-to-side, a sign I enjoyed this mix and I'm looking forward to listening to it on repeat.

The only quirk I noticed (and maybe it has to do with my Oppo BDP-103) is that when I skipped a track the first split second appears to cut off. Anyone else experience this?

Rated it a 9.

Getting that on my Yamaha player as well. Bad authoring it seems. Haven't played the DVD yet. Maybe it's different on that disc?
 
But vote your conscience, don't buckle to peer pressure, rate the mix as you feel. There is nothing wrong with that. But, please comment along with your vote.

My conscience doesn't permit me to say too much.

It is only too obvious that one hell of a lot of thought and work has gone into to the big box set. There are a lot of lovely features. The artwork and presentation are stellar.

I love that LP sleeve - the initial thought that it might have the LPs inside - let's have a look and see what's in there!

I bung the Blu-ray into the player. I find my way to playing the main album. It starts playing in stereo. I press the sound button on the remote control. The three options display on the screen, but it won't let me select any. I have to graunch all the way to the bottom of the menu to get to the audio selection. Why can't it be authored so that the colour buttons work? Why can't it be authored so that the sound options can be selected by the remote control?

For me the optimum would be a solitary Blu-ray disc in a super jewel box:

  • The new stereo mix
  • The new 5.1 mix
  • The original mono mix - no futzing
  • The original stereo mix - no futzing
  • The original 5.1 mixes - no futzing
  • The outtakes, stages etc. - all of them - no futzing


And, although I always want the physical product, all the above in minimum 24/96 (except the original 5.1 - in whatever they were in the first place) FLAC/ALAC - as downloads from The Beatles.com
 
ok, my box arrives later this morning, now let me tell you how I dread its arrival.
I thought 1 was a surround disaster and was more than p.o.'d about the lack of imagination in the rears.
I thought SFF was the best of the lot but was still a major disappointment compared to the Anthology surround mix.
I keep hearing the word CONSERVATIVE everywhere I look concerning this album..hint...the idea was to NOT BE CONSERVATIVE!!!

Yes, some of the early stereo panning was a bit over the top but it was also showing the young'uns the magic of moving music.
This surround mix should be adventurous, not conservative.
I think even with the panning, the stereo Strawberry Fields is a wonderful mix that could only be improved by centering the drums more.

IMO Pepper has swirly moments that call for the music to swirl.

I'm going to try to be fair and make up my own mind later this morning but I'm looking at my Torch and Pitchfork and I'm more than a little upset that of all Beatles albums, the one that screams PSYCHEDELIC the most gets treated CONSERVATIVE. Ug!
 
Maybe they should have done two 5.1 mixes - a conservative one (like we got) and a wild and crazy mix for the rest of us : )

I've been living with this in the car this week. I've been skipping around because I really like the way some tracks sound, others not so much.

My favorites are Fixing a Hole and the trio of Good Morning - Reprise - A Day in the Life, and Penny Lane. To me these are pretty damn good for their age. My biggest disappointment in Lucy in the Sky, but it might just be that I can barely listen to the song after years of loving and listening, it's too worn in my brain to enjoy and only a great surround mix would have fixed that - and sadly it's not a great surround mix. And that damn trumpet ending on Penny Lane! Why didn't they add it to the 5.1 mix since the 5.1 mix is a totally new mix. But hey, that got me in trouble at you-know-where, and so it goes. I still hear it in my head.

No matter how hard I try, I just don't like Within You and Without You. Yes, it has a decent surround mix, but I just can't warm up to that song - even 50 years later. I would have much preferred "Only A Northern Song" to be there, but alas, Paul and George Martin do not agree. :)

So, it's remarkable that after 14 or so years of QQ we finally have a classic Beatles album release that's not a film audio track, documentary track, or stage show track. We all heard that Abbey Road was coming on DVD-A way back when and now in 2017 we got Sgt Pepper. That alone is somewhat astounding.

If we get the White Album next, that would be sweet. Many songs on that double LP do not lend themselves to surround, but others most certainly do. We'll have to see how Apple handles the mix.

I fully understand how members can be disappointed, because the early Sgt Pepper stems that were out there show that a really discrete version could have been made, but with a classic album like this one form had to be followed. Too many hands in the pot and a wild and crazy mix was just not in the cards.

But vote your conscience, don't buckle to peer pressure, rate the mix as you feel. There is nothing wrong with that. But, please comment along with your vote.
 
A 'conservative' mix doesn't necessarily make a bad mix, and I don't think this one is *bad* at all, but certainly the potential for some real flash'n'the pan razzle-dazzle commensurate with the project itself, which was blatantly obvious with LOVE, is simply not present here. We do get some nice things here and there, but I think that's the problem some listeners will find, that there's not enough sparkle in 5.1, though I don't think many would argue that the added clarity and discrete nature of the mix (and it can be argued it's not quite discrete enough, of course) was not worth the effort.

The only time I rate a mix a '10' is when I hear something where I've no doubt not much more could have been done, which is subjective enough. And as we know, some mixes have to be conventional by dint of the musical style, which is why so many country quads are nice to hear but not all that exciting--kinda like the music. PEPPER is not one of those, obviously! :sun Which is why I voted a '9,' I just think there was more fairy dust to toss on an album like this, though as is it is impressive in many ways.

Now that I've made it this far, got to survive disease and pestilence long enough to hear WHITE in 5.1. Hopefully there'll be enough clamoring to get the Apple Corps gang to do that one.

ED :)
 
ok.. I got it. I played it. I HATED IT.
WAY WAY WAAAAAAAAAAYYYY TOO FRONT CENTRIC!
I so wanted to like this. Why would I spend 100 clams on something that just sits and gathers dust? Sadly, that's what will happen with this atrocity.
Yes the box is nice and book is cool and outtakes fine etc..but I bought this for surround and I'm more than disappointed, I'm downright angry.

This could so easily have been a fun demo disc for family and friends but alas I find it an embarrassment and would never, ever use this to demonstrate how cool surround is. What a major, major pity.

Within You Without You had a decent mix as the animals at the end of Good Morning but the rest was just terrible to my ears. I mean c'mon, when the album starts the audience should be behind you not in front...that's just a start I could spend pages ripping this apart.

I'll just leave it with a horrible rating of 3.

Strawberry Fields does have a decent surround mix here, pretty sure this is different than 1.
 
ok.. I got it. I played it. I HATED IT.
WAY WAY WAAAAAAAAAAYYYY TOO FRONT CENTRIC!
I so wanted to like this. Why would I spend 100 clams on something that just sits and gathers dust? Sadly, that's what will happen with this atrocity.
Yes the box is nice and book is cool and outtakes fine etc..but I bought this for surround and I'm more than disappointed, I'm downright angry.

This could so easily have been a fun demo disc for family and friends but alas I find it an embarrassment and would never, ever use this to demonstrate how cool surround is. What a major, major pity.

Within You Without You had a decent mix as the animals at the end of Good Morning but the rest was just terrible to my ears. I mean c'mon, when the album starts the audience should be behind you not in front...that's just a start I could spend pages ripping this apart.

I'll just leave it with a horrible rating of 3.

You should try turning up the rear channels about 3 dB (you might like the surround mix more!)
 
maybe the Dolby Atmos 7.1 presentation will be THE surround mix some of us were hoping for...
maybe Apple Corps will release it as a standalone (3D? ;) ) BD..?? :yikes
 
ok.. I got it. I played it. I HATED IT.
WAY WAY WAAAAAAAAAAYYYY TOO FRONT CENTRIC!
I so wanted to like this. Why would I spend 100 clams on something that just sits and gathers dust? Sadly, that's what will happen with this atrocity.
Yes the box is nice and book is cool and outtakes fine etc..but I bought this for surround and I'm more than disappointed, I'm downright angry.

This could so easily have been a fun demo disc for family and friends but alas I find it an embarrassment and would never, ever use this to demonstrate how cool surround is. What a major, major pity.

Within You Without You had a decent mix as the animals at the end of Good Morning but the rest was just terrible to my ears. I mean c'mon, when the album starts the audience should be behind you not in front...that's just a start I could spend pages ripping this apart.

I'll just leave it with a horrible rating of 3.

Strawberry Fields does have a decent surround mix here, pretty sure this is different than 1.

I feel very much the same as you lennonfan.. of all the missed opportunities to be adventurous in surround mixing, this is right up there for me as a serious contender of a classic album that almost warrants some risk taking in remixing it for Multichannel!

though where we differ a bit is at this stage I'm veering more to a 'high' 7 overall, possibly a 'low' 8.. but that's for the overall package, taking other aspects into account beyond the 5.1 mixes.. if it were a score on the 5.1 surround alone I think i'd be somewhere in the 4-5 region (yes, I'm that underwhelmed :( ) but I'm not ready to vote here yet.

Strawberry Fields & Penny Lane are the surround highlights so far of this one for me (not what I was expecting!) but they still aren't really anything out of this world.
 
I feel very much the same as you lennonfan.. of all the missed opportunities to be adventurous in surround mixing, this is right up there for me as a serious contender of a classic album that almost warrants some risk taking in remixing it for Multichannel! ...

I often wonder how some would react to this 5.1 mix if the Love album had not preceded it. I suspect that most of us would not have a very good grasp on what could be done with the earlier 4-track master tapes to develop this 5.1 mix.

Also, some of our younger crew were not blessed with first hearing Sgt Pepper on a system that's primary purpose was to be a piece of furniture rather than a hi-fi system. Then came the mid-fi stereo mix that really didn't sound all that good on modern setups. Until about 10 years ago, us old farts could only hear a Pepper that sounded this good in our wildest imaginations.
 
I feel very much the same as you lennonfan.. of all the missed opportunities to be adventurous in surround mixing, this is right up there for me as a serious contender of a classic album that almost warrants some risk taking in remixing it for Multichannel!

though where we differ a bit is at this stage I'm veering more to a 'high' 7 overall, possibly a 'low' 8.. but that's for the overall package, taking other aspects into account beyond the 5.1 mixes.. if it were a score on the 5.1 surround alone I think i'd be somewhere in the 4-5 region (yes, I'm that underwhelmed :( ) but I'm not ready to vote here yet.

Strawberry Fields & Penny Lane are the surround highlights so far of this one for me (not what I was expecting!) but they still aren't really anything out of this world.


I don't know, I'm kinda sad about you guys who don't get it...I do understand personal expectations and the previous "Love" Super high expectations . like mine, but I do think it is a quite ..ehem..appropriate mix...

It IS the BEATLES we talkin' bout...
Sargeant Peperr's nevertheless, with all the dozens and dozens of times I've heard , mostly the Stereo on LP...the mono version was a reveletion, and now we get the multichannel mix, which is a heaven sent...

Most of you will not like the simile, (although I think THIS mix is MUCH better), is the RUSH MCH MCH mixes and their consevative mixes....

:couch

I LOVE IT!!!
 
This surround mix is the best version of Pepper I've heard, and my favorite by far. One great thing about re-releases of albums we already own is that you rediscover how much you love them! I hadn't listened to Pepper since Beatles Rockband days, and here I am listening daily again. Good times:banana:
 
I don't know, I'm kinda sad about you guys who don't get it...I do understand personal expectations and the previous "Love" Super high expectations . like mine, but I do think it is a quite ..ehem..appropriate mix...

It IS the BEATLES we talkin' bout...
Sargeant Peperr's nevertheless, with all the dozens and dozens of times I've heard , mostly the Stereo on LP...the mono version was a reveletion, and now we get the multichannel mix, which is a heaven sent...

Most of you will not like the simile, (although I think THIS mix is MUCH better), is the RUSH MCH MCH mixes and their consevative mixes....

:couch

I LOVE IT!!!

Good comparison with Rush, I agree the Pepper surround mix is much better than the best of the Rush mixes (Farewell To Kings and Moving Pictures).
 
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