I dug out my 1999 DVD of Yellow Submarine which includes an isolated music track of the film. Since there are a couple of Sgt Pepper tunes in the film, and the soundtrack was mixed for 5.1, I thought I would compare the two mixes since there is so much diversion on the "conservative" mix of the Sgt Pepper album on the 50th Anniversary edition.
Well, the Yellow Submarine Mix is a much more discrete mix. This 1999 mix has clear pinpoint channel assignments for different musical elements, where the 50th Anniversary mix puts thing in a sound filed as opposed to a channel.
For example, there is a percussion bell/glock that is heard during the bridge on this song. You know, "Vera, Chuck, and Dave", do-do-do-do-do-do-do ding, ding, ding, etc
Well, on the 50th Anniversary mix, the Glock is in the front and rear lefts, somewhere in the listening field. In the YSS mix, you can see it clear as day isolated in the rear channels, as indicated by the red circles I drew on the wav form. Neither is technically better, just a different approach.
This shows that it was a specific decision to mix the album the way they did in 2017, not because the discrete elements were not available to them. This is probably why so many fans are ticked off the the mix is so tame. They clearly went for the sanctity of the original mix as opposed to creating a new, spectacular version for the 2000's.
Also, Paul's lead vocal is 95% center channel only in the YSS mix, where he's spread between all front channels in the 50th. The 50th does have advantages in the mix at places, as the piano is much clearer and located in the rears whereas the YSS mix kinda buries it in the fronts. You can see the piano in the middle of the 50th wav, right under the 1:15 mark, circled in blue.
Listening back and forth on the PC with the files in Sound Forge, I can almost understand the choices made in both cases. Neither is "right", both have their advantages. It's nice to have two different approaches.
The top wav if the BluRay 50th Anniversary mix, the lower wav the Yellow Submarine isolated music mix.
Well, the Yellow Submarine Mix is a much more discrete mix. This 1999 mix has clear pinpoint channel assignments for different musical elements, where the 50th Anniversary mix puts thing in a sound filed as opposed to a channel.
For example, there is a percussion bell/glock that is heard during the bridge on this song. You know, "Vera, Chuck, and Dave", do-do-do-do-do-do-do ding, ding, ding, etc
Well, on the 50th Anniversary mix, the Glock is in the front and rear lefts, somewhere in the listening field. In the YSS mix, you can see it clear as day isolated in the rear channels, as indicated by the red circles I drew on the wav form. Neither is technically better, just a different approach.
This shows that it was a specific decision to mix the album the way they did in 2017, not because the discrete elements were not available to them. This is probably why so many fans are ticked off the the mix is so tame. They clearly went for the sanctity of the original mix as opposed to creating a new, spectacular version for the 2000's.
Also, Paul's lead vocal is 95% center channel only in the YSS mix, where he's spread between all front channels in the 50th. The 50th does have advantages in the mix at places, as the piano is much clearer and located in the rears whereas the YSS mix kinda buries it in the fronts. You can see the piano in the middle of the 50th wav, right under the 1:15 mark, circled in blue.
Listening back and forth on the PC with the files in Sound Forge, I can almost understand the choices made in both cases. Neither is "right", both have their advantages. It's nice to have two different approaches.
The top wav if the BluRay 50th Anniversary mix, the lower wav the Yellow Submarine isolated music mix.