Beatles - LOVE [DVD-A]

[JonUrban]

Released early in Europe, this is the first surround audio release by the Beatles. What do you think? :thumbsdow

[winopener]

Need to vote 10 because 100 isn't possible... as i said before, if this disc fails to kick out dvd-a and surround in general, i am the first to say dvd-a is dead.
IN any case there's no question anymore about "what disc would you bring on a desert island": Love.

[Timm Rautmann]

As I mentioned before, "Overwhelming!!!" = 10+
Best allover hifidelity sound. Speaking of 95% channel separation and sound mix combines Enoch Light and Flaming Lips "Yoshimi Battles..." Dvd Audio. The music stands for itself!
It promised to be great, but turned out to be greater!
The Beatles "Love" presends the "resurrection" of the Beatles, never heard in such a sound quality.
This album is now my favorit multichannel release: Best in music, best mix and best hifidelity sound!
Listening to it I take off to pepperland. No drugs, just "The Beatles"!

[mattB2]

Could the music and mixes live up to the show experience without the visuals? An emphatic yes. The DVD-A has a great surround mix and the music speaks for itself. Kudos should go to the Martins for putting all this together and to the Beatles and Cirque (and I guess the Mirage) for making this possible. This release now sets the bar for the future remasters so lets hope they can live up to it. Maybe the ratings for this disc should be turned up to "11"

[Lucanu]

I hear it only one or two samples from tha radio (stereo only) and I'm impressed how well it sounds.
Just waiting for DVD-A to arrive....

[Kazaam]

I'm listening to this DVD-A for the first time as I type this. The album is up to track #11 "Help". So far, I'll say that the Martins and whoever put this package together have indeed put a lot of care into "Love". Musically, it doesn't come across as gimmicky at all. The surround mix isn't gimmicky at all, either. However, I'm not entirely sure if it is a 10. Odd for me to say, because I'm sometimes the one who says that a surround mix doesn't have to be insanely discrete and and annoying in the rears. And "Love" certainly is using the surrounds tastefully and doesn't go overboard. I think the thing I'm not sold on is the fact lead vocals are isolated into the center channel. I'll need to finish listening to the album. And then probably should listen some more. It's playing "Strawberry Fields Forever" right now and that is definitely top-notch sounding! I'm not sure what I'll rate it, but it'll be a fairly positive rating. Hopefully, we'll get the entire Beatles catalog remixed into 5.1 surround sound on DVD-Audio!!!

[JonUrban]

Sometimes it's best not to "vote" on first or second listen. Many times things grow on you, or reveal themselves to be a "first listen" high.

[winopener]

At present time it is at the 7th listen and have no complain... it is absolutely great.

[ChristopherLees]

Well mash ups are fun..and beatles mash ups can be lots of fun...e.g. "Paperback believer" , "Karma in the life" and Trishas mix of John Lennon's "what you got" have been great internet finds...

and it's fun to get some new beatles mash ups in 5.1...

But this release is SERIOUSLY LACKING TOP END.....I didn't really find any until the opening of track 17....

It annoyed me so much that I just had to put on my dvda boot of dark side and play "us and them"...just to check to see if my hi fi had gone faulty.....the difference in sound quality was staggering !!

and there seems to be some sort of compressed dynamic range..or is it overload in some of the channels .. whatever it is , I just can't enjoy this disc as much as I want to.

The dts track on the anthology dvd's give you much better 5.1 sound and resolution....as do the 5.1 isolated mixes on the Yellow submarine dvd...once they are speed adjusted..

Now my Australian copy is made in the EU..I don't know if there is going to be much difference between the various countries releases, but for the moment this disc needs some improvement in sound quality..

[Kazaam]

Over the last couple of hours I put away the laptop, turned out the lights, and gave "Love" a more serious listen. Heck, I even dimmed the displays on the amp and DVD-Audio player---and I never do that!

The result is my appreciation for the 5.1 mix is growing.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm still a big believer in having the center channel be in a primarilly supportive role rather than a focal point for the vocals. Nonetheless, I'll admit that maybe---in some cases---they were correct in their judgement to utilize the center channel so heavily for vocals. I haven't narrowed it down exactly or whatnot, but it seems that a center focus on some of the older tracks like "I Want To Hold Your Hand" works pretty well. Likewise, "For The Benefit of Mr. Kite" sounds splendid with vocals in the center channel. And for probably most of the tracks I am finding that the vocal concentraton toward the center channel neither dramatically improves nor severely detracts from my enjoyment. That said, I would have placed more of the vocals from "Something" into the left/right channels to open them up a bit more. ("Something", to me, has always been one of my favorite songs and it just doesn't seem quite as beautiful here as I think it should be.) One last observation regarding the center channel concerns "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". ***If I'm not mistaken,*** it sounds like the vocals start more like a solo vocal placed decidedly into the center channel. And, as the verse progresses, the vocals seem to go from being more narrowly focused toward the center channel to instead having a slightly wider soundstage until the the chorus is reached---and then everything gets big and really opens up. I'm not sure if I like this or not from an aural enjoyment standpoint, but I certainly do find it interesting.

Concerning various uses of the surround channels: I love the screaming crowd noise from "I Want To Hold Your Hand". In fact, pretty much all of the songs have wonderul sounds coming from behind. The best thing, though, is that I never feel as though the soundstage has moved too far to the back. The soundstage often feels like the entire room, yet my focus typically stays toward the front. That's quite an accomplishment!

As for audio quality and sonics. I think they're good. I'm probably not the best judgement in this area, but I do find various discs to sound more pleasing than others. The "Love" album on DVD-Audio (not talking about the surround mix) tends to sound and feel decent enough. Although I've felt more moved by the warmth of some recordings, I've also heard worse. I guess if I were to complain, I'd wish for a little more bass to be added to some of the tracks.

Oh, and musically... Like I said in my previous post, I feel as though most everything was tastefully done. Some of the mashups I particularly enjoy, such as the "Lady Madonna" stretch. In a way, I almost feel as though there should be more of these more extreme/dramatic mash-ups. But I suppose that if the entire disc was too drastic then the few we off-the-wall moments we do have wouldn't feel so special.

Yep, despite my concern over the use of the center channel, I cannot yet rule out a perfect 10. Or it might only end up being an 8 or a 9. We'll see... There's no rush. Just know this: In my opinion, it's pretty good!

[Kazaam]

Ok, I'm ready to vote.

It's been another day and I've listened to "Love" for a third time. With this most recent listen I found myself so immersed in the music that I didn't even think to critique the center channel during "Something" until about halfway through. Also, I think I may have exaggerated the narrow-to-wide center width effect on "Lucy In The Sky In The Diamonds". Though, I do suspect there is some truth to my initial impression. And pretty much all of those positive comments I earlier stated about tasteful mash-ups and discrete, yet not overblown, surround mixes still hold true.

These things said, I almost gave "Love" a perfect 10. However, I just can't bring myself to do it. No matter how impressive and wonderful it is, I feel that there is room for just a little bit of improvement. I'm not entirely sure what it would be, but I do think it has something to do with a reliance on the center channel for vocals a little bit too much---even though I'll admit in some instances it was a good decision. Also, I wonder if it is ocassionally lacking some low end? What it all comes down to, I suppose, is that sometimes "Love" just doesn't sound as "full" as I feel it should.

That said, I still think it's one of the better releases out there; and I would most sincerely enjoy hearing additional Beatles songs reworked into surround sound for DVD-Audio if there were at all any chance of this happening.

I give "Love" a number '9'. Let the revolution begin!

[winopener]

When voting about Beatles, number 9 is reserved to th White album only!

[jsgamache]

It's unfortunate that most people will opt for the cheaper version. The Beatles could have sealed the deal for 5.1 if they had made only one version available, a DVD with a companion CD marked in bold letters "LOW-FIDELITY, OUTDATED STEREO VERSION FOR CASUAL LISTENERS. FOR INFINITELY MORE EXCITING AURAL EXPERIENCE, PLEASE IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE DVD-AUDIO VERSION INCLUDED IN THIS PACKAGE."

When the first-class package sells a tiny, tiny fraction of the coach version, the industry will say it proves no one wants surround sound. And we'll never see a DVD-A Sgt. Pepper's or Revolver or White Album.

[winopener]

Intresting fact: the dvd-a has only 5.1 mix, no stereo.
Guess that will really *please* the closed-minded stereo-only hi-rez buffs.

[mattB2]

When voting about Beatles, number 9 is reserved to th White album only!

I'm glad I went for "one after nine".

[mattB2]

It's unfortunate that most people will opt for the cheaper version. The Beatles could have sealed the deal for 5.1 if they had made only one version available, a DVD with a companion CD marked in bold letters "LOW-FIDELITY, OUTDATED STEREO VERSION FOR CASUAL LISTENERS. FOR INFINITELY MORE EXCITING AURAL EXPERIENCE, PLEASE IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE DVD-AUDIO VERSION INCLUDED IN THIS PACKAGE."

When the first-class package sells a tiny, tiny fraction of the coach version, the industry will say it proves no one wants surround sound. And we'll never see a DVD-A Sgt. Pepper's or Revolver or White Album.

My supplier wasn't even going to order the deluxe edition so I had to place a special order. It will be interesting to see the ratio of CDs to CD/DVD combos on the shelves of the B&Ms.

[Neon Kitten]

Now my Australian copy is made in the EU..I don't know if there is going to be much difference between the various countries releases

There will be no difference at all - as usual with hi-res titles, only one DVD-A master was made for use worldwide. The country the disc is pressed in has no bearing on sound quality.

I don't have any problem with the sound quality of the DVD-A, by the way. Plenty of top end from where I'm sitting

[zobalob]

It's unfortunate that most people will opt for the cheaper version.
When the first-class package sells a tiny, tiny fraction of the coach version, the industry will say it proves no one wants surround sound. And we'll never see a DVD-A Sgt. Pepper's or Revolver or White Album.

It's not helped by the dreaded HMV pricing the CD/DVD package at a ridiculous £19.95. No wonder their high street stores are doing badly, they (and Virgin) are always the most expensive places around for new releases.

[neil wilkes]

Intresting fact: the dvd-a has only 5.1 mix, no stereo.
Guess that will really *please* the closed-minded stereo-only hi-rez buffs.

Interesting.
Not played my copy as yet, but it says on the back that the DVD has the following:
PCM
DD 5.1
DTS 5.1
Advanced Resolution 5.1

When I load the disc, I see there is but a single group present. I do not currently know if this includes either a downmix or a PGC Block with an embedded stereo version that only plays on stereo systems - this is possible, but unlikely as I cannot select the stereo stream manually, which I should be able to do if it is present.
It also autoplays the album instead of PGC Menu, which I like.

Resetting the player to VIDEO mode gives a whole different set of screens, beginning with the FBI Warning/Apple splash (Obviously the anonymous author didn't know how to access VTS content, as this is not in the DVD-A, and neither are any of the lossy streams. Sloppy authoring or by design? I prefer to believe by design.) followed by the main setup where you can pick from 3 streams, PCM stereo (unspecified bit depth & sample rate) DD and DTS.

Sound quality here is good at first play.
Will write a full review when I have heard it a few times.

[rubbersounds]

Somebody on another list says the dts stream is only 768 kb/s. Can somebody double-check?

[zobalob]

It's not helped by the dreaded HMV pricing the CD/DVD package at a ridiculous £19.95. No wonder their high street stores are doing badly, they (and Virgin) are always the most expensive places around for new releases.

To update this...Virgin are £17.99, and...whodathunkit...Borders are the cheapest on the High St. at £15.99, they, incidentally, match Amazon at £54.99 for the Doors box.

[neil wilkes]

Okay.

Run through a few times now, and ready to vote.
I really wanted this to be a 10, but it gets an 8 for the following omissions, in my opinion.
1 - Just the single 5.1 group only. No way to access any of the other streams for demo/comparative purposes without resetting the player into Video mode.
This is the big bummer for me, as the Video_TS streams are there - all it takes is a link into them. Otherwise this would be perfect for clearly showing the improved clarity of true, uncompressed High Rez over DVD-Video streams.
There is also no Stereo option for the whingers. And no way to access the LPCM stereo from a DVD-A player either.
Silly, silly omissions.
2 - The onscreen is simply tedious - again, there has been zero effort to make things look nicer.

These 2 nitpicks apart this is a very well done mix. It's not the complete Mash-up I was expecting, and a surprising amount of the tracks are pretty much complete.
It makes me realise just how good the rest of the back catalogue should be....if & when done into 5.1 DVD-A, of course.

Somebody on another list says the dts stream is only 768 kb/s. Can somebody double-check?

It certainly is!
The Dolby Digital stream clocks in at 293Mb, the DTS at 492Mb.
Give the DD is at 448Kb/sec, then the DTS is at just under double that, so it is indeed half-bandwidth.
Strike another mark.

[winopener]

For the "video screen", it is very likely they can't insert anything regarding the "Love" show in Vegas - and it would be the only thing that make sense.
For the menu... i do like to have direct play.

[Guy Robinson]

Well, the highest I can vote is 10 so that will be it. Just incredible. I love stuff like the bass in Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows. Subsonic! The clarity of everything is better than any other Beatle remaster I have previously heard. I want the entire Beatles catalogue remastered into 5.1 DVD-A!!!!! It's so sad though that there isn't more action to do all the original albums in surround. If they want revenue this would be one way to do it. Hopefully the combined package will sell as many units as the CD and the powers that be will decide that there is money to be made from redoing the entire catalogue in surround. Now I'm waiting for the Doors and David Crosby to arrive. As others have said here, this is one heck of a display of new great releases for a dying format. Bring on the Genesis!!!!!

[Guy Robinson]

I'm not entirely sure what it would be, but I do think it has something to do with a reliance on the center channel for vocals a little bit too much---

I'm not getting this issue. Maybe your centre is not matched to your front speakers? I have to stand with my ear right in front of the centre to determine that the centre only is producing the vocals. Everything meshes very well.