Fish announces future Dolby Atmos deluxe remixes from his back catalogue ("13th Star" out in July!)

[splinter7]

Note Fish has both an EU and UK store... both can be reached by the menu from his official site. one may be less coin for you than the other... it seemed that the UK store worked better from my calculations to the US. Also, I didn't have Weltschmerz as I skipped it due to high shipping costs... but those costs are now spread across two titles... making it a bit friendlier.

Hey there - This might be important to note.
As I mentioned on a previous post, Only the UK store front has these in stock and ready to ship. Duncan has vouched for having receipt already.


Fish’s EU store is only taking pre-orders for a make up run. There has been no timeline listed as to when he will have a batch made up and delivered to the fulfillment location of his EU site.

So while you might save some money, you are gonna have to wait.

 

[cbmmm3]

A team heads up to grab a boxset at the top of the pile.

now THAT is hilarious. thanks for the laugh

 

[mandrix]

Deleted. Don't want to start a row.

 

[DuncanS]

Hey there - This might be important to note.
As I mentioned on a previous post, Only the UK store front has these in stock and ready to ship. Duncan has vouched for having receipt already.


Fish’s EU store is only taking pre-orders for a make up run. There has been no timeline listed as to when he will have a batch made up and delivered to the fulfillment location of his EU site.

So while you might save some money, you are gonna have to wait.

I read somewhere on his website or on an email (and I can't find it now!) that he mistakenly had both pallets of 13th Star delivered to Scotland, when one should have gone to the EU fulfilment house, and its too expensive to ship back (due to tax I think), hence why he is doing pre-orders on the EU site

 

[splinter7]

Exactly @DuncanS
He wrote that he may have news on a EU store pressing this upcoming weekend; however, they would still have to make the boxes, press the cds & bluray discs. Even fast tracked, that would probably be some time.

 

[beerking]

Just received Fishy's latest release. 13th Star. Playing it now. So far so good

 

[colsky]

Just received Fishy's latest release. 13th Star. Playing it now. So far so good

That's good. I haven't ordered this yet, as I was waiting on positive comments about the surround mix.

 

[Zepfan]

Apart from the Dolby Atmos stream on the BD, everything else (original mix, concert and documentaries) is all lossy AC3 stereo which I find a little surprising and disappointing.

 

[JediJoker]

Apart from the Dolby Atmos stream on the BD, everything else (original mix, concert and documentaries) is all lossy AC3 stereo which I find a little surprising and disappointing.

Just like the Bruford DVDs. That's so dumb.

 

[splinter7]

Apart from the Dolby Atmos stream on the BD, everything else (original mix, concert and documentaries) is all lossy AC3 stereo which I find a little surprising and disappointing.

Disappointing - yes / shocking - no

The original title and this deluxe version were/are self-funded on his own "Chocolate Frog Records" label. Given that there was no label backing / no money man, I am only surprised that he even commissioned an Atmos mix.

I believe that ever since the financial losses he incurred when "Sunsets on Empire" (the the Steve Wilson produced & co written '97 release) unjustly flopped, he has literally been recording most of his subsequent catalog from his home studio, which seems to also serve as his living room and merchandise distribution center. I don't think that the technical side of recording is really the big man's forte. God love him, but watching him often struggle through even his Friday Livecast is telling.

Also keep in mind that ‘Weltschmerz’ (2020) was his first studio album to receive a DTS 5.1 mix.

The Marillion - Fish era surround releases were driven by EMI who still own the rights. Both the band and Fish likely made more money as a retailer for these discs than any fee they got for their involvement on the extras. I think it was that series popularity that finally convinced him to get with the whole surround thing.

Given that this is truly an independent artist who is 65 years old and is literally distributing the stuff with his wife and a few friends, I will be grateful that he decided to spend the money on the surround. Here is to hoping that he has EMI kicking in some cash for the deluxe editions of "Vigil" and "Internal"

 

[Zepfan]

Disappointing - yes / shocking - no

The original title and this deluxe version were/are self-funded on his own "Chocolate Frog Records" label. Given that there was no label backing / no money man, I am only surprised that he even commissioned an Atmos mix.

I believe that ever since the financial losses he incurred when "Sunsets on Empire" (the the Steve Wilson produced & co written '97 release) unjustly flopped, he has literally been recording most of his subsequent catalog from his home studio, which seems to also serve as his living room and merchandise distribution center. I don't think that the technical side of recording is really the big man's forte. God love him, but watching him often struggle through even his Friday Livecast is telling.

Also keep in mind that ‘Weltschmerz’ (2020) was his first studio album to receive a DTS 5.1 mix.

The Marillion - Fish era surround releases were driven by EMI who still own the rights. Both the band and Fish likely made more money as a retailer for these discs than any fee they got for their involvement on the extras. I think it was that series popularity that finally convinced him to get with the whole surround thing.

Given that this is truly an independent artist who is 65 years old and is literally distributing the stuff with his wife and a few friends, I will be grateful that he decided to spend the money on the surround. Here is to hoping that he has EMI kicking in some cash for the deluxe editions of "Vigil" and "Internal"

Thanks for the information - explains a lot.

I can now understand the concert not getting a dedicated surround mix, but I am still surprised he used Dolby Stereo rather than PCM for this (and for the original album mix + documentaries). Would using PCM have been prohibitively expensive / technically difficult?

 

[splinter7]

Thanks for the information - explains a lot.

I can now understand the concert not getting a dedicated surround mix, but I am still surprised he used Dolby Stereo rather than PCM for this (and for the original album mix + documentaries). Would using PCM have been prohibitively expensive / technically difficult?

There is supposed to be an Atmos mix, 5.1 mix + 5hours of video. Maybe it was data capacity decision although I would guess a bluray would have enough capacity.

I would hazard a guess that it was probably more along the lines that they didn't think about it that much.

As I recall, the Nearfest footage is from a pay per view livestream type thing from the early days so I doubt the capacity for high rez was even considered for it. I had tickets for that whole event and while there was an impressive overall roster of progressive acts, the production quality was so-so. Like regional theater.

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

I received my copy today and gave it a play through tonight. Not only is the default 5.1 surround mix 48k Dolby Digital, but it's also a very different (to the Atmos) and quite underwhelming 5.1 mix .

After playing the first three tracks through and feeling disappointed, I thought I would give the Atmos Dolby TrueHD track a go on my non-Atmos system, and it is a revelation It's a fully discrete, immersive and tastefully engaging mix, a world apart from the default DD 5.1 mix. I've never come across this approach to mixing/authoring before and I think it's going to result in a lot of people who don't have Atmos not getting the best out of this BD.

My advice is strongly this: Play the Atmos (Dolby TrueHD) surround mix even if you don't have an Atmos system. The "core 5.1" included in the Dolby TrueHD track is infinitely superior to the 5.1 DD mix.

 

[JediJoker]

...I am still surprised he used Dolby Stereo rather than PCM for this (and for the original album mix + documentaries). Would using PCM have been prohibitively expensive / technically difficult?

I can't imagine so. Dolby formats require licenses; PCM doesn't. It should have been cheaper to do PCM for the stereo.

 

[edisonbaggins]

I can't imagine so. Dolby formats require licenses; PCM doesn't. It should have been cheaper to do PCM for the stereo.

Maybe the Atmos license covers the cost? Even if it were a wash, seems dumb.

Hopefully the CDs are Wav sourced!!!

 

[sjcorne]

13th Star poll now live:
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/fish-13th-star-blu-ray-audio-dolby-atmos.34633/

 

[splinter7]

Fish indicated that the fishmusic.eu site is taking preorders for “13th Star”. He changed course and decided to send two pallets of the stock in Scotland over to the fulfillment house in the EU. He anticipates it will be there late next week.

He is still embarrassed that he missed not splitting the shipment originally.

 

[srbjab]

Just got my "despatch" notice from the Fish store so hopefully will have it within a couple of weeks. It took about a week to process the order. The quality of this package, particularly the Atmos mix, will greatly influence whether I buy any more of these.

 

[beerking]

Just got my "despatch" notice from the Fish store so hopefully will have it within a couple of weeks. It took about a week to process the order. The quality of this package, particularly the Atmos mix, will greatly influence whether I buy any more of these.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Atmos mix. Quite a lot going on and tastefully engineered. I hope you find the Atmos mix to your liking.

 

[perzon57]

Tried to order this, but it was not possible to enter my email address, and without it, I was not able to complete the order.