This title is NOT just a "3.1" mix by any means....it's not only full surround, but very tastefully mixed and well-recorded. Not a discrete type of quad mix, as many sounds are placed between the speakers, and not as "aggressive" or "adventurous" as it could have been, but I found it a satisfying surround experience.....I'd give the recording and mix an 8/10. The only thing I would warn anyone about this disc (A Crow Left Of The Murder) is that it's different than Incubus' previous releases....it dosen't have any of the little noises going on during the songs, which I thought would lend itself nicely to surround mixing. As I'm lukewarm on this particular band (this one was my wife's pick, she's a huge fan), I can't really comment fairly on the songs themselves (except to say that I always found the little noises distracting from the songs themselves on the previous releases), but if you enjoy current pop and have liked previous material from this band, I'd recommend this for sure.....certainly not a "doodee" mix by any means! (Am I the only poster on this thread who has actually heard the disc?)
As far as the comments on ambience in this thread....
"A "true" ambient mix can be very enjoyable and quite striking"
"Most folks who like an ambient surround mix are after the realistic presentation of a live event (at least thats been my experience)"
"This is ambiance done right; conceived and executed with the idea of preserving the ambient space of the recording venue."
Anyone who feels this way should check out some of the quad live tapes I've been doing....I've got a whole pile of additional tapes now that I'm about to offer up! I might also mention that none of this music is or probably ever will be available in commercially released surround of any kind.....
"Those Chesky recordings were done in a church with a wonderful ambient sound."
"I was present at some of the sessions for both discs and they really captured the 'feel' of the place and the performance."
I would be extremely interested in hearing the technical details of how these recordings were made, especially with regards to microphone techniques! I've had excellent results with what I've been doing, but would like to hear about the mic patterms and placement used in these apparently highly regarded recordings (which I'm not familiar with myself), especially if they were actually done with more than 4 microphones.....
Yours Truly,
john e. bogus