HiRez Poll Who, The - WHO'S NEXT [Blu-Ray Audio (Dolby Atmos)]

[rtbluray]

At long last! Please post your thoughts and comments on this brand new reissue of the Who's classic album "Who's Next".
Generally regarded as one of the greatest albums ever released, this 1971 album has been newly expanded into a 10CD/Blu-Ray Audio box set.
The Blu-Ray Audio disc features the entire 1971 album remixed in stereo, 5.1 surround, and Dolby Atmos by Steven Wilson, but that's not all!
Steven Wilson has also remixed an additional 14 bonus tracks in 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos too!

The Dolby Atmos mix is also available to stream on all Dolby Atmos streaming providers:

Pre-release thread for all shipping/ordering queries and non-poll related posts:
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...5-1-mixes-confirmed.31444/page-31#post-711329

 

[fourml8r]

I listened to the Atmos mix and liked it a lot. Dynamics are much improved. Detail and clarity are also much improved. The album sounds more polished now. There are a few really fantastic sonic moments. My appreciation goes out to the band and to Steven Wilson. Not a 10, but a really great 9.

 

[Titch]

It gets a 10 from me. Compared to the old stereo mix, it is an immersive, propulsive, powerful experience. Even more than Quadrophenia. It's a legendary album, which I've played for decades. The Atmos mix is superior to all of the rock multichannel SACDs and blu-ray audio discs I have in my collection.

 

[Ephi82]

one of my favorite all time recordings because of the excellence of the songs, the performances and the production. Glyn Johns did an incredible job on this back in the day. For those reasons, I was concerned that a new mix would have a hard time beating the original.

I shouldn’t have worried because the new ATMOS mix is among the best I’ve heard. In a good way, the new mix still retains the essence and character of the original, but also delivers more insight, detail, space and power in the music. Bravo Steve Wilson.

 

[edisonbaggins]

Voting "8".

Two of nine album tracks are not entirely discrete. Lossless Atmos mix is locked in an exorbitantly expensive box set.
World-class album.

You do need this, when it meets your price point. It's not perfect, though...

Life in Surround Review of the Blu-ray...

 

[rtbluray]

Two of nine album tracks are not entirely discrete.

Is “Bargain” one of those two tracks?
If so, of course it’s not entirely discrete, since it is an Upmix

From my own point of view listening at home in 5.1 and in the car, it seems to me that SW did the best he could with the inherent limitations of the source material and produce a very satisfying mix.
The mix on “Won’t Get Fooled Again” in particular could go down as one of his very best.

 

[sjcorne]

Two of nine album tracks are not entirely discrete.

"The Song Is Over" sounded just as good as the other album tracks to me - the only element that had to be recovered via 'demixing' was the lead vocal (and they did an amazing job, I couldn't hear any artifacts from the extraction even with the center channel solo'd), everything else was remixed from the multitrack. All of this is fully disclosed in the short essays by SW and Richard Whittaker at the end of the book.

 

[edisonbaggins]

"The Song Is Over" sounded just as good as the other album tracks to me - the only element that had to be recovered via 'demixing' was the lead vocal (and they did an amazing job, I couldn't hear any artifacts from the extraction even with the center channel solo'd), everything else was remixed from the multitrack. All of this is fully disclosed in the short essays by SW and Richard Whittaker at the end of the book.

Yeah. I hope we can normalize realistic votes about immersive/surround releases.
This one has some issues.
If they don't drag votes down from 10, then really what are we doing here?
An 8 vote from me is still a strong recommendation.

 

[Michael Marshall]

Ok, I will jump in on this thread as I too just received my box set late this afternoon and all I can say is "WOW"! I know this is a Quad forum, etc. and the new Atmos mix is fresh, illuminating, wonderful and just about every other adjective you care to insert to describe the obvious care put into this massive project but what I did NOT expect was the quality of the Redbook cd for the 1971 Winterland live recordings. Just like the performances themselves, absolutely JAW DROPPING!!! Is this an expensive box set, yes. Only you can make that call in how you spend your money but as a fan, collector, audiophile and just a plain lover of music, this gets my vote for box set/reissue of the year if not the past 10 years! Flat out, a MUST have for any Who fan or fan of Who's Next. Your turn Rog, drop the mike...

 

[jimfisheye]

I like the Who and this album well enough. I'm not a huge fan and I don't just know every detail of the original mix and I haven't collected for the best mastered version and that kind of deep dive. So I should be easy to please here!

It's a great sounding mix overall like I'd expect from Steve Wilson. Better than a lot of releases as such right out of the gate.

I'm maybe a little underwhelmed from what I expected. Same comments that have already been made. The drums especially and the bass seem scrunched up front and dynamically a little ways in front of you while the guitar overdubs in the side channels are right next to you with 2x the dynamic spread. Nothing to the level of "flawed" or "poor". Weird though. Are the drums a single mono track on tape for this one? I've heard single mono drum tracks sound better before. To the point of humbling even!

If there's any caveat to be made for a 12 channel mix, it's that a 12 channel mix damn well better be perfect from discrete elements to full mix with absolutely no exceptions. This is still well done but doesn't hit that 'demands 12 channels' level.

Or maybe I'm just not familiar enough with the original and Wilson was chasing an original mix aesthetic like he tends to do?

 

[edisonbaggins]

Are the drums a single mono track on tape for this one?

Often.

 

[beerking]

This is absolutely stunning.
Steve has worked his magic again.
And
To get that many bonus tracks in Atmos, sealed it for me.
It's my early crimbo pressie to myself.
I'm so pleased I decided to buy this well thought through box set.
A mooning 10

 

[WBP]

I'm going for an 8, the 5.1 mix is very good but I expected more to be honest, I have listened to it a couple of times now and come away feeling a bit underwhelmed somehow, the box itself is fantastic and i'm still wading through all the other discs, loved the Young Vic show

 

[jimfisheye]

Listening to the 5.1 mix now.

The drums and lead vox are a little louder and I agree the overall balance is more on point with that. The drums have the very same subdued quality and sound exactly the same as they do in the 7.1.4 mix. Mix balance levels aside.

I wonder if the multitracks were in nearly ruined condition and they worked a small miracle. Turned thrashed into merely subdued.

The guitars in the sides in 7.1.4 are really in your face dynamic vs the more squeezed everything else in front. That's what pointed it out to me.

Short answer is still it was good to hear and the sequencer synth dancing around all the speakers was a great opening. (Tops, sides, and rears that is. Not actually all.)

 

[zimmy]

After hearing all the upmixes of Whos next it felt so nice to at least hear the real thing. To me the Atmos mix is superb. But as this poll is about the big box i must add that i have never (in similar collections) had such interest in listening to all the demos and alternative takes and b-sides as on this box. Many i have of course already heard before but to have them gathered like this with all the ones i have never heard is fantastic. I can understand why the album became so good when the band had such good demos to listen to before they even started to play in the studio. And to end the disks with the complete Young Vic concert and one from San Francisco that hasn´t been released is just fantastic. They were really good that year

 

[Sal1950]

I was a bit disappointed by the release. I've listened to both
the 5.1 and atmos tracks now and find it interesting how different the
various instruments levels are.
I'm of the mind to think that Steven did the best he could with what
still exists of the source but to me the overall sound quality isn't up
to my hopes.
I vote an 8

 

[Larry Geller]

Interesting that the lesser tracks (My Wife, Love Ain't For Keeping and Getting In Tune) are the ones that sound the best. Center channel Entwistle is a religious experience.

 

[shakti]

I have given this a few spins now on my modest setup which is 5.0; I have four full-range shelf/stand speakers and a center, but no sub. I find it sounds terrific for vintage quad mixes and I have never felt bass was lacking on those.

I find this mix to be very disappointing. Maybe my expectations were too high (I'll admit I was expecting a lot), maybe it's my setup, maybe the Atmos mix is better. But I find it to be a frustrating case of "neither here nor there". It's spread out more, but that dilutes the impact and power. Some details can be heard a little better, but overall the drums sound washy and distant, vocals sometimes also a bit echoey, and where is the bass??? I also find it to be very tepid - very, very little discrete action going on. On Won't Get Fooled Again things are finally starting to happen with some movement in the rear on the synth, but then the handclaps in the rear just jump out and it seems odd compared to the rest of the album which is so conservatively mixed. All in all, this isn't terrible, but it's just not great either and a real missed opportunity to my ears. But what do I know - maybe the source material doesn't allow for a more aggressive mix? I'm voting a 6 for the main album.

Things do get better with the bonus tracks, which suggests to me that it's not the source material but the choice of the mixer (or the artist) to keep closer to the stereo mix. The bonus tracks feature more discrete action, some tracks even sound a bit like vintage Quad mixes (will have to go back to pinpoint which ones). Bonus material is more like an 8 or maybe even 9. Will have to spend more time with those.

 

[sjcorne]

Interesting that the lesser tracks (My Wife, Love Ain't For Keeping and Getting In Tune) are the ones that sound the best.

Agreed, "Getting In Tune" is incredible and maybe the highlight of the main album for me. If you solo the rear surround channels in the Atmos mix, you get just the lead guitar which is pretty neat to hear on its own.

 

[Matt Wilson]

8
It's okay. Great album of course, but Wilson has done better surround mixes.