Pearl Jam "Dark Matter" CD+BD-A w/ Atmos (4/19/2024)

[Lord British]

This was posted over on SHF. Yikes!

Top: Atmos > Stereo
Bottom: 24/48 lossless download (Apple)

Help a newbie out. As I understand it, the bottom analysis is what is known as being "brick walled," correct? And that refers to Dynamic Compression? Can anyone describe how it would SOUND different to something that is not so compressed?

I've listened to a few of the Dolby Atmos tracks on the Blu-Ray, and it seems like the sound is, for lack of a better term, "pinched." There just seems to be a fullness/fidelity that is lacking.

 

[stoopid]

Help a newbie out. As I understand it, the bottom analysis is what is known as being "brick walled," correct? And that refers to Dynamic Compression? Can anyone describe how it would SOUND different to something that is not so compressed?

I've listened to a few of the Dolby Atmos tracks on the Blu-Ray, and it seems like the sound is, for lack of a better term, "pinched." There just seems to be a fullness/fidelity that is lacking.

Yes to 'brick walled'. The best means of describing is to say everything is loud, and nothing is not. Very little detail generally although it is possible to make a decent sounding mastered mix look similar in waveform those are rarish exceptions. Usually if the waveform looks like that it's going to be murky and loud.

When mixing is done, whether for stereo or multitrack, how the original instruments are captured and any immediate processing done to them can have an impact on how they sound moving forward in the mixing stages. In other words, a heavily compressed (think 'brickwalled') single instrument track is going to be lacking dynamics and will always sound overdriven. Add a bunch of over compressed individual tracks together and it becomes an audibly cohesive mess of mush.

Worse case, sometimes there's so much compression used it can distort the final product, leading to crackling/sizzling or outright distortion like a distorted guitar, but across an entire mix. The best 'worse case' example was the original album mix of Rush's Vapor Trails, in case you've heard that it would be the poster child for the evils of the loudness wars. Metallica's Death Magnetic, produced around the same era, also had similar failings. Ear/listening fatigue is the worse symptom of listening to a brickwalled mix.

 

[sjcorne]

I've listened to a few of the Dolby Atmos tracks on the Blu-Ray, and it seems like the sound is, for lack of a better term, "pinched." There just seems to be a fullness/fidelity that is lacking.

Agreed. The mellower downtempo parts - intros to "Wreckage" and "Something Special," for instance - sound fine, but then the whole soundstage turns to mush (for lack of a better term) during the heavier passages like the end of "Dark Matter" or the whole of "Running."

It's a shame as I really like how they spread the instruments around in the Atmos mix - rhythm guitars are usually almost completely isolated in the side surrounds, while solos extend up to the front heights and backing vocals appear either in the rear surrounds or rear heights.

 

[stoopid]

I downloaded a copy of the album after not being too excited by anything I've heard thus far (not wanting to pony up money for something I won't play more than once). **edit** Ended up enjoying the album after a couple times through, on 4th listen now and while I'm on the fence about buying the surround mix it's growing on me.

 

[selaimutiara]

Finally got my order from 10c (Ten Club, PJ official fan club), that's a long wait for buying goods from official site, the price of living in far east. But it was worth the wait. The Bluray atmos sounds much better than the streaming atmos version.
And the vinyl is the best stereo version for this title. I read somewhere that the 10C vinyl has better mastering quality than the non 10c varian

 

[edisonbaggins]

I downloaded a copy of the album after not being too excited by anything I've heard thus far (not wanting to pony up money for something I won't play more than once). **edit** Ended up enjoying the album after a couple times through, on 4th listen now and while I'm on the fence about buying the surround mix it's growing on me.

I’ve enjoyed it a few times, and one song has stuck with me, but I don’t feel particularly drawn to play it again any time soon.
I have the CD/BD.
Streaming Atmos would have been the sweet spot, for me, I think.

 

[dobyblue]

Pearl Jam don’t master their vinyl separately, never mind creating two separate vinyl masters.

 

[selaimutiara]

Pearl Jam don’t master their vinyl separately, never mind creating two separate vinyl masters.

Sorry for the confusion, not the mastering but the vinyl pressing which also determine sound quality.