Yes "Fragile": DVD-A/BluRay Out October 30th (Remixed by Steven Wilson)

[Simon A]

Here's what's in it...

Item 1 on left is the usual booklet that has some stories and nice pics.
Item 2 is another smaller booklet with more pics
Item 3 is the disc and the sleeve it came in under it.
Item 4 is the clamshell type case the whole set came in.

View attachment 22768

Love them turtles Man!

 

[GOS]

Love them turtles Man!

haha - the wife loves turtles...we have them all over the house.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Here's what's in it...

Item 1 on left is the usual booklet that has some stories and nice pics.
Item 2 is another smaller booklet with more pics
Item 3 is the disc and the sleeve it came in under it. (edit - there is another black case and another disc I forgot to show)
Item 4 is the clamshell type case the whole set came in.

View attachment 22768

I like that backsplash

 

[Simon A]

haha - the wife loves turtles...we have them all over the house.

You two must be so Happy Together... (cheap pun of the days)

 

[GOS]

Oh man - I had to run in and put that damn blu-ray in. I don't want to sound over dramatic...but the moment Roundabout starts playing in DTS HD Master.....whoa!! I have the old DVD-Audio and in just a few minutes I can promise you this thing BLOWS that out of the water...

The sound is crystal clear, thunderous and clean. All you YES fans will be totally in love with this...at least based on the first song. OK, back to earth.

:music

 

[GOS]

Playing South Side Of The Sky now - wow! What a super punchy rock groove for the first minute or so. Simply sounds stunning.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

The sound is crystal clear, thunderous and clean. All you YES fans will be totally in love with this...at least based on the first song.

What he said!!

I can't understand where all the distortion has gone with these 70s remixes! This one in particular has always had some pretty irritating grunge in various places on all the stereo mixes I've heard, in any format. And now here it is, clean as a whistle, like it was just recorded last week! Okay, that may be pushing it, but it's drastically improved - like an old scab that has finally dried off and fallen away, leaving a tiny bit of scar tissue.

I've always assumed the distortion I was hearing was "baked into" the original tracks, just a limitation of the early tech of the times, perhaps those early solid-state consoles. And I suppose that could still be the case, since the console actually performed 2 separate tasks, recording and mixdown, at different times. Obviously the old mic pres & channel strips did a decent job, but maybe the mix bus was where the trouble happened? Or it could have been the post-mix processing - compressors & the like. That would explain things, but of course I can only speculate. Whatever it was, I'm surprised and amazed to be hearing all these old favorites like this - I surely never thought it would happen.

-- Jim

 

[Clint Eastwood]

You two must be so Happy Together... (cheap pun of the days)

I see what you did there

[video=youtube;Tvu3xiFmfDU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvu3xiFmfDU[/video]

 

[Simon A]

What he said!!

I can't understand where all the distortion has gone with these 70s remixes! This one in particular has always had some pretty irritating grunge in various places on all the stereo mixes I've heard, in any format. And now here it is, clean as a whistle, like it was just recorded last week! Okay, that may be pushing it, but it's drastically improved - like an old scab that has finally dried off and fallen away, leaving a tiny bit of scar tissue.

I've always assumed the distortion I was hearing was "baked into" the original tracks, just a limitation of the early tech of the times, perhaps those early solid-state consoles. And I suppose that could still be the case, since the console actually performed 2 separate tasks, recording and mixdown, at different times. Obviously the old mic pres & channel strips did a decent job, but maybe the mix bus was where the trouble happened? Or it could have been the post-mix processing - compressors & the like. That would explain things, but of course I can only speculate. Whatever it was, I'm surprised and amazed to be hearing all these old favorites like this - I surely never thought it would happen.

-- Jim

I was just about to say the mixing board and realized you'd just said it. That's what insomnia does to my old brain.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

I see what you did there

Man - what a difference a few years make: [WARNING: NSFW, heh]

[video]https://youtu.be/TBNUATrSgLs[/video]

-- Jim

 

[Clint Eastwood]

What he said!!

I can't understand where all the distortion has gone with these 70s remixes! This one in particular has always had some pretty irritating grunge in various places on all the stereo mixes I've heard, in any format. And now here it is, clean as a whistle, like it was just recorded last week! Okay, that may be pushing it, but it's drastically improved - like an old scab that has finally dried off and fallen away, leaving a tiny bit of scar tissue.

I've always assumed the distortion I was hearing was "baked into" the original tracks, just a limitation of the early tech of the times, perhaps those early solid-state consoles. And I suppose that could still be the case, since the console actually performed 2 separate tasks, recording and mixdown, at different times. Obviously the old mic pres & channel strips did a decent job, but maybe the mix bus was where the trouble happened? Or it could have been the post-mix processing - compressors & the like. That would explain things, but of course I can only speculate. Whatever it was, I'm surprised and amazed to be hearing all these old favorites like this - I surely never thought it would happen.

-- Jim

IMO the 80's "sound" was more problematic than the 70's to correct...

 

[rtbluray]

The distortions on the original mix are probably due to Eddie Offord's mixing technique of driving the mix with compressors and limiters to produce "desirable" distortions when recording the mix to tape. You can hear that in effect on most all of his Yes and ELP mixes.
This probably explains why the Yes and ELP remixes from Steven Wilson (and Jakko for "Trilogy") sound more dynamic, with less distortion present.
Wilson talked about this when discussing his remix of "Close to the Edge" with Mike Mettler here: http://soundbard.com/total-5-1-mass...xing-yes-close-to-the-edge-in-surround-sound/

 

[peterzach]

Base.com is cheaper than Amazon uk if anyone is interested
I cancelled my Amazon uk order, their prices lately are terrible

Never ordered from them, tried going to the website to see what shipping prices are to Canada, couldn't see it.
What is shipping cost outside of Uk from this outfit?

 

[Ranasakawa]

Shipping was just a few pounds to Australia last time I used them

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

I was just about to say the mixing board and realized you'd just said it. That's what insomnia does to my old brain.

Ugh - you too? I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Never used to think twice about sleeping through the night; now it's like a precious gift.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

The distortions on the original mix are probably due to Eddie Offord's mixing technique of driving the mix with compressors and limiters to produce "desirable" distortions when recording the mix to tape. You can hear that in effect on most all of his Yes and ELP mixes.
This probably explains why the Yes and ELP remixes from Steven Wilson (and Jakko for "Trilogy") sound more dynamic, with less distortion present.
Wilson talked about this when discussing his remix of "Close to the Edge" with Mike Mettler here: http://soundbard.com/total-5-1-mass...xing-yes-close-to-the-edge-in-surround-sound/

I've read that interview, and it might explain the sound difference for these recordings, at least to some extent. But I hear this type of "dingy" sound on many other records from that period. For example, the same type of drastic difference exists (to my ear, at least) on the Jeff Beck Group quad SACD. Actually, that one wasn't even remixed, having been made from the already-mixed quad masters. But that was probably done on a different console from the stereo mix - perhaps even a different studio? That would mean a different (and perhaps somewhat more modern) roomful of gear in the mixdown chain, which could explain that one. I dunno.

What I do know is that it boggles my mind a bit to think of all the other recordings from that period that could benefit from this treatment! For just one example, can you imagine what Rundgren's Todd album would sound like if it could be cleaned up like this? Not to even mention a 5.1 mix! The mind reels...

-- Jim

 

[DoctorO]

Just getting started listening to this, going right to Heart of the Sunrise--top notch surround mix! Amazing that they put the old Rhino mix on this BluRay--that must drop the value of that DVD-A from $100+ down to $2.99!

So cool that this arrives on my birthday! Can I have Tales from Topographic for my birthday next year, please, before I run out of birthdays!?

 

[Cygnus_X1]

Burning Dust shipped my copy on the 27th of Oct and it still hasn't arrived? Anyone else waiting for theirs?

 

[Neb-Maat-Re]

Shipping was just a few pounds to Australia last time I used them

Thanks for the heads up! £1.49 shipping to Aus - and they correctly take the VAT off international orders which not all sites do! About $28 total even with the crappy current exchange rate.

The £1.49 shipping seems standard - the Anthony Phillips set was the same.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

Burning Dust shipped my copy on the 27th of Oct and it still hasn't arrived? Anyone else waiting for theirs?

Dunno what to tell ya - I got mine from Headphone Shed last week.

-- Jim (sorry, heh.)