jhw59
300 Club - QQ All-Star
thanks. Had to bite at that price:yikes
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 50th Anniversary Reissue (with 5.1 surround mix)
- Thread starter rtbluray
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thanks. Had to bite at that price:yikes
Hey, that's probably one of our fools trying to pawn off the set after snagging the surround BluRay!
Good one John:ugham:...I'm gonna miss seeing you on the forum after you get married:couch
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Clint, the other day, AmazonUS had one listed as LIKE NEW, SEALED [an oxymoron, IMO] for the same price. Probably RESEALED.
I know that some of them are actually NEW....not just resealed...the description is probably just for their protection...some probably have exterior damage to the outer package or other minor problems...they wait until they have enough in the supply chain to list them...if I wasn't in a hurry for that specific title I would take that route...because there is nothing to lose...it gets treated like a new product purchase by amazon...if you don't want it...it can be returned and they will take care of the shipping costs..the only downside is that you have to wait until they list them...it could be 6 months or a year before they do...if this wasn't the Beatles I'd have waited...
Now you can see that the previous offerings that were listed as "like new" were not resealed...they had the original shrink wrap intact because this latest group of warehouse specials are listed as "good" and the description reveals that some of these are missing the shrink wrap and could have some cosmetic damage...these I would not really recommend for forum buyers unless you really wanted the surround disc and didn't care about damage to the remaining portion of the set...I'm just posting this to show the difference between amazon warehouse products...there are differences...
So for anyone reading this post...this warehouse deal is NOT the same quality as the other one that was posted...this deal is not very good...IMO...buy only if you really can't find the surround disc anywhere else and you don't care about cosmetic damage to the box set.....HERE
I'm sure this is the case. I mean, I had purchased 2 copies of Pepper. Brand new. My backup copy sat on the shelf for quite a while. Eventually, the shrink wrap pulled away from the bottom due to the sharp edges of the cardboard sleeve. Additionally, the outer sleeve had a slight crinkle in it due to the sheer weight of the product sitting on the shelf.
If I were Amazon, would I call that "like new" Maybe....just to be safe.
I'm not sure if this is a legal requirement...perhaps more of a company guideline...but some companies don't list products that were already sold once as new...regardless of whether it was opened or not...this might be the case...but I give amazon high marks for being descriptive on these items...the status "like new" gives them some wiggle room...you know what it's like to deal with the public..some are unreasonably "picky"...that's why when I sell things on Ebay I try to be conservative in my rating...some people use the ratings "like new" when the safe thing to do(to avoid complaints or returns)would be to go with "very good" and provide plenty of pictures of the item to provide full disclosure...but the "lure" is go with the higher classification to get more money for your item...which could backfire on you..
oops
jhw59
300 Club - QQ All-Star
It said "factory sealed". If it ain't, back it goes. Not too worried.
jhw59
300 Club - QQ All-Star
Arrived this morning and appears to be as described in perfect condition with wrapping on tight so if it's a rewrap, incredibly well done. But it is a big boy indeed, will reside in my oversized section next to Neil Young BR Archives. Away most of this week so listening party will have to wait.
amazon continues to puzzle me with these price changes.....at 9:36 this morning the price was$67.91...so now at 2:10 the price is $71.22...they must have a computer program controlling these incremental price changes...it must be a percentage oriented program,the puzzling part is that sometimes I see raises that are only a few pennies on some titles(not this one)..so how do you program price changes that are that small...
MrSmithers
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
I had a similar issue on Amazon recently with Carole King Tapestry (JPN Sacd). First it was £35, then went up to £96 after a simple page reload! And the in stock supply was exactly the same.... It’s currently £51.74 so I have no idea?! Surely there’s a RRP when they first get it?! Thankfully I could get it ‘normally’ in the marketplace.
The magical mystery (pricing) tour continues...when I left this thread yesterday..I commented on the price increases...so here is an update...yesterday it started at $67.91....then edged up to $71.22(+$3.31)...and now today it's $79.45(+8.23)..so in a 24 hour period it has increased $11.54...where do they get these figures...is there a math prodigy in the house?
Took me a long time to figure out the menu on the BD but I finally got it after trying 3 players and spending nearly 30 min! Frustrating. Originally the way it behaved, it didn't seem there wasn't anyway to select the format & tracks for Audio only. And pressing the underlined "Audio" didn't do anything at all nor did the players' menu choices - I discovered you have to press AND hold "Audio" to access the album and extra tracks. You have to press "Audio" longer than "Video" to get to the next submenu. The menus should have been better designed & more straightforward to use. Should go right to the tracks and formats IMO.
In the end, the surround mixes are good but I think somewhat laid back, could be a bit more aggressive. I haven't listened to the "Love" DVD-A in several years but I remember being really impressed with Giles' surround mixes of the Beatles songs used on that album. Maybe he engineered these a bit differently?
I got really frustrated trying to play the BD this afternoon; one of the least intuitive menus I've seen on a menu music disc (DVD-A & Bluray audio) and I've literally got hundreds, including the Pink Floyd immersion & Jethro Tull sets. None gave me fits like this menu. O well
In the end, the surround mixes are good but I think somewhat laid back, could be a bit more aggressive. I haven't listened to the "Love" DVD-A in several years but I remember being really impressed with Giles' surround mixes of the Beatles songs used on that album. Maybe he engineered these a bit differently?
I got really frustrated trying to play the BD this afternoon; one of the least intuitive menus I've seen on a menu music disc (DVD-A & Bluray audio) and I've literally got hundreds, including the Pink Floyd immersion & Jethro Tull sets. None gave me fits like this menu. O well
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Wow. Just got the box set with 5.1 and am so disappointed, to the point of being pissed off about buying it. I have the Love DVD-A which was really great surround & was really looking forward to hearing Sgt Peppers done by Giles Martin. I have 3 big complaints -
My biggest single complaint is whoever did the authoring of the Blu-ray & DVD is an absolute idiot!
Put the disc in and immediately starts playing & 10 dB louder (!) than my normal setting plus plays stereo. There is NO starting menu to select which track or sound format to listen to, NONE whatsoever. Plus however it's authored, 2 players out of 2 would not pause/fast forward, skip tracks in the when Audio is chosen. I tried 2 players, Oppo 105 and 205, and neither one could pause, stop, or skip tracks when Audio is chosen in the binary choice menu (Audio & Video - that's all there is), what's weirder is when you hit Top Menu, that changes the track. That's FU disc authoring. When you change to Video, you see thumbnails of the music videos corresponding to each song (and not in the album order). In the Video portion there is a Main Menu and if you select that, there is a submenu for Video Setup and THERE's where you find selecting DTS-MA, TrueHD, LPCM Stereo (no mention of the resolution or 5.1 vs 2 ch). But the menu says the format selection ONLY applies to the music videos! Sure makes sense to select AUDIO formats under the VIDEO section
Somehow I managed to select a format that seems to apply to the audio only tracks but in all my years of collecting thousands of movies, music on DVD-A, Blu-ray Audio & SACD, I have never encountered this FU'd a menu before. Seriously, I thought the discs were defective but it's the fubared convoluted way the menu is designed.
My 3rd complaint is with the mixes themselves. They do NOT equal "Love". The surround is really underwhelming to say it kindly, reminds me of just ambience shunted to the surrounds in many movies or classical music. The surround channels are barely noticeable which is not how Love sounds at all. Plus this set seems to be a victim of the "loudness wars", both the DTS-MA & TrueHD sound compressed, way too loud (boosted by about 10dB vs movies, CD's and other mixes played with the same prepro/amps/speakers). Highs & bass balance seem off, highs seem thin, shrill even, maybe a victim of the compression.
Frankly I regret buying this as the plain-jane CD in the last Beatles remastered box set of all their albums sounds better, even if it is the fake stereo. I also still have the original LP with pseudo-stereo which I bought when it 1st came out so have listened to this album many times since I was a teen
The filler material, book, outtake CD's etc is OK to meh. The main attraction should have been the 5.1 tracks and if it takes 20 minutes to screw around figuring out how to use this mess of a menu, that's not how to enjoy this classic music! The label should be ashamed. I haven't played the mono mix CD yet - maybe that will partially compensate for the idiotic way the BD/DVDs have been authored.
Count me disgusted for falling for the hype of this over-priced set with poorly designed discs & un-inspired sound quality. IMO, this box set was a waste of $125. Not anywhere close to the quality of the Pink Floyd Immersion sets, or any work by Steven Wilson - solo, his Jethro Tull, Yes & King Crimsons etc.
Giles & the label are probably laughing all the way to the bank for this poor/mediocre effort.
I assure you, SS9001, that you're NOT alone in your assessment of the Sgt. Pepper boxset. I have NO gripes with the presentation [the lenticular cover boxset, itself and its contents] but IMO, the 5.1 remix was NOWHERE near as brilliant as the LOVE album! FAR, FAR from it, in fact!
Purists will tell you that the LOVE album was NOT a Beatle's album. Well, of course it wasn't. It was a soundtrack for the Cirque de Soleil Vegas show but the 5.1 presentation was positively AWESOME. I just posted recently that it should've been #1 in the QQ polls as it garnered more votes [and a lot of solid 10's] than DSOTM. In fact, I just purchased a third copy of LOVE as a back~up copy. Or rather, a back~up OF the back~up.
This remix will always be controversial but like yourself, IMO, it was a MISSED opportunity and whether Giles and his Apple cohorts are laughing all the way to the bank, I wouldn't bank on any future Beatle's remixes with the authority and gravitas of what Sir George and Giles accomplished on the pluperfect remix of LOVE! Just hope that the upcoming Giles Martin WHITE ALBUM remaster won't be a WHITEWASH like PRIVATE PEPPER's tepid 5.1 remix was [yes, I demoted Sgt. to PRIVATE]!!!!!!!
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OK, the authoring was FUBAR!!!
But I really don't get all the hate this MCH mix is getting...
Of course, if LOVE had never been released I am positive this wouldn't have gotten such bad reviews, but LOVE did set a very high standard!
Personally I do not think it is a BAD mix, AAMOF , it's quite good, it's just that we got spoiled rotten!!!
We should be thankful we GOT THIS ...who'dhavethunk????
At least it was not JG's DSOTM fiasco....(hiding behind the doghouse)
But I really don't get all the hate this MCH mix is getting...
Of course, if LOVE had never been released I am positive this wouldn't have gotten such bad reviews, but LOVE did set a very high standard!
Personally I do not think it is a BAD mix, AAMOF , it's quite good, it's just that we got spoiled rotten!!!
We should be thankful we GOT THIS ...who'dhavethunk????
At least it was not JG's DSOTM fiasco....(hiding behind the doghouse)
I re-did my post because I finally figured out the menu (embarrassed!) & after listening to several more songs, surround was better than I thought from my initial reaction. But I still think it's a missed opportunity and not as good as what Giles did on Love. I wonder what Steven Wilson would have done with the album; from all his body of work, I expect his mixes would be lot better. He seems to be one of the geniuses of mixing multichannel music.
Sorry for my original post; I was pretty pissed off with the menu but in the end, it took more patience & some luck than what I gave it. Accessing songs shouldn't be that hard. These folks doing the authoring might think menus that are like a puzzle are cool when all a listener wants to do is pick the format, pick the song and hit play. Sub-menus are bad enough but when they make it obtuse that ain't so cool to the end-user. Like I said in my revised post, this is the worst menu on a music disc that I've encountered. Even the selects are weird, slow to respond & line by line; if you pause, you can't navigate to select the next track or go to the formats, only when something is playing.
The designer of this menu is still an idiot And it's still way too loud; playback on a different prepro resulted in the same loud volume requiring the same lowering of ~10 dB. That is a huge and uncalled for increase in loudness, meaning it was engineered hot, peaks way into the red, meaning compression of dynamic range & attendant other issues. If one doesn't know this about the volume, they will get an earful surprise. No excuse for a soundtrack being that far above the norm.
As far as "being thankful we got this" is concerned, I somewhat agree but let's not forget this wasn't $25-50; at $125 it exceeds Pink Floyd Immersion pricing and its list price is even more. The set is nice but a bit overpriced compared to all other multi-disc spec ed sets that contain 5.1 mixes - check 'em off - any you can think of - Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, all of SW's King Crimson's, ELP, Yes, solos, etc - none cost as much as this and that alone sets a high bar for expected value. If the mixes were as good as Love, got great value - that's what I was expecting - after all, it was the same guy doing them! Since they aren't as good, the value is less. End of story.
Is it a bust? No, but it could have been better. And the menu is still fubar
And I very much agree about Guthrie's mix of DSOTM. Nowhere close to the quad mix. He ruined Us & Them, putting the Us's & Them's in the center channel, removing the point-counterpoint movement of voices. Even in stereo, let alone quad, that was a key part of the mix. He screwed up Brain Damage too IMO; the maniacal laughter doesn't come across the same way as in the quad mix. People who only know the 5.1 SACD DSOTM should listen to the original quad mix
Sorry for my original post; I was pretty pissed off with the menu but in the end, it took more patience & some luck than what I gave it. Accessing songs shouldn't be that hard. These folks doing the authoring might think menus that are like a puzzle are cool when all a listener wants to do is pick the format, pick the song and hit play. Sub-menus are bad enough but when they make it obtuse that ain't so cool to the end-user. Like I said in my revised post, this is the worst menu on a music disc that I've encountered. Even the selects are weird, slow to respond & line by line; if you pause, you can't navigate to select the next track or go to the formats, only when something is playing.
The designer of this menu is still an idiot
And it's still way too loud; playback on a different prepro resulted in the same loud volume requiring the same lowering of ~10 dB. That is a huge and uncalled for increase in loudness, meaning it was engineered hot, peaks way into the red, meaning compression of dynamic range & attendant other issues. If one doesn't know this about the volume, they will get an earful surprise. No excuse for a soundtrack being that far above the norm.As far as "being thankful we got this" is concerned, I somewhat agree but let's not forget this wasn't $25-50; at $125 it exceeds Pink Floyd Immersion pricing and its list price is even more. The set is nice but a bit overpriced compared to all other multi-disc spec ed sets that contain 5.1 mixes - check 'em off - any you can think of - Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, all of SW's King Crimson's, ELP, Yes, solos, etc - none cost as much as this and that alone sets a high bar for expected value. If the mixes were as good as Love, got great value - that's what I was expecting - after all, it was the same guy doing them! Since they aren't as good, the value is less. End of story.
Is it a bust? No, but it could have been better. And the menu is still fubar
And I very much agree about Guthrie's mix of DSOTM. Nowhere close to the quad mix. He ruined Us & Them, putting the Us's & Them's in the center channel, removing the point-counterpoint movement of voices. Even in stereo, let alone quad, that was a key part of the mix. He screwed up Brain Damage too IMO; the maniacal laughter doesn't come across the same way as in the quad mix. People who only know the 5.1 SACD DSOTM should listen to the original quad mix
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Yes, KAP, it's listenable and sounds better than any RBCD version ever could but one can ONLY imagine what a Steve Wilson and/or Elliot Scheiner would've accomplished with the Sgt. Pepper Remix? I just listened to SW's 5.1 remix of ROXY MUSIC and it was simply stunning. Sounds like it was recorded yesterday and how Wilson integrates the fronts and rears and accomplishes a seamless organic soundfield is far far better than what Giles Martin, sans his father's input, has ever accomplished. Even the Criterion Hard Day's Night BD 5.1 'remix' [what remix...it was double stereo] was disappointing.
I have the Best of Roxy Music & Avalon SACD's. But the SW version intrigues me, especially since you're giving it high praise. I might have to spring for it plus the cover was always very nice
Wilson is good for sure. He seems to be a master at layering sounds and making the whole a seamless bubble around your head vs independent sounds coming directly from each speaker. Organic is a great adjective for it. From Scheiner's discs that I have, he's darn good also.
After listening to Within You Without You, Fixing a Hole & Strawberry Fields in 5.1, I'll say it's definitely enjoyable & better than I initially thought from the title track & Lucy which struck me as kind of flat. But could be better compared to other 5.1 & even 4.0 releases I have (like yourself, comparing).
I'm now glad I bought it but hoped it would have been as stunning as Love. Maybe not a fair comparison but it's what I expected. George Martin must have added some magic sauce to that recording.
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