Listening to in Dolby Atmos Streaming, via Tidal/Apple/Amazon

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On Sting's The Dream of the Blue Turtles in Atmos:
https://music.apple.com/no/album/the-dream-of-the-blue-turtles/1440880757?l=nb
What a massive dissapointment! There is so much in this mix that is wrong. I don't know whether this is done in a control room with bad acoustics/monitoring or done by someone who is unexperienced, it sounds so bad. In the top end so much eq is added that it sounds really harsh and metallic even on my usually laid back B&W speakers. Way too much energy in the 5-9 kHz range make tamburine, cymbals and hi-hat sound bad. Taste is different and some like bright mixes, but if one choose to make a bright mix one should also use enough de-essing on the main vocal to compensate the overexposed esses. This scream listening fatigue before you have come half way through the first song. This mix isn't the only one to suffer from this. E.g. check out Norah Jones' Come Away With Me where someone turned this well recorded album into an unbearable bright and ugly vocal sound.

The treble area is also the part of the frequency spectrum that is hardest for compressed formats (like Atmos in Apple Music and Tidal) to reproduce without artifacts. Too much treble will much likely emphasis these limitations, often making it sound harsh and metallic. Another way to balance a bright mix work is to have a solid low end. This mix over all lacks this as well. It varies from song to song, but is never really good. Drums sound distant and bass guitar/upright bass is lacking body. The upper bass area into the low mid range which is so important for adding warmth and making the mix sound natural is almost absent in all songs. Sting's vocal is often mixed too loud distancing the rest further. And as others have said, it has not got much use of heights and backs. Not much creativity put into the immersive part either.

It is a shame that the remix of a masterpiece like this can get released with this painful quality. Even worse when you think how much money this album has brought the record label over the years. Is there no quality control envolved? If they will cut down expenses by skipping the mastering studio at least let someone with experience listen to it in another control room and give feedback/guidence during the remixing. I hope we won't get many more bad Atmos examples like this, it will destroy the reputation of music mixed in Atmos and slowly kill the format.
 
On Sting's The Dream of the Blue Turtles in Atmos:
https://music.apple.com/no/album/the-dream-of-the-blue-turtles/1440880757?l=nb
What a massive dissapointment! There is so much in this mix that is wrong. I don't know whether this is done in a control room with bad acoustics/monitoring or done by someone who is unexperienced, it sounds so bad. In the top end so much eq is added that it sounds really harsh and metallic even on my usually laid back B&W speakers. Way too much energy in the 5-9 kHz range make tamburine, cymbals and hi-hat sound bad. Taste is different and some like bright mixes, but if one choose to make a bright mix one should also use enough de-essing on the main vocal to compensate the overexposed esses. This scream listening fatigue before you have come half way through the first song. This mix isn't the only one to suffer from this. E.g. check out Norah Jones' Come Away With Me where someone turned this well recorded album into an unbearable bright and ugly vocal sound.

The treble area is also the part of the frequency spectrum that is hardest for compressed formats (like Atmos in Apple Music and Tidal) to reproduce without artifacts. Too much treble will much likely emphasis these limitations, often making it sound harsh and metallic. Another way to balance a bright mix work is to have a solid low end. This mix over all lacks this as well. It varies from song to song, but is never really good. Drums sound distant and bass guitar/upright bass is lacking body. The upper bass area into the low mid range which is so important for adding warmth and making the mix sound natural is almost absent in all songs. Sting's vocal is often mixed too loud distancing the rest further. And as others have said, it has not got much use of heights and backs. Not much creativity put into the immersive part either.

It is a shame that the remix of a masterpiece like this can get released with this painful quality. Even worse when you think how much money this album has brought the record label over the years. Is there no quality control envolved? If they will cut down expenses by skipping the mastering studio at least let someone with experience listen to it in another control room and give feedback/guidence during the remixing. I hope we won't get many more bad Atmos examples like this, it will destroy the reputation of music mixed in Atmos and slowly kill the format.
Well said, you know it’s going to bad from the first 5 seconds. Really disappointed as have you had said there has been some great releases recently
 
Superb!! Put this aside Booka Shade Dolby Atmos collection! 😉🤩

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On Sting's The Dream of the Blue Turtles in Atmos:
https://music.apple.com/no/album/the-dream-of-the-blue-turtles/1440880757?l=nb
What a massive dissapointment! There is so much in this mix that is wrong. I don't know whether this is done in a control room with bad acoustics/monitoring or done by someone who is unexperienced, it sounds so bad. In the top end so much eq is added that it sounds really harsh and metallic even on my usually laid back B&W speakers. Way too much energy in the 5-9 kHz range make tamburine, cymbals and hi-hat sound bad. Taste is different and some like bright mixes, but if one choose to make a bright mix one should also use enough de-essing on the main vocal to compensate the overexposed esses. This scream listening fatigue before you have come half way through the first song. This mix isn't the only one to suffer from this. E.g. check out Norah Jones' Come Away With Me where someone turned this well recorded album into an unbearable bright and ugly vocal sound.

The treble area is also the part of the frequency spectrum that is hardest for compressed formats (like Atmos in Apple Music and Tidal) to reproduce without artifacts. Too much treble will much likely emphasis these limitations, often making it sound harsh and metallic. Another way to balance a bright mix work is to have a solid low end. This mix over all lacks this as well. It varies from song to song, but is never really good. Drums sound distant and bass guitar/upright bass is lacking body. The upper bass area into the low mid range which is so important for adding warmth and making the mix sound natural is almost absent in all songs. Sting's vocal is often mixed too loud distancing the rest further. And as others have said, it has not got much use of heights and backs. Not much creativity put into the immersive part either.

It is a shame that the remix of a masterpiece like this can get released with this painful quality. Even worse when you think how much money this album has brought the record label over the years. Is there no quality control envolved? If they will cut down expenses by skipping the mastering studio at least let someone with experience listen to it in another control room and give feedback/guidence during the remixing. I hope we won't get many more bad Atmos examples like this, it will destroy the reputation of music mixed in Atmos and slowly kill the format.

I really don't understand the bad critics read about this Sting Atmos mix.

Its true that the effects are subtle. But elegant.

In my 9.1.4 system (Tidal-Atmos) I Do hear:

- Good immersion sensation.
- Discrete instruments in different locations.
- Panning sounds from side to side (through the heights some times).
- Sounds enough coming from the tops/heights.
- Sounds enough coming from the Wides.

The Sting vocals are always frontal, but in stereo LF, without using the Central, which is appreciated for the single MLP.

I do not find excessive harsh or bright sound in my system (Using Audyssey DEQ).

All this gives a similar sound to the original stereo but with the enhanced clarity, immersion and instruments sounds detail all over the room. This mix should be good for the traditional stereo people that doesn't like aggressive ping pong mixes.

All this applies to "The Dream Of The Blue Turtles".

"Ten Summoners Tales" is not as good, no objects on Wides, but still immersive and Height sounds.

"The Bridge" is really as the bad critics say: Only Stereo with a very minimal echo/reverb on the rest that generates very lttle immersion and no discrete at all.
 
This is hands down the best live Dolby Atmos mix I've ever heard. I"m in the audience.
I just came here to post exactly what you have said! I bought the Blue Ray and watched the concert in ATMOS last night, playing along on guitar with the band at about 90db.

My girlfriends was amazed.

“ I love Eric Clapton but I had no idea how fantastic he was as a live performer and singer“

This is indeed a great example of the power of ATMOS to replicate the sound of music being played in a specific space. It truly sounds like you are on the floor in front of that stage.

by the way, Claptons vocals are simply incredible. It’s unfair that the man can play guitar that good AND be able to sing like that. Highly highly highly recomended.
 
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On Sting's The Dream of the Blue Turtles in Atmos:
https://music.apple.com/no/album/the-dream-of-the-blue-turtles/1440880757?l=nb
What a massive dissapointment! There is so much in this mix that is wrong. I don't know whether this is done in a control room with bad acoustics/monitoring or done by someone who is unexperienced, it sounds so bad. In the top end so much eq is added that it sounds really harsh and metallic even on my usually laid back B&W speakers. Way too much energy in the 5-9 kHz range make tamburine, cymbals and hi-hat sound bad. Taste is different and some like bright mixes, but if one choose to make a bright mix one should also use enough de-essing on the main vocal to compensate the overexposed esses. This scream listening fatigue before you have come half way through the first song. This mix isn't the only one to suffer from this. E.g. check out Norah Jones' Come Away With Me where someone turned this well recorded album into an unbearable bright and ugly vocal sound.

The treble area is also the part of the frequency spectrum that is hardest for compressed formats (like Atmos in Apple Music and Tidal) to reproduce without artifacts. Too much treble will much likely emphasis these limitations, often making it sound harsh and metallic. Another way to balance a bright mix work is to have a solid low end. This mix over all lacks this as well. It varies from song to song, but is never really good. Drums sound distant and bass guitar/upright bass is lacking body. The upper bass area into the low mid range which is so important for adding warmth and making the mix sound natural is almost absent in all songs. Sting's vocal is often mixed too loud distancing the rest further. And as others have said, it has not got much use of heights and backs. Not much creativity put into the immersive part either.

It is a shame that the remix of a masterpiece like this can get released with this painful quality. Even worse when you think how much money this album has brought the record label over the years. Is there no quality control envolved? If they will cut down expenses by skipping the mastering studio at least let someone with experience listen to it in another control room and give feedback/guidence during the remixing. I hope we won't get many more bad Atmos examples like this, it will destroy the reputation of music mixed in Atmos and slowly kill the format.
ive given this a listen and I expect the disappointment starts with the quality of the original tracked recordings. It’s sounds every bit like production values of the music of the mid 80’s as the transition was being made from analog to digital recording and mixing. this has a very detailed sound resolution, but it’s clinical sounding, and a bit brittle in the high frequencies. I also agree that who ever mixed this went very conservative on leveraging what ATMOS could have done to enhance this music.
 
ive given this a listen and I expect the disappointment starts with the quality of the original tracked recordings. It’s sounds every bit like production values of the music of the mid 80’s as the transition was being made from analog to digital recording and mixing. this has a very detailed sound resolution, but it’s clinical sounding, and a bit brittle in the high frequencies. I also agree that who ever mixed this went very conservative on leveraging what ATMOS could have done to enhance this music.
It's funny you mention the 80s sound since they remixed several of the Blue Turtles tracks on the 25 Years set and sort of de-80fied them. I never had a problem with the 80s sound since that's what I grew up with but enjoyed the 2011 mixes as well. I figured if they ever released a surround mix of the album it would be using that approach but I guess not.

Too bad Elliot didn't do more Sting surround mixes. I thought he did a great job with Brand New Day.
 
A couple of releases that are pretty good if you like that sort of thing
https://music.apple.com/us/album/vulture-prince-deluxe-edition/1613561221https://music.apple.com/us/album/trios-chapel-live-feat-bill-frisell-thomas-morgan/1623224880PS. Vulture Prince was released in 2021 and the track Mohabbat won a Grammy.

Ooo--most definitely do! Arooj Aftab was on a whole bunch of "Best of 2021" lists. And Charles Lloyd is always interesting, especially when he's playing with cats like Frisell & Morgan. (I expect that one is another tame Blue Note mix, though?)

Hoping this means New Amsterdam Records might invest in Atmos mixes for some of its other recent releases and/or back catalogue, too. (Google tells me this one was mixed by Damon Whittemore a/k/a ValveTone.) Check out New Amsterdam's artist roster!
https://www.newamrecords.com/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/arooj-aftab-vulture-prince/
 
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It's funny you mention the 80s sound since they remixed several of the Blue Turtles tracks on the 25 Years set and sort of de-80fied them. I never had a problem with the 80s sound since that's what I grew up with but enjoyed the 2011 mixes as well. I figured if they ever released a surround mix of the album it would be using that approach but I guess not.

Too bad Elliot didn't do more Sting surround mixes. I thought he did a great job with Brand New Day.
Well said jamesc. I agree 100% in all of your comments here. I am sure Mr. Scheiner would have done wonders for the Blue Turtles. :)
 
ive given this a listen and I expect the disappointment starts with the quality of the original tracked recordings. It’s sounds every bit like production values of the music of the mid 80’s as the transition was being made from analog to digital recording and mixing. this has a very detailed sound resolution, but it’s clinical sounding, and a bit brittle in the high frequencies. I also agree that who ever mixed this went very conservative on leveraging what ATMOS could have done to enhance this music.
surround wise it's not gonna help but SOUND WISE, the LP would be the perfect solution to giving it that extra WARMTH...
 
I just came here to post exactly what you have said! I bought the Blue Ray and watched the concert in ATMOS last night, playing along on guitar with the band at about 90db.

My girlfriends was amazed.

“ I love Eric Clapton but I had no idea how fantastic he was as a live performer and singer“

This is indeed a great example of the power of ATMOS to replicate the sound of music being played in a specific space. It truly sounds like you are on the floor in front of that stage.

by the way, Claptons vocals are simply incredible. It’s unfair that the man can play guitar that good AND be able to sing like that. Highly highly highly recomended.

does talk over music bother you?
 
Although this is absolutely stunning in Hires Stereo, almost spatial audio just in stereo but one can wonder how awesome it would have been in Atmos.
 

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