DVD/DTS Poll Opeth - Still Life [DTS/DD DVD+CD]

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Rate the Audio-DVD of Opeth - STILL LIFE


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Bob Romano

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Please post your comments on Opeth - Still Life (DTS/DD DVD)(y)(n)
 

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I got my copy of Still Life today. I was a bit skeptical after hearing the rather bland Ghost Reveries mix.
But this one is excellent. The packaging also surprised me as I thought it'd be a standard double-cd case, since the price tag was low.
I haven't checked the new 2.0 mix yet, but that 5.0 (lol!) dts mix is awesome. I love the way the atmospheric guitar parts are layered in the surrounds. And some occasional aggressive use of the center speaker is always welcome!

I give it 8/10 'cos some songs could have used that aggressive mix a lot more. It's only done sporadically. It seems they were afraid to overdo it. But might as well go all out!
I can't wait to get my hands on the Watershed deluxe edition!
 
I agree that this surround mix is quite good, at least much better than I dared hope for.
This time front man Mikael Åkerfeldt is credited together with Jens Bogren for the surround mix. This could have made the difference (Bogren's previous mixes were not agressive at all, but this one is on a couple of occasions).
Musically it is the typical Opeth mix of Death Metal and the Laidback Beauty that makes it endurable. :p
 
recently got this to try something different.

The packaging and presentation as well as screen shots with each song are sumptious.

The music a little less so can be difficult getting into the belecous 'singing'.
The mix is Ok but nothing special, and it looses a mark for not being a full DVDA.

Seven for me.


Still better that a great many silverline efforts.
 
I like the music, the mix is quite good (not amazing), but it can be hard to get past the "growling" unless you are a true metal fan.
 
Being that this is still my favorite Opeth album, I'd love to hear it. Haven't cared much for any of the retail 5.1 output from them, though, so I'm glad to hear some positive reviews here.
 
My favorite Opeth album. I have all their surround mixes. None really stand out as amazing, but then again, I don't get to crank it up that often as I have a wife and 2 kids! LOL! I'll give it another shot when my wife takes the kids to grandma's.
 
8

I enjoyed the disc a lot, even through the growling that so many dislike. Track 1 builds so well, then to have the acoustic guitar bounce around the main four speakers, and then BOOM, it hits. Love it!

Wished it was in High Res though. Compared to DTS, DVDA or SACD discs, it sounds so stifled. I can only imagine how great it would've sounded on one of the other disc formats. Heck, the CD with the package sounds more open (IMO). Still a fun disc though.
 
8
Wished it was in High Res though. Compared to DTS, DVDA or SACD discs, it sounds so stifled. I can only imagine how great it would've sounded on one of the other disc formats. Heck, the CD with the package sounds more open (IMO). Still a fun disc though.

There is a DTS stream........
 
There is a DTS stream........

I meant a specific DTS only disc. For some reason, those always sound VERY good to me. Better than some DVDA's or SACD's I've heard. Discs with DTS thrown in on them as a bonus never sound as good to me.

*shrugs*
 
You seem to mean a DTS-CD in stead of a DVD-V with a DTS audio track :confused:
Apart from images and menu, the sound should be close. And this one is full bit rate DTS, unlike the previous Opeth discs.
 
To say that Opeth are an enigmatic and eclectic band is quite an understatement: Billed as "death metal" and coming complete with trademark Cookie-Monster vocals they also have some very intricate progressive passages and a large helping of exquisitely beautiful mellow and melodic guitar sections. Add to that; when Åkerfeldt's sings "clean" he has one of the best voices in the business. For this review I'm putting Cookie Monster to one side; I like the rest of what the band does so much that I now accept it as part of the "package." This album is amongst their best and it's fitting that the surround mix is appropriately good too. Having a lot of very heavy material it's a busy mix, but one which still manages to use the surround field to good effect enveloping the listener in a wall of metal. It loses some clarity on the heavy sections and I think this may be partly due there being no hi-res stream (it's DD and DTS.) But it's the quieter more laid back sections and tracks such as Benighted and Face of Melinda that allow the quality of the mix to shine - use of discrete channels is exploited to the full, picked guitar melodies doubled and delayed around the speakers, passages panning tastefully around. Moreover Opeth, more than maybe any other band, are masters of the transition from mellow to heavy and the surround mix really seems to accentuate this positively. For me this is a solid 8. It loses 1 mark for no hi-res and another 1 because of some "muddiness" in the heavy sections. The highspot of the album is undoubtedly "Face of Melinda" where the attention to the surround mix manages to make take an already amazing track to another level. Worth the price of the album for this track alone imho.
 
The issue with this is the mastering. Very loud and compressed. As far as placements of instruments; i love the 5.1 mix. Another victim of the loudness wars.
 
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