Coldplay "A Head Full of Dreams" (5.1 Surround Blu-Ray)

[fredblue]

There is certainly some limiting and brickwalling at play here, but compared to the absolutely awful 24/192 stereo mastering it's a revelation. The surround mix is really good, the "some limiting" I'm referring to takes this to a DR10 from what would probably have been a DR12-DR14 without it so the reality is this is more dynamic than any Coldplay studio album to date including their debut, 1999's Parachutes.

Here's the DR log for the dts core:

foobar2000 1.3.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2016-10-06 22:19:11

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Coldplay / A Head Full of Dreams Surround
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR9 -0.57 dB -13.27 dB 3:43 01-A Head Full Of Dreams
DR9 -0.65 dB -12.67 dB 3:49 02-Birds
DR9 -0.57 dB -13.27 dB 4:19 03-Hymn For The Weekend
DR10 -0.70 dB -12.75 dB 4:43 04-Everglow
DR10 -0.68 dB -11.55 dB 4:23 05-Adventure Of A Lifetime
DR10 -0.63 dB -13.76 dB 4:28 06-Fun
DR11 -3.53 dB -21.24 dB 1:51 07-Kaleidoscope
DR9 -0.55 dB -12.12 dB 6:17 08-Army Of One
DR8 -1.18 dB -11.30 dB 4:31 09-Amazing Day
DR9 -2.99 dB -22.52 dB 1:00 10-Colour Spectrum
DR10 -1.11 dB -15.34 dB 6:45 11-Up & Up
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 11
Official DR value: DR10

Samplerate: 48000 Hz
Channels: 6
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 6912 kbps
Codec: PCM

Here's a look at the front left and rights of track 1 compared to the stereo version, clipping turned off (it's VERY red throughout with it on)

View attachment 27430

OMG... :yikes

that is incredible..

just look how clipped that Stereo mastering is.. jeepers..!! (it must be super loud by comparison to the surround.. I didn't try the stereo tonight, why would I..? hehe.. )

...reminiscent of some of the SACDs of around 10 years ago where the Stereo was similarly smashed to oblivion while the 5.1 was lovely and dynamic..

reminded of the phrase;

​

"plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose..."

 

[bktouchstone]

Mine arrived today and the first listen impressed me a lot! The music is decent, the mix is very 3-D, which I like. The little pattern on the left side of the screen is also a little mesmerizing- not a bad thing. I am no Coldplay expert, but I recognize their sound and in surround they seem even better. I am looking forward to playing this more over the next few days to see whether this grows on me more.

 

[colsky]

Amazon UK got in touch again with another update..

paraphrasing but they said expect another delay of like a week or two I think it was
(I still think they will stall and stall and then cancel on us..!)

I got the same update from Amazon yesterday, which was frustrating as, the day before, I checked, and the status then said "preparing your order for dispatch soon", and the item said in stock, only 20 left, then 15, then 10, then 5, then 1.......... So mine wasn't one of them then

 

[user 9057]

Update from Bullmoose:

Tim: I have been touting Bullmoose for having this release with a great price all along, while other vendors release information changed by the hour. Now Bullmoose lists the Coldplay BD as "This item is not available at this time"? I ordered it as soon as I learned about it a few weeks ago. Folks that ordered elsewhere are already listening and commenting on it. Help me help you! Please advise.

Chris: "Hi Tim, Your order is fine. We stopped taking orders last week when we found out what our allotment was. Not many copies were actually sent to the US. They only did it for Grammy considerations, I'm told. That's a funny move if you ask me. Your copy was shipped to us last Thursday. As far as we know, it's still scheduled for Friday, so we should have it to you by then."

Tim: Thank you. The second question will be are you expecting to receive more and at what price?

Chris: "Tim, I think we probably can get more. How many, I don't know. We will keep it at a reasonable price if we get more."

Tim, thanks for posting that. It reminded me to unblock it from online sales. We did get more a while ago. I just reopened them so if anybody still needs one, we can take care of them.

Chris

 

[weekendtoy]

Back in stock at Bullmoose...

 

[timbre4]

Thank you Chris I got my copy a few days ago. It was a little hectic from work so I asked my son what his favorite song was as he's a huge Coldplay fan. He said Up&Up (last track) and I hit Play. We heard a great sounding enveloping mix where Chris Martin's voice was clean, clear and free of any artifacts, floating over a warm bed of instrumentation. Then I asked him what's his second favorite song. That was Kaleidoscope. And again this sounded very promising. Then the dinner bell rang and he went back in the house while I had to play the rest of the tracks because I found myself enjoying it more than I thought it would.

I think it's good to have a supply problem on a major release like this because it points out demand like nothing else can. In spite of the odds this is a winner. I don't know that this will ever be my favorite Coldplay album but I will enjoy it in the hopes that some earlier material will find its way to this format.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[capsid]

This is very good. I've had the CD since it's release, so know the music well and this takes it to another level. The bass is very powerful. I judge a good disc by cranking the volume and then if I can't have a conversation with my wife sat next to me then it's pretty good[emoji3]

Oh and some thought has gone into the surround mix.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[colsky]

I got the same update from Amazon yesterday, which was frustrating as, the day before, I checked, and the status then said "preparing your order for dispatch soon", and the item said in stock, only 20 left, then 15, then 10, then 5, then 1.......... So mine wasn't one of them then

Amazon UK are now showing the status as Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock. WTF!

 

[Failed Muso]

Amazon UK are now showing the status as Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock. WTF!

I ordered a copy last week and they have estimated delivery between the 20th and 25th October.

Given the recent debacle I experienced with my Bowie vinyl box set, I'd not be at all surprised if that date slipped

 

[colsky]

I ordered a copy last week and they have estimated delivery between the 20th and 25th October.

Given the recent debacle I experienced with my Bowie vinyl box set, I'd not be at all surprised if that date slipped

My current estimated delivery time is the same as yours. I say current, because I've already had 2 estimated delivery dates for this which have come and gone, and been replaced by later ones!

 

[Failed Muso]

My current estimated delivery time is the same as yours. I say current, because I've already had 2 estimated delivery dates for this which have come and gone, and been replaced by later ones!

I am not at all surprised

My Bowie box set was "delivered" damaged and a replacement was promised 3 days later. On that day, it got pushed back a further day and this happened a total of four times before it finally arrived, after much to-ing and fro-ing and emails to Jeff Bezos. The full story is far too lengthy for this place, but it was incredibly painful and highlighted a major gap in communications between supplier, warehouse, customer service and customer.

However, I'm far less worried about the late arrival of a £15 Coldplay Blu Ray than I am of a £200 Bowie vinyl box set

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

I had a shipping notice for my Amazon UK order of this yesterday. It's supposed to arrive Monday.

 

[Failed Muso]

I had a shipping notice for my Amazon UK order of this yesterday. It's supposed to arrive Monday.

Ditto

 

[fredblue]

I had a shipping notice for my Amazon UK order of this yesterday. It's supposed to arrive Monday.

Surprisingly got the same notification, amazed they got it in stock after all the "will they or won't they" shenanigans.. its been like a surround sound striptease.. at last they're peeling right the way down.. all the way.. yeah baby.. take it all off.. OH! sorry about that.. well I'll have a backup copy anyway and if it transpires down the line this goes OOP and starts to go for silly money (as I suspect) then I'll be able to help someone out here down the line.

 

[rusinurbe]

Mine arrived yesterday along with the Chicago Quadio Box and skylarking a good day with the postman

 

[svengaleekie]

Ditto

Ditto

 

[rusinurbe]

first listen, and its not a Wilson mix but its not bad.
Packed with Bass its woofertastic, the music is a bit bland however but hell I had to support the release of a new album in surround, on the plus side my wife likes it, at least I did not get the racket speech

Hopefully this will do really well in terms of sales and encourage more.

If this is in the Grammy mix, its bland and megaband enough to win it should it win it is another story, there are at least 5 albums worth a bigger shout which probably are not even in consideration for best surround

 

[colsky]

This arrived today and its one to let the kids dance to before bed! Nice and active surround mix, but I've had to turn the sub down a bit for fear of a door blowing off its hinges!

 

[mam]

Music is like "middle of the road" for radio mainstream, sometimes good, sometimes tired stuff. But it will be better if using the good surround mix. Rears are heavy used and the sub powered very much. Great.

 

[mdmost]

Listening now. Sounds really good. I'm a big Coldplay fan. Not a big fan of this album. I'd love if they'd give Viva La Vida, Ghost Stories or the first two albums this treatment.