Deep Purple "Machine Head 50 (Deluxe)" 3CD+LP+BD-A w/ Atmos, US quad and 5.1 bonus (3/29/2024 -Universal)

[mandrix]

I am in, and ordered. Really have no use for the vinyl, so if someone wants to make an offer.....PM me.
Guess it would look OK showcased on the racks, but otherwise I truly don't need the vinyl.

 

[Tres Discrete]

I'm having faith that Dweezil will do a good job, overall. If he doesn't, I'm going to give him a call on his cell.

Honestly- I would not mind a borderline mental, over-the-top Zappa-esque Atmos remix on this.
Why not?
We’ve had Quad, 5.1, etc.
push the boundaries - make one of the greatest albums ever recorded even more mind blowing!
Let’s go Space Trucking fur reelz

 

[mandrix]

I have the US and UK quads, the Japan SACD. Atmos? Hell yes! Yeah and I still have the US LP, I think.
It is indeed a seminal album, and deserves a wild blowout experience. Some would hate it: others would revere it. Just bring it.

 

[Tres Discrete]

I have the US and UK quads, the Japan SACD. Atmos? Hell yes! Yeah and I still have the US LP, I think.
It is indeed a seminal album, and deserves a wild blowout experience. Some would hate it: others would revere it. Just bring it.

%
The crazier, the better at this point…whattaya got to lose?!?!

 

[winopener]

A standalone BR will be a no brainer for me, finally the US quad mix. With all the extra stuff, will have to see if it marks down later.

 

[zimmy]

I am also in no need for an vinyl but i will definitely buy this one as it seems to be an very good Bluray in the box. Considering the fact that i was one of those unlucky ones who bought the big box with the Who for Who´s next - Lifehouse, this one is actually quite cheap

 

[MrSmithers]

I think this might be the first album to have 4(!) different surround mixes.

Yeah good spot and this now joins "grand slam" club of having a quad, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos mix (along with No Secrets, Dark Side Of The Moon, Eat A Peach, and Tubular Bells).

Although having 4 mixes perhaps means Machine Head now sits in the Platinum club!

Did Tubular Bells have 2 different 5.1 mixes or was it just the quad and a 5.1 mix? I think I'm getting confused with the DVD and a separate hi res B&W download of the same mix?

Cool news about this release although it seems a bit bloated for what I would want. I'm quite ambivalent to stereo concert recordings as well as vinyl to bloat out a set but it's not the most excessive price to be fair...

Hopefully they get around to doing Burn , that would be brilliant...

 

[Tornado Red]

Listened to the Atmos of Smoke on the Water on Apple Music. If this is the same mix on the new blu ray, I'll be passing. Didn't think the fidelity was anywhere near the 5.1 SACD, and I can probably live without the quad mix. As always, YMMV.

 

[PurpleMoustache]

Yeah good spot and this now joins "grand slam" club of having a quad, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos mix (along with No Secrets, Dark Side Of The Moon, Eat A Peach, and Tubular Bells).

Although having 4 mixes perhaps means Machine Head now sits in the Platinum club!

Did Tubular Bells have 2 different 5.1 mixes or was it just the quad and a 5.1 mix? I think I'm getting confused with the DVD and a separate hi res B&W download of the same mix?

Cool news about this release although it seems a bit bloated for what I wound want. I'm quite ambivalent to stereo concert recordings as well as vinyl to bloat out a set but it's not the most excessive price to be fair...

Hopefully they get around to doing Burn , that would be brilliant...

The original version of Tubular Bells has only 3 surround mixes: quad, 5.1, and Atmos. There’s talk of an “early” quad mix before the released quad, but iirc discussion here was split on if it ever actually saw wide release, or release at all.

The 2003 *re-recording* of Tubular Bells with John Cleese as the Master Of Ceremonies also has a 5.1 mix, but technically is it’s own album

 

[mandrix]

Listened to the Atmos of Smoke on the Water on Apple Music. If this is the same mix on the new blu ray, I'll be passing. Didn't think the fidelity was anywhere near the 5.1 SACD, and I can probably live without the quad mix. As always, YMMV.

My take on the streaming Atmos is that if the music is not available in other surround formats, then sure, I want to give it a listen, at least once.
Otherwise even my old ears can hear a clear difference between DD+ and a Blu Ray Atmos offering. So I don't base a buying decision of a favored album on what the streamers sound like.
Fidelity makes a difference to me, then of course the mixing.

 

[RustyM]

Thanks for the heads up. It was also listed on SDE and I ordered with the lowest price from Amazon France. $97.24

 

[JulesRules]

I can't think of another that has 4 unique multi-channel mixes.

Tubular Bells? as long as you count the first quad mix that was apparently not really a dedicated quad mix. (Never heard it.)

 

[quicksrt]

No, those three tracks were mixed to 5.1 in 2001.

Sloppy research on the 5.1 mix material.

But I can’t figure out why they would just only include three tracks.

 

[srbjab]

With unwanted/unneeded vinyl and high price, another easy no on a bloated box.

 

[ssully]

If one was to, hypothetically, skip this release and buy one of the previous 5.1 dvd-a or sacds, which should they choose? This topic sent me looking at the options, and there appears to be some 'issues' with one or more of the prior 5.1 mixes. But I never did see anything definitive about what was the best to buy.

There are at least two, possible three or more, threads on QQ that have laid all of this information out already:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/decoding-deep-purple-machine-head.23780/post-430705https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/deep-purple-machine-head-sacd-help.34569/post-750870https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...ad-mix-on-the-2003-emi-sacd.35401/post-752463https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...ple-machine-head-cd-4-q8-qr.17210/post-630243https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...achine-head-dvd-a-sacd-japan.4389/post-576015

So again, in brief:
There are three surround mixes (soon to be four, with Atmos)
Two are quad from the 1970s, the UK and the US mixes. As mixes they are quite different and choice is subjective. The 'issues' mentioned are likely
- some missing parts/edits in the UK quad, though sound quality is considered good. Once thought by some to have incorrect rear channel assignment, but this has been debunked by steelydave on QQ. This quad mix has been released on SACD and DVD.
- sound quality of the available US quad digitizations done by fans, though this may improve when the official release on the SDE becomes available
The third is the 5.1 remix from 2001, which some consider a 'tame' mix, and which I consider to have excess reverb, though sound quality is otherwise great. This has been released on DVDA and SACD and three 'bonus tracks' from it keep getting tacked on to other releases.

for the love of all that is purple, can this info be made a 'sticky' somewhere on QQ with a loud title, so we don't retread this ground over and over?

And also , yes DWEEZIL ZAPPA MADE THE ATMOS MIX.

 

[Dynamic Editor]

Sloppy research on the 5.1 mix material.

But I can’t figure out why they would just only include three tracks.

Those three bonus tracks were also tossed around for use with the UK Quad mix SACD, so perhaps they cost significantly less to use than the 5.1 mix of the album or something?

Could the storage space on the Blu-Ray also be something that could pose issues?

 

[perzon57]

My take on the streaming Atmos is that if the music is not available in other surround formats, then sure, I want to give it a listen, at least once.
Otherwise even my old ears can hear a clear difference between DD+ and a Blu Ray Atmos offering. So I don't base a buying decision of a favored album on what the streamers sound like.
Fidelity makes a difference to me, then of course the mixing.

I always base my buying decision on the Apple Music stream if it's available there, have saved me some money. I don't buy if I don't get to check the mix out beforehand, or its BS or SW mixing. If a Atmos mix is bad on streaming it don't get better on BD, the fidelity may be better, but the mix is still bad.

 

[ssully]

Of the three 2001 5.1 tracks that keep getting included as 'bonuses', one is a non-album track, and the other two have different guitar leads and are thus 'alternate' compared to the UK quad, which until now was the only other 'surround' version digitally available besides the 2001 5.1

 

[stoopid]

There are at least two, possible three or more, threads on QQ that have laid all of this information out already:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/decoding-deep-purple-machine-head.23780/post-430705https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/deep-purple-machine-head-sacd-help.34569/post-750870https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...ad-mix-on-the-2003-emi-sacd.35401/post-752463https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...ple-machine-head-cd-4-q8-qr.17210/post-630243https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...achine-head-dvd-a-sacd-japan.4389/post-576015

So again, in brief:
There are three surround mixes (soon to be four, with Atmos)
Two are quad from the 1970s, the UK and the US mixes. As mixes they are quite different and choice is subjective. The 'issues' mentioned are likely
- some missing parts/edits in the UK quad, though sound quality is considered good. Once thought by some to have incorrect rear channel assignment, but this has been debunked by steelydave on QQ. This quad mix has been released on SACD and DVD.
- sound quality of the available US quad digitizations done by fans, though this may improve when the official release on the SDE becomes available
The third is the 5.1 remix from 2001, which some consider a 'tame' mix, and which I consider to have excess reverb, though sound quality is otherwise great. This has been released on DVDA and SACD and three 'bonus tracks' from it keep getting tacked on to other releases.

for the love of all that is purple, can this info be made a 'sticky' somewhere on QQ with a loud title, so we don't retread this ground over and over?

And also , yes DWEEZIL ZAPPA MADE THE ATMOS MIX.

That was exactly my issue, I found two of those threads in my search, but they weren't coming to any definitive conclusions. It takes an hour of reading just to piece together all the various opinions. Even the hires poll thread is tepid on whether a particular release is 'best'. And still, really, there's too many differing opinions on what's best among listeners who have all the previously released versions. I'd be all for a sticky if it actually answered that age old question -- which one to buy. But I feel like the publisher is to blame with too may releases and options, leaving someone like me gun shy to commit to purchasing just one of them.

It would seem this new Bluray, if it lives up to expectations (and especially if it gets a dedicated bluray only release), and maybe the SACD would be the most cost effective way to have the greatest range of listening options. The 2011 SACD is out there new for $30-60 right now. I don't recall seeing any dvd-a or older british quad versions for sale. I'd go for the SACD anyway.

 

[edisonbaggins]

That was exactly my issue, I found two of those threads in my search, but they weren't coming to any definitive conclusions. It takes an hour of reading just to piece together all the various opinions. Even the hires poll thread is tepid on whether a particular release is 'best'. And still, really, there's too many differing opinions on what's best among listeners who have all the previously released versions. I'd be all for a sticky if it actually answered that age old question -- which one to buy. But I feel like the publisher is to blame with too may releases and options, leaving someone like me gun shy to commit to purchasing just one of them.

It would seem this new Bluray, if it lives up to expectations (and especially if it gets a dedicated bluray only release), and maybe the SACD would be the most cost effective way to have the greatest range of listening options. The 2011 SACD is out there new for $30-60 right now. I don't recall seeing any dvd-a or older british quad versions for sale. I'd go for the SACD anyway.

I tried my best to compare the various previous releases in an LiS video. You might have already seen it, and it might not have answered your questions. But, just in case!