HiRez Poll Depeche Mode - MUSIC FOR THE MASSES [SACD]

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Rate the SACD of Depeche Mode - MUSIC FOR THE MASSES

  • 5:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1: Poor Mix, Poor Fidelity, Poor Content

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    40

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Please post you thoughts and comments on this special CD/SACD/DVD release. If you would, please let us know where you got yours, what you paid for it, and what package you got! THANKS. (y) :phones (n)

Thanks to elmer, here's a link for some info on this and the other Depeche Mode SACD releases:
http://remasters.depechemode.com/

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This is a great sounding disc that suffers from the fact that it is an early digital recording (at least I think it is... sure sounds like it... correct me if I'm wrong).

It's hard to fault the technological limitations of a recording. I mean, how weak is that?! It's the music, bonehead! Right?

Yeah, it is... but I must admit with some regret that I'm more apt to forgive technological transgressions for music I am more inclined to enjoy. So sue me. I'm only human. And I'm not much of a DM fan.

So, I'm going to unfairly penalize this release from a technological standpoint simply because I'm not necessarily hip to the music (actually, I love the music but the singer doesn't do it for me.) So there's your grain of salt.

In all fairness, this is a great disc with an awesome surround mix. If you like DM you're going to wet your pants over this release. But, it sounds digital... and I'm an old fart. So, 7 points for you!
 
I prefer "Music for the Masses" in terms of fidelity compared to "Violator". It might be a 16-Bit Digital Master, too, but it sounds IMHO more "natural" than "Violator".
 
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Cai Campbell said:
This is a great sounding disc that suffers from the fact that it is an early digital recording (at least I think it is... sure sounds like it... correct me if I'm wrong).

Low-res sampling strikes again :)

As far as I know, both Violator and MFTM were analogue recordings, mixed to analogue tape.
 
You're probably hearing the samplers -- the older Emulators had a notorious artifact.

Some of us dig it, but I understand people not liking it, too. Personally, having grown up with the music, I wouldn't have it any other way.
 
Only have the DTS DVD version here, as a friend has bought the first 4 as the SACD/DVD double pack, and we sort of split the costs between us as he prefers the SACD and I only wanted the DTS DVD myself.
Anyway.
Voted a 6 from me.

Why?
The mix is not too bad at all, and there are some great moments and some lovely panning going on here.
However, I find there is little in the way of real dynamics going on - it sounds heavily compressed and everything seems to be all at the same level from track to track, with no light & shade at all. The mix sounds a little on the brittle side as well.
Visually, these discs are nothing special at all - when I fired it up, the little intro with the silent movie (presumably a pun on Mute records) made me expect something more than a single shot of a tannoy array for the entire album. I mean, the shot is exactly the same throughout the whole album! not massively original, guys!

When all is said & done, I remain to be convinced about this album. It is almost certainly one that will grow on you the more you play it, but it is actually quite tedious at first play. The overcompression and the obvious use of some pretty heavy brickwall limiting makes it tiring to listen to as well, so it becomes a case of whether or not you will play it enough to get used to it. I really, really hope that this trend towards making multichannel releases as heavily slammed as Redbook CD is STOPS. Soon. 2 channels with the average levels in the area of -8dB and even less is harsh enough, but with 5 channels all like this, it sinply makes me want to reach for the "off" button.

In summary, this one can be chalked up to yet another disc ruined in the mastering, with the dreadful tendency to make things far too hot. High Resolution was supposed to be about dynamics, and subtlety being brought out. However, this has just not happened.
(n)
 
As with the other DM-releases I much prefer the SACD over the DTS versions included. Apart from that, except for a few songs the MCH version of this album doesn't do much for me, but it's not my favourite DM records anyway. Major disappointment for me is Never let me down again which I expected to be much more impressive, whereas The things you said is truly beautiful and not the first time that a song I couldn't really get into in stereo suddenly became a favourite of mine on a MCH-disc. Weird.
 
The SACD disc sounds much better to me. Much warmer, better low end and the rears are louder? Or at least they are more present on my system.

But no bonus tracks on the SACD. And no 5.1 of “Route 66” at all? :(

But a “9” for this. Classic album. Reminds me of the goth girls I dated back in the 80s and made listen to it back when I didn’t think I liked this stuff. Silly me. Depeche Mode kicks ass! Haha.

Nice surround mix. Mastering is a bit brickwalled perhaps. But not too bad. Sort of fits the music but not quite as “crankable” as I’d like it to be.

I’m hoping to hunt down all of these before the prices get waaay out of hand.
 
so good

what do y'all know about Little 15

pure drug energy translated into beautiful music in every song

a Nine

the embryonic inception of what would become
 
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A 9 from me for the SACD
Hell, even the DTS layer is not half-bad

'Never let me down' on full blast is gorgeous - even if we don't really know what it's about (not drugs if we're to believe the writers, but what do they know eh)
 
Finally gave this a listen 2 days ago. Probably not gonna be the normal long review i make for disc's on this one because I don't really have much to say.

I've heard violator, specifically in surround, and ever since then it's easily been one of my favorite Synthpop records of all time. Pure genius from front to back + a phenomenal surround mix makes for a really nice experience. I came into this expecting something of similar quality as it seems to be widely considered their second best record but I came out a little bit dissapointed.

Never Let me Down Again, The Things You Said, Strangelove and Nothing are all absolutely incredible tracks and honestly make listening to this album worthwhile alone, but the rest of the tracks here don't really do much for me. I see the appeal but I just don't really get it. I didn't like depeche mode at all at first so maybe i just need to give this thing a few more spins.

One thing that was really surprising to me (maybe i was just in a odd mood when listening) was that the mix seemed significantly worse than Violator. I don't know if this could be the lack of layers in the mix to do stuff in the surrounds with or they just were taking things a bit safer here, but it seems significantly less discrete sounding than violator. The only things I hear in the surrounds generally is good ambience and some extra vocals and effects here and there. They certainly used them well when they did, but I feel like there was a lot of missed opportunities to do more with the surrounds. I've mixed music in surround before and I know how hard it can be to balance discreteness with making everything sound connected and together, but this just sounds way too safe to me.

Anywho still an enjoyable experience and certainly had a good time especially with the incredible standout tracks. Probably just need to give it a few more spins to get the other tracks.

7/10
 
Impossible that some are giving this a 7!!!!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaa? That is not right. This is a seminal electronic music lp, given a loving surround treatment in DTS per all the Depeche Mode deluxe reissues. What more do you want? Is it Violator? Not quite, but that's a trifle. This is one of the best albums of all time. Bonus tracks quite good, though Route 66 is the weakest one (that really is saying something as well). This is a 10, just like Black Celebration and Violator - the trilogy to rule them all.
 
Impossible that some are giving this a 7!!!!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaa? That is not right. This is a seminal electronic music lp, given a loving surround treatment in DTS per all the Depeche Mode deluxe reissues. What more do you want? Is it Violator? Not quite, but that's a trifle. This is one of the best albums of all time. Bonus tracks quite good, though Route 66 is the weakest one (that really is saying something as well). This is a 10, just like Black Celebration and Violator - the trilogy to rule them all.
The polls here are generally meant to include more than just the content. The surround mix is hugely important to someone's rating, and even the packaging. Perhaps some of these ratings are because users felt the surround mix was not quite as good as a perfect 10?
 
I just purchased this - Violator is a 10, for fidelity, mix and album. Music For The Masses is a 7; the fidelity is definitely inferior to Violator and the mix just isn't as good. Compare the two opening songs on each album: Never Let Me Down sounds compressed and muddy in the surround mix, compared to World In My Eyes. And nothing on Music For The Masses has anything close to the sonic awesomeness of Halo, on Violator....
 
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