DGM finally announces 50th anniversary surround deluxe set of IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING

[halbroome]

Don't forget the new Big Big Train

And Gentle Giant's Treasure Box. Better be full of treasure to be worth that price! Still, looks cool , even if it only has a few more multichannel tracks than already available.

 

[doppelbock]

I had basically forgotten I ordered this one ages ago on one of the DeepDiscount coupon offers...shipped yesterday. Another one for my ever increasing queue.

 

[sjcorne]

Thanks to a kind fellow member who received their set before I did, I just had the opportunity to do a quick comparison between this new version and the 2009 DVD-A. Keep in mind that I don't have intimate familiarity with the album (the first time I heard it was on the DVD-A) and I really liked the old 5.1, which seems to have gotten mixed reviews.

Let's take a look at my favorite track on the album, "I Talk To The Wind":

2009 DVD-A:

2019 Blu-Ray:

As you can see, they're clearly different - but the basic locations of the instruments are more-or-less the same: The flutes are hard panned into the left and right fronts, the clarinet and backing vocals are in the rears, and the lead vocal is in the center channel.

There are some interesting differences though:

• The bass flourish that follows the chorus is in the rears on both mixes, but on the 2019 mix it decays from one rear channel to the other, and which of the rear channels it starts in alternates on each chorus (1st chorus it goes RL -> RR, then 2nd chorus RR -> RL, and finally 3rd chorus RL -> RR). Nice playful touch by Steven!
• The bass solo at around 3:15 is hard-panned into the front right channel on the 2019 mix, while the 2009 mix had it isolated in the center channel
• The LFE channel is much louder on the 2019 mix (in fact, it looks like they forgot to low-pass filter it - you can solo it in a DAW and clearly hear the drum kit)
• The flute solo at around 4:15 starts on the right side and moves to the left as the song fades on the 2019 mix, while the 2009 mix had it isolated in the center channel
• The backing vocals in the rears ("said the straight man...") seem slightly louder on the 2019 mix
• The lead vocal seems more fixed to the center channel on the 2019 mix, with less reflections/support in the other channels

Finally - though I'm sure some will disagree - I can't say I really noticed any difference and/or improvement in sound quality (on this track).

I need to dive deeper into the other tracks, but so far the biggest change I've noticed between the two mixes is that SW has really backed off his use of the center channel, instead opting to hard-pan instruments left or right. I'm pretty sure the center doesn't contain anything other than isolated vocals on this mix.

So is it worth the double-dip? Personally, I'm not entirely sold - but I'm glad they offered it in an affordable package, and I'm curious to hear what others have to say

 

[albertop]

Thanks to a kind fellow member who received their set before I did, I just had the opportunity to do a quick comparison between this new version and the 2009 DVD-A. Keep in mind that I don't have intimate familiarity with the album (the first time I heard it was on the DVD-A) and I really liked the old 5.1, which seems to have gotten mixed reviews.

Let's take a look at my favorite track on the album, "I Talk To The Wind":

2009 DVD-A:
View attachment 43878

2019 Blu-Ray:
View attachment 43877

As you can see, they're clearly different - but the basic locations of the instruments are more-or-less the same: The flutes are hard panned into the left and right fronts, the clarinet and backing vocals are in the rears, and the lead vocal is in the center channel.

There are some interesting differences though:

• The bass flourish that follows the chorus is in the rears on both mixes, but on the 2019 mix it decays from one rear channel to the other, and which of the rear channels it starts in alternates on each chorus (1st chorus it goes RL -> RR, then 2nd chorus RR -> RL, and finally 3rd chorus RL -> RR). Nice playful touch by Steven!
• The bass solo at around 3:15 is hard-panned into the front right channel on the 2019 mix, while the 2009 mix had it isolated in the center channel
• The LFE channel is much louder on the 2019 mix
• The flute solo at around 4:15 jumps back and forth between the rears on the 2019 mix, while the 2009 mix had it isolated in the center channel
• The backing vocals in the rears ("said the straight man...") seem slightly louder on the 2019 mix

Finally - though I'm sure some will disagree - I can't say I really noticed any difference and/or improvement in sound quality.

I need to dive deeper into the other tracks, but so far the biggest change I've noticed between the two mixes is that SW has really backed off his use of the center channel, instead opting to hard-pan instruments left or right. I'm pretty sure the center doesn't contain anything other than isolated vocals on this mix.

So is it worth the double-dip? Personally, I'm not entirely sold - but I'm glad they offered it in an affordable package, and I'm curious to hear what others have to say

Great first impressions, thanks. I've had a chance to hear the stereo mix only, and I could notice clear differences between the 2019 and the 2009 mixes. For instance, the flutes in I Talk to the Wind were not hard panned L/R in the 2009 mix. Vocals were louder and clearer throughout the album (not a good thing). Also some instruments were noticeably louder in the 2009 mix (guitars, mellotron, etc.). In this new mix, it seems everything is more faithful to the original mix. Hope I'll be able to listen to the surround version soon.

 

[~dave~~wave~]

And Amazon comes through again on the pre-order price guarantee, for what it's worth.
In this case 90 cents. $32.37 > $31.47

DGM list prices these anniversary sets so rock-bottom reasonably to begin with, feel fortunate and guiltless buying yet another version of the same album.

 

[~dave~~wave~]

Epitaph noticeably more dynamic, discrete & immersive than 40th, it seems.
Greg Lake's vocal especially sounds less compressed, more natural in this context.

1969 Fillmore West poster by artist David Singer, third on the bill supporting the Chambers Brothers & The Nice (with Keith Emerson).

While on tour in the US with King Crimson, Emerson held a meeting with Stratton-Smith and declared "the Nice had outlived its usefulness".
By the end of the year, Emerson and Crimson's Greg Lake had decided to form a band together.

 

[~dave~~wave~]

Order is restored.
https://www.dgmlive.com/news/Court No.1 at Surround Sound Site

 

[Quadzilla]

The best deal I found was on Amazon.ca through Rarewaves-CA … CDN$43.61 including postage. That works out to about US$32.80 all-in.
Import CDs has it for US$34.18 PLUS shipping, and Burning Shed is WAY more expensive.

 

[ssully]

I had an issue extracting the first 5.1 track of this from the BluRay disc using MakeMKV (backup mode) + DVDA. The other tracks came off fine. Anyone else have a problem? (It might be I just need to run MakeMKV again.)

 

[Marplot]

When I run into that it is ~85% a result of leaving a fingerprint behind while extracting the media from its sleeve.
In this case, I didn't have any issues and you should just take another run at it.

 

[ssully]

Sure enough, that was the problem. Thanks!

 

[privateuniverse]

So I just saw a Dunkin Donuts TV commercial. It featured two CGI aliens drinking coffee. One of them was wearing a Court of the Crimson King t-shirt. I had to replay it three times just to be sure I wasn't imagining it!

 

[Snood]

You are correct sir lol

 

[Tubelicious]

Order is restored.
https://www.dgmlive.com/news/Court No.1 at Surround Sound Site

seeing just the glimpse of that master tape box makes me swoon!

View attachment 44389

 

[Tubelicious]

Can anyone confirm that they still plan on doing a “big box” version of this release In 2020? I’ve been patiently waiting since last year, but I haven’t seen an announcement (notwithstanding the apocalypse of course)

 

[rusinurbe]

^^

 

[5.1 4 Life]

Can anyone confirm that they still plan on doing a “big box” version of this release In 2020? I’ve been patiently waiting since last year, but I haven’t seen an announcement (notwithstanding the apocalypse of course)

It sounds like DGM is waiting for the pandemic to end before releasing the box set for ITCOTKC (as well as the King Crimson documentary, Cosmic F*KC, they were planning this year).

 

[~dave~~wave~]

So I just saw a Dunkin Donuts TV commercial. It featured two CGI aliens drinking coffee. One of them was wearing a Court of the Crimson King t-shirt. I had to replay it three times just to be sure I wasn't imagining it!

From dgmlive:

So, did Dunkin' Donuts (well, I guess they are just "Dunkin'" now) license the album cover art work and term "King Crimson" for their new commercial?

Alex Mundy replied:
Dear Glenn, Yes, that's correct.

 

[DuncanS]

So I just saw a Dunkin Donuts TV commercial. It featured two CGI aliens drinking coffee. One of them was wearing a Court of the Crimson King t-shirt. I had to replay it three times just to be sure I wasn't imagining it!

You are correct sir lol

people often mispronounce my name Dunkin wonder if I can claim royalties