I've found most of these eight releases and am going through them track by track to sift the true surround mixes from the frauds.
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I would be remiss if I did not point out that this is not completely true. It varies by title, but most tracks are typical Silverline fake surround. But there are some gems (such as The Beach Boys "Sail On Sailor").No sooner did I find out the Immergent "Inside the Music" DVD-Audio compilations were genuine 5.1 ...
You must be referring to my post in an entirely different thread. You should see there that I specifically used the qualifier "probably". I'm not vouching for anything and am working from (admittedly hazy) memory.So you're vouching for every track on Classic Crooners being fake?
Okay, let's get a track-by-track list of what's real and not.
Glad to hear the New Age disc is real, as I just bought it for $30.
So you're vouching for every track on Classic Crooners being fake?
I also found Surf's Up and Classic Rock. Will report.
The one I'm most interested in knowing about is The New Wave, including My Sharona (!).
There's one copy for sale for $100.
Here are the tracks I can vouch for:
Women on Top -- All 10 tracks are true 5.1, with an isolated (or mostly) center channel vocal:
1) Heart of Glass - Blondie
2) Walking On Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves
3) We Belong - Pat Benatar
4) Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes
5) Hold On - Wilson Philips (best mix)
6) Cryin' - Vixen
7) Queen of Hearts - Juice Newton (terrible mix, but real)
8) Only the Lonely - Motels
9) Words - Missing Persons
10) Nutbush City Limits - Ike & Tina Turner
Immergent Sampler -- Non DVD-A (DTS/DD only) demo disc with tracks from later ITM releases. All 8 tracks are true 5.1, with an isolated (or mostly) center channel vocal, except *maybe* for **.
1) Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
2) Sail on Sailor - Beach Boys
3) Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar
4) Ramblin' Rose - Nat King Cole **
5) Barbara - Horace Silver
6) Sing Sang Sung - Big Phat Band
7) Change - John Waite
8) Power of Love - Huey Lewis & the News
I'll have to listen to #4 again. It sounds pretty triphonic, but as I recall Immergent's CEO said the source was a 3-track master, so does that count?
The hallmark of a "real" surround mix for me does not lie in center channel isolation.
Update: Investigated two more discs, Classic Rock and Surf's Up.
Yes.
See 1st msg in thread for update.
I disagree. An isolated center vocal is no guarantee that the mix was made from the original multitrack sources. All it means is that the engineer had access to the vocal track (or that tricks were used to extract the lead vocal). You really need to listen to the remaining channels to determine if the multitracks were used. Even a bad surround from the multitracks will exhibit telltale signs of a true surround mix compared to a fake, extrapolated mix.Defining a "true" 5.1 mix as one made from original multitrack sources, I mention the isolated center channel as a quick way of verifying that. It also indicates a true six-channel mix, as opposed to an upmix from, say, 4.0.
My guess is more often than not they're not "real", ie remixed from multitracks.
when these first came out I bought them all and spent considerable time with them. Except in a few instances, I was NOT impressed.
That was my impression (no real difference between the fronts/rears) but I haven't been able to check.If you turn up the rears about 3db the unwrap jobs are obvious (mostly because there is no unwrap - rears the same as the fronts).
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