HiRez Poll Jethro Tull - AQUALUNG [Blu-Ray Audio]

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Rate the BDA of Jethro Tull - AQUALUNG

  • 6:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4:

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2:

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

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    133

JonUrban

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Released as part of a "Deluxe Box Set", the Blu-Ray disc contains a new 5.1 surround mix by Steve Wilson as well as the original Quadraphonic Mix from the 1970's. It also includes 24/96 stereo tracks of the original mix and a new Steve Wilson stereo mix, plus some bonus stereo tracks and alternate versions.

Please post your thoughts, comments, and if you like, where you got the disc and how much it cost.

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This disc is amazingly good imho[I bought it at Vintage Vinyl in Evanston,Illinois for $164.99]
 
I just ordered it from Amazon for $104.00. It lists the box as vinyl, BD, CD & DVD but everywhere else it's $150.00 or more.
I hope they ship the right one and that there isn't a set that DOESN'T have the BD disc!
If there is only one set... jump over to Amazon and order it. It's only $104.00.
 
I have listened to this twice now and I'm giving this a 10 without hesitation. SW's 5.1 mix sounds fantastic and is appropriately mixed. If you want a revelation, go immediately to the track "My God." Wow. I haven't fooled around with the quad mix yet.
 
Revelation is the perfect word for this release. Packaging and overall presentation are just top notch. I got this and WYWH Immersion at the same time. At $210.0 for both. After looking at and listening to them, I have to say Tull is the more satisfying purchase, at least for me. There is a feeling of quality and care with the Tull that is just missing with the Floyd. WYWH and DSOTM both. Less superfluous bullshit, too. I might be prejudiced towards the Tull because it hasn't received the attention that WYWH has recently, as far as conversions. I pulled out the Aqualung MFSL vinyl and gave it a spin, before and after. It it is very surprising, the difference in sound quality. It actually borders on remake instead of remaster. It sounds that good. I listened to the MFSL versus Bluray DTS-HDMA stereo back to back. Wow, huge difference. I then tried the 5.1. And was just floored. I have always loved this album and I really thought I knew this one well. But this is a whole different animal. The difference between the MFSL and the remaster stereo was big, real big. But when the surround starts, get ready to be blown away! The clarity and separation are simply astounding. You can't believe they came from the same source. It is as if Steven Wilson traveled back in time and recorded the actual sessions, but using modern equipment. If you like this album at all you really need to own this. If you have any love for Tull, your audio system or your ears ,you need to do whatever to get this ASAP. Rush, Floyd, the Who, need to take notice of this. The bar has been raised...

PS. I didn't get into the other mixes and formats, be doing that today.
 
Excellent set. Great sound and it's nice to hear a version of a Jethro Tull album that isn't unbearably bright. Great work by Steven Wilson on the mixes. It would have been a 10 but I'm fed up with having to buy superfluous DVDs and vinyl just to get a Blu-ray disc (I have to admit though that the packaging is first-class).
 
Excellent set. Great sound and it's nice to hear a version of a Jethro Tull album that isn't unbearably bright. Great work by Steven Wilson on the mixes. It would have been a 10 but I'm fed up with having to buy superfluous DVDs and vinyl just to get a Blu-ray disc (I have to admit though that the packaging is first-class).

The set is nicer than I thought it would be. It sounds great too!
It would have been a nicer buy for me if I didn't already have the 200 Gm vinyl already (as well as the quad vinyl).
The BluRay disc is the be all end all way to go.
It's a shame it's not available as a single buy.
But for the $100.00 ... I bit and I'm glad I did.

-B
 
I spent about 3 hours going over the music on the Bluray disc on Tuesday. I have not listened to any of the DVD or CD material. I haven't looked at the book either. I wanted to let my first impressions sit and stew a bit. There were actually a few things which surprised me.

The bottom line is that the music and sound quality is a solid 10/10.

I started my session by listening to the 24/96 quad release. Before I give an impression, some context is needed.

I've had the quad reel since it came out in the seventies. I've loved this version, and have considered it to be the best version of the album available. I own the basic retail CD and the 30th anniversary CD. I also have had a good copy (UK release) of the album on vinyl. The vinyl came closest to the dynamics on the reel, but the reel was better.

I know that the stereo mix is different. I happen to have really liked both mixes.

The quad reel cost me almost $30 back in the day. That was over 40 years ago. The tape doesn't play as well as it did back then, as it has had a fair number of passes go over the heads of my Tascam 44.

The 24/96 quad tracks sound about 5 to 10 percent better than I remember the quad reel sounded when it was new. That's a subjective evaluation based on a really sharp memory. I got the same shiver down my spine on Tuesday as I had the first time I listened to the quad reel.

I had read some of Steve Wilson's comments regarding his approach and philosophy to the remix to 5.1 from the original master tapes. He had said that he had not listened to the quad mix before he did his 5.1 mix. He had also said that he wanted to stay close to what he perceived to be the mix philosophy of the original stereo mix.

So I was expecting a real difference between the quad mix and the 5.1 mix. I also expected some somewhat better sound quality on the new mix based on today's better hardware and software.


By the way, I was surprised to see both 24/96 and DTS-MA tracks of both the quad and the 5.1 mixes. That is more than what was promised. I could not hear a definite difference between the PCM and the DTS-MA tracks. Occasionally I thought I liked the PCM better.

I was surprised by how much better the re-mastered tracks sounded than those on the quad mix. To my ears, the 5.1 mix has clearly better clarity, dynamics and imaging.

I was blown away by how much better I liked Steve Wilson's new 5.1 mix. Here are a few examples.

On the quad mix, reverb is sometimes applied like someone who puts ketchup on a fine steak. Wilson uses reverb as a spice, to add to the flavor, not to make it the main event. The new mix also uses the surround channels to add to the overall presentation of the music.

I found that Wilson put instruments behind the listener when (to my taste) it was clearly appropriate. He did not put them behind the listener simply to reinforce the notion that this was a surround mix. I'm not implying that this was done on this quad mix. But I've heard mixes from the quad era where this was obviously the case.

I still really like the quad mix of this album. I must confess that I like the 5.1 mix better.

I then spent time listening to the 24/96 stereo bonus tracks. Excellent sonics, and really great content. Again, a 10/10.

The one negative experience I had was upon opening the package. At first I could not find the box that held the CDs, DVD and Bluray discs. After I controlled my initial panic, I found them in cardboard sleeves inserted into the LP's cardboard sleeve. This is really a stupid way to handle the discs in a deluxe box set that costs this much. the digital discs deserve their own jewel boxes. So for packaging, I must rate the box at 4/10.

Now as far as value is concerned, I still must rate this set as a 10/10.

For those who bitch about high prices for these deluxe box sets, I suggest that you compare my $30 quad reel to a set that has the same quad content, better resolution 5.1 content, and added stereo content after 40+ years of inflation for less than $105 shipped to my door by Amazon. The anniversary box cost just under 4 times what the reel cost me.

In 1978 I could buy a Datsun 240Z for $2999 MSRP. Today, a Nissan 370Z starts at $31k. That's a ten-fold increase in price.

Which do you think is a better value today?

Mr. Wilson, if you are listening, I would like to pre-order Thick As A brick, A Passion Play and Songs From The Wood.

Thanks again for the great work, Steven Kastner.
 
NOTE: I copied Steve's informative post (above) from the Jethro Tull 5.1 thread to this title poll thread for future reference purposes.
 
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAqualung AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAmazing AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAwesome Aqua-ray :D A wonder.
AQUALUNGBLU-RAY.jpg

The 5.1 is Aqualung ALIVE! ALIVE! ALIVE!

How nice that Jon started a Tull thread. Wonders never cease. haha
Seriously, hope all is well, Jon.
 
Does anyone know why the font was changed on "Jethro Tull Aqualung?" The 25th anniversary CD from '96 was the first time I saw it. Probably a dumb question.

I've been frustrated for years as to why there is seldom track information listed on audio CD's and other music software anymore. I listen often in the car, including DVD-A's. It would be nice to know in advance what song is track 6. I often don't travel with the slipcase or booklet. My guess is that it's cheaper and easier. EVERY CD listed it's tracks for the first 10 years or so. Just venting. "See Blu-Ray meu for content" triggered that. Please don't post, "it's on the screen." I know that. It isn't on CD's.

Linda
 
I can't say enough about this title. Fantastic clarity, tight, clean and dynamic, and an awesome 5.1 mix by Steven Wilson! As chuckflhp accurately said "The bar has been raised". "Cross-Eyed Mary" and "My God" are just revelations to hear. I have been listening to this everyday for a week. I remember back, when you brought a new album home and it was so exciting that as soon as side two finished, you flipped it back over and played it again right away. Well I get the same thrill out of this. And I've heard this title hundreds of times in many formats over the years. This is just an audiophiles dream. A 10 all the way, highly recommended!

Ok now that I got that out (did I mention that this is an absolute must have) I do have one tiny caveat. On ALL of the 5.1 mix tracks of "Cross-Eyed Mary at about 1:18 in, there is an audible "tick" sound in the left front channel...."if he could take it from the money (tick) man"....... After about the third time through it starts to get a bit annoying. Like I said, this is the only thing I could find wrong with this sonic revelation, so I guess I can live with that.
 
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I can't say enough about this title. Fantastic clarity, tight, clean and dynamic, and an awesome 5.1 mix by Steven Wilson! As chuckflhp accurately said "The bar has been raised". "Cross-Eyed Mary" and "My God" are just revelations to hear. I have been listening to this everyday for a week. I remember back, when you brought a new album home and it was so exiting that as soon as side two finished, you flipped it back over and played it again right away. Well I get the same thrill out of this. And I've heard this title hundreds of times in many formats over the years. This is just an audiophiles dream. A 10 all the way, highly recommended!

Ok now that I got that out (did I mention that this is an absolute must have) I do have one tiny caveat. On ALL of the 5.1 mix tracks of "Cross-Eyed Mary at about 1:18 in there is an audible "tick" sound in the left front channel...."if he could take it from the money (tick) man"....... After about the third time through it starts to get a bit annoying. Like I said, this is the only thing I could find wrong with this sonic revelation, so I guess I can live with that.

On ALL of the 5.1 mix tracks of "Cross-Eyed Mary at about 1:18 in there is an audible "tick" sound in the left front channel...."if he could take it from the money (tick) man"....... this includes the DVD
 
Couple questions:

* as far as the DTS-MA track, what resolution is it specifically?

* does the Blu-ray disc begin playing automatically when you drop it into the tray and hit play (I know this might be player-dependent) or do you have to wait for a menu to appear on your TV and then choose the play option from that?

But when the surround starts, get ready to be blown away! The clarity and separation are simply astounding
This is one of the main reasons I like surround music and even albums with not-so-great sound quality can end up sounding much better (all that additional physical space in the room/between the speakers allows the mix to "breathe" better).
 
Any surround project that Steven Wilson is involved with I want in my collection. The new 5.1 mix on this album is staggering especially compared to the original quad and stereo mixes. I only wish they would have offered the blue ray separately as was done with the SACD of Floyd's WYWH. Regardless, I am glad I went for the $100 for this set.
 
So I guess this is another disc where you have to screw around with your TV to get it to play - bummer.

I know a lot of people don't like to criticize the meager number of surround music releases that finally come out, but accepting anything they offer, even if it could (easily) been designed better, will only encourage the labels to continue offering features no one wants.

Lastly, over at avsforum I found out the DTS-MA track is 96/24 - I don't understand why there's two sets of tracks provided (DTS-MA and LPCM) that offer the same resolution........
 
Unbelievable. I've never heard hi-rez surround like this. It is my first blu-ray so maybe that creates a somewhat unfair comparison but regardless, this disc is a beautiful thing. It is a truly satisfying listening experience. There are a couple of things that bother me and I can't pretend that they don't: 1. the mix on Hymn 43 doesn't work for me - not as clear as the others. 2. I'm hearing a buzzing out of the rears on the last verse of Locomotive Breath that seems out of place. Anyone else notice this? Don't get me wrong - when Locomotive Breath kicks in after the piano intro it's perfect, absolutely perfect - rockin' out to JT. That's it - everything else is way beyond what I was hoping for.

Yeah, it was expensive but I can answer it this way: what if I never bought this and a year from now I was at somebody's place and they played this but I couldn't buy it anymore. I think that might be unbearable.
 
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