John Mellencamp Scarecrow ATMOS Blu-ray

[splinter7]

I don't want to be a Debbie downer here, but the Atmos version of Small Town is on Apple Music and it sounds like badly upmixed stereo. Have a listen before you pay a lot for the deluxe version.

Somewhat of a different take for me.
While the mix takes little advantage of the rears from a discrete perspective, there seems to be an expanded front soundstage.

All the instruments seem to have more room to just be. Vocals and the thin sounding snare have been a bit devalued in the mix.

Left heights contain the tambourine, the backing vocal take from JM and the harmonica near the end of the song.

The right heights and the have the organ which bleeds back into the right rear.
The bass guitar & drum kick have more presence. Really like how I can hear the bass guitar riff now. The acoustic guitar strumming seems more defined as well.

Improvement on the original stereo mix - Thumbs up.

A good surround mix - not so much.

There is also an Atmos acoustic mix of the song available on Apple. A much starker, discrete version of the song.

As for the “American Fool” album,
The whole album is available with an Atmos version under the artist “John Cougar” moniker. Maybe a little more rear speaker use but again not so discrete. “Thundering Hearts” seems to be the most adventurous with the backing vocals, acoustic and second guitar partially balanced to the rears.

 

[sperezmore]

My copy just shipped from JPC

Regards,

 

[marpow]

My box set arrived yesterday, absolutely beautiful presentation. Almost exactly like The Band box sets. 2 cd's and 1 Blu Ray, nice folder with pictures and some loose pictures, nice and simple. The box is a tan/brown which goes real well with the front of box photo.
I ended up paying $118.00 with the Amazon lowering price at delivery.
Now to listen.
There is a Atmos and stereo listen on the Blu Ray. When I rip, I'll find the 5.1.
Half way thru and I love it, not the best in the world of surround but it is an iconic album that sounds great.
The surround is real good, wish the drums came thru a bit better.
There is still more to come, but this could be my #1 box set of the year.
The Atmos comes thru as a full envelope of surround and has this really raw sound, the rhythm guitars and vocals are spot on. There a few trinkets that get lost in the mix, but there are a few you can hear better. The track with the old lady talking, best you ever heard.
Can't wait to rip this and play in my hot rod, full blast, 5.1 JL Audio, windows down.

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

My box set arrived yesterday, absolutely beautiful presentation. Almost exactly like The Band box sets. 2 cd's and 1 Blu Ray, nice folder with pictures and some loose pictures, nice and simple. The box is a tan/brown which goes real well with the front of box photo.
I ended up paying $118.00 with the Amazon lowering price at delivery.
Now to listen.
There is a Atmos and stereo listen on the Blu Ray. When I rip, I'll find the 5.1.
Half way thru and I love it, not the best in the world of surround but it is an iconic album that sounds great.
The surround is real good, wish the drums came thru a bit better.
There is still more to come, but this could be my #1 box set of the year.
The Atmos comes thru as a full envelope of surround and has this really raw sound, the rhythm guitars and vocals are spot on. There a few trinkets that get lost in the mix, but there are a few you can hear better. The track with the old lady talking, best you ever heard.
Can't wait to rip this and play in my hot rod, full blast, 5.1 JL Audio, windows down.

Thank you for that synopsis. I, too, have ordered from Amazon but never get any new releases on delivery day. They used to, but I haven’t seen same day release date deliveries in 3-4 years now. Anyway, it’s due to show up some time today.

My plan is to play my MFSL CD first. Then, play the vinyl copy to hear the difference with the new remix. I’ll save the Atmos mix for last.

By the way, who mixed the surround tracks?

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

My box set finally showed up from Amazon Delivery at 8:30 pm last night. I don’t remember ever getting a package this late before. I almost thought that it was going to be one of those deliveries that don’t show up until the next or two days later.

So far, I have compared my original MFSL CD version to the new Stereo CD and are currently listening to the Atmos mix.

I was really surprised how different the stereo mix by David Leonard is in comparison to the original mix. With the exception of the drums being more out front and bigger sounding on the original mix, everything else is more balanced and neutral. This new mix changes the drum sound. The snap, pop and reverb of the original drum mix is more subdued and closed in. John’s vocals are more upfront and the instruments are clearer. Depending on the song, certain guitar parts are brought out more in the mix. This is a different mix.

I still need to check out the Vinyl LP and 45rpm discs that were included. So far, I like the new stereo mix because it’s different.

As far as presentation, they did a decent job. I would have liked more bonus tracks which I feel are lacking and a glossy cover and inner booklets would have been nice.

I will leave my thoughts on the Atmos mix once I’ve had a couple more listening sessions.

 

[GOS]

By the way, who mixed the surround tracks?

Since you got your copy Perp...what's the answer to your question?

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

Since you got your copy Perp...what's the answer to your question?

Who mixed the 2022 tracks?

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

I listened to the HiRes bonus tracks off the BD and was surprised how good a few of the songs were. There were a couple of tracks that didn’t even sound like JM and could have easily gotten airplay.

I have mixed feelings on first listen to the Dolby Atmos tracks. The things that caught my attention right off were, the start of a couple of songs were clipped, there is hardly any sound coming out of the surround and overhead speakers on most tracks, I had to turn the volume level up quite a bit and Grandma is too damn loud.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I listened to the HiRes bonus tracks off the BD and was surprised how good a few of the songs were. There were a couple of tracks that didn’t even sound like JM and could have easily gotten airplay.

I have mixed feelings on first listen to the Dolby Atmos tracks. The things that caught my attention right off were, the start of a couple of songs were clipped, there is hardly any sound coming out of the surround and overhead speakers on most tracks, I had to turn the volume level up quite a bit and Grandma is too damn loud.

Sounds like a REAL mixed bag Perp and if you have no use for the vinyl ....a very expensive proposition.

Should have been a stand alone BD~A, IMO!

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

Sounds like a REAL mixed bag Perp and if you have no use for the vinyl ....a very expensive proposition.

Should have been a stand alone BD~A, IMO!

Actually, I like the package but would have liked more bonus tracks. Plus, I’m more excited to spin the vinyl nowadays with all the mediocre surround mixes being released. And, the lack thereof.

 

[haikubass]

The always helpful blu-ray.com deals page tells me the set is now discounted to just under USD 85 at AMZN US.

 

[GOS]

The always helpful blu-ray.com deals page tells me the set is now discounted to just under USD 85 at AMZN US.

And, that is a PRIME ONE DAY DEAL. So, I guess if anyone want's it at that price, order it today. It will go back up.

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

And, that is a PRIME ONE DAY DEAL. So, I guess if anyone want's it at that price, order it today. It will go back up.

I still see it as a reduced price. I called Amazon a couple of days ago and gave the customer service representative an ultimatum to give me a credit for the price difference or send the box set back and reorder. After checking, she told me I’d have to send the box back and reorder. Years ago, when Amazon didn’t outsource their Customer Service calls, they would have credited me. If they did that today, I’d be done with it. Too bad, they would rather have a bunch of returns piling up for which I see already happening. It was nice to get the Pre-order price guarantee (good for 48hrs after the product release?) and receive the box set at $118.99 but to reduce the price again only after a few days is nuts!

After spending the last couple of days thinking about it, I’m contemplating sending it back and just getting the separate vinyl edition. I’m not crazy about the Atmos mix which sounds like I’m playing the stereo version with an upmixer engaged but do like the new stereo mix of the album and bonus tracks.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I still see it as a reduced price. I called Amazon a couple of days ago and gave the customer service representative an ultimatum to give me a credit for the price difference or send the box set back and reorder. After checking, she told me I’d have to send the box back and reorder. Years ago, when Amazon didn’t outsource their Customer Service calls, they would have credited me. If they did that today, I’d be done with it. Too bad, they would rather have a bunch of returns piling up for which I see already happening. It was nice to get the Pre-order price guarantee (good for 48hrs after the product release?) and receive the box set at $118.99 but to reduce the price again only after a few days is nuts!

After spending the last couple of days thinking about it, I’m contemplating sending it back and just getting the separate vinyl edition. I’m not crazy about the Atmos mix which sounds like I’m playing the stereo version with an upmixer engaged but do like the new stereo mix of the album and bonus tracks.

Perp, you just should've returned the set without going through all that rigamarole with Customer Service and got a refund ... You do have 30+ days to do so. To reiterate, I have NO use for vinyl and paying $85+ for a substandard BD~A Atmos UPMIX is a bit daft. Almost guaranteed, this set will be further reduced by the time Black Friday/Cyber Monday rolls around.

I paid about 1/3 of the original LIST price for the Kiss DESTROYER boxset and even LESS for THE WHO SELL OUT big box set during Amazon Prime's recent sale.

 

[sjcorne]

...paying $85+ for a substandard BD~A Atmos UPMIX is a bit daft.

The Atmos mix of Scarecrow is definitely not an upmix from stereo, there are some discrete elements such as the backing vocals in the front heights during "Rain On The Scarecrow" and mandolin in the sides throughout the acoustic version of "Small Town".

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

The final decision I made in September of 2021 to purchase a turntable and spin vinyl again was one of the best choices I made and should have done it a long time ago. For decades, I missed that connection with music. To me, digital music can be good but a lot of it sounds flat and doesn’t compare to a well mastered vinyl album. When comparing a CD and vinyl, the soundstage is more 3-dimensional with the latter. Whereas, the CD sounds flat and less involving.

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

The Atmos mix of Scarecrow is definitely not an upmix from stereo, there are some discrete elements such as the backing vocals in the front heights during "Rain On The Scarecrow" and mandolin in the sides throughout the acoustic version of "Small Town".

I sit 3 1/2 feet away from my side surround speakers and most of what I’m hearing is very low in level and sounds more like bleed through from the front channels. Same goes for the overhead speakers. It sounds close to what I hear when I’m playing a stereo track and have Auromatic engaged on my AVR. If I wanted that type of sound, I would have saved my money and just purchased the CD with the bonus track or the single vinyl album and listened that way.

 

[sjcorne]

I sit 3 1/2 feet away from my side surround speakers and most of what I’m hearing is very low in level and sounds more like bleed through from the front channels. Same goes for the overhead speakers. It sounds close to what I hear when I’m playing a stereo track and have Auromatic engaged on my AVR. If I wanted that type of sound, I would have saved my money and just purchased the CD with the bonus track or the single vinyl album and listened that way.

I’m not suggesting that it’s a great mix by any means, but I am disputing the baseless claim that the Atmos version was not created from a multitrack source. If I mute the front overheads on my system, those backing vocals during the chorus of “Rain On The Scarecrow” almost completely disappear.

 

[4-earredwonder]

BTW, who did the ATMOS remix of SCARECROW? Is it listed anywhere in the credits?

 

[himey]

BTW, who did the ATMOS remix of SCARECROW? Is it listed anywhere in the credits?

David Leonard, immersive mix engineer.