HiRez Poll Marillion - SEASONS END [Blu-Ray Audio]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this new deluxe edition of the classic Marillion album "Seasons End".
Originally released in 1989, this album was the first to feature Marillion's current lead vocalist Steve Hogarth.
This new deluxe edition includes a new 5.1 surround mix of the album from the band's long time engineer and producer Michael Hunter, and the Blu-Ray also features a TON of additional material, both audio & video.

 

[madscot]

I voted 10, admittedly i’m a Marillion nut, this is Michael Hunters best 5.1 yet in my opinion, like all his mixes you need to turn up the rears about 3db’s but plenty going on back there, mostly keyboards, backing vocals and a few guitar runs. Over 8 hours worth of material on the blu ray so brilliant value for money as always

 

[edisonbaggins]

Voting 8.
Improved sound quality, is appreciated.

Mix just isn't interesting, to me, from an immersive/surround perspective, even with the surrounds juiced.

Life in Surround Review + EMI era deluxe sets ranked and Marillion in Surround overview

 

[César]

Voted 8, as I really like the mix (Hunter's best so far, miles better than the others), but I would have liked a warmer sound. I can't give it more as find most of all the other mixes better (with perhaps the exception of Afraid) or on par (Holidays).

 

[mikusguitarius]

You sure do need to turn the surrounds up with this don't you?! It transforms it. Is this a mastering error or an intentional decision at the mix stage? Very odd...

 

[César]

You sure do need to turn the surrounds up with this don't you?! It transforms it. Is this a mastering error or an intentional decision at the mix stage? Very odd...

Not a little single bit. Fronts and surrounds are balanced in my setup

 

[mikusguitarius]

Not a little single bit. Fronts and surrounds are balanced in my setup

Weird.... 95% of my 50 or 60 surround albums are balanced nicely. This one most certainly isn't!!

 

[madscot]

I voted 10, admittedly i’m a Marillion nut, this is Michael Hunters best 5.1 yet in my opinion, like all his mixes you need to turn up the rears about 3db’s but plenty going on back there, mostly keyboards, backing vocals and a few guitar runs. Over 8 hours worth of material on the blu ray so brilliant value for money as always

You sure do need to turn the surrounds up with this don't you?! It transforms it. Is this a mastering error or an intentional decision at the mix stage? Very odd...

Yes it does transform it, I think that Michael Hunter is of the opinion that the rears should supplement the music rather than overwhelm it, all of his mixes are the same, I put the rears up before playing any of his as I know it’s going to be quieter than usual

 

[mikusguitarius]

Yes it does transform it, I think that Michael Hunter is of the opinion that the rears should supplement the music rather than overwhelm it, all of his mixes are the same, I put the rears up before playing any of his as I know it’s going to be quieter than usual

Thanks yeah…. I certainly will from now on when I see his name!

 

[Guy Robinson]

Seasons End is a fantastic album and worth the $62 I paid for it from Amazon Canada. Mine arrived yesterday, the same day that I ordered it. I listened to the Blu-Ray a few times as it was. I was not happy with the surround as delivered. It was at best a 7. So I am voting a 9 after:

1) Converting the Blu-Ray to flac tracks
2) Adding a amplification boost of 6 DB to the rear speakers.
3) Populating the rear speakers in their newly jacked up form into the back speakers to create a 7.1 wav file. (The Oppo 103 will not play a 7.1 Flac file)

Now it sounds great from a surround perspective. It's the first surround album that I have felt that I needed to do this. It's immersive and the elements in the back/rear speakers that are discrete stand out a lot more.

The overall sound quality though is a 7 to 8 depending on the track. I am however very happy with it as a whole after the changes that I made.

 

[srbjab]

Voted a 7 on this one. I've always had a soft spot for this release since compositionally it represents the last of the band with Fish as a member, but unfortunately, the surround mix just doesn't do it for me. While I understand the impulse to tweak the mix to make it a "better" surround listening experience, to me that just indicates the mix, as delivered, is lacking in some way. And although there is a lot of extra material here, much of it is live (which I'm not the biggest fan of unless accompanied by good video) and none of it, not even the completed B-Side tracks, is mixed in surround. Lastly, I really don't care for the new cover art over the original release. So, while I'm glad to have the complete EMI re-issue set, it ends with a somewhat disappointing package.

 

[Muppet69]

Seasons End is a fantastic album and worth the $62 I paid for it from Amazon Canada. Mine arrived yesterday, the same day that I ordered it. I listened to the Blu-Ray a few times as it was. I was not happy with the surround as delivered. It was at best a 7. So I am voting a 9 after:

1) Converting the Blu-Ray to flac tracks
2) Adding a amplification boost of 6 DB to the rear speakers.
3) Populating the rear speakers in their newly jacked up form into the back speakers to create a 7.1 wav file. (The Oppo 103 will not play a 7.1 Flac file)

Now it sounds great from a surround perspective. It's the first surround album that I have felt that I needed to do this. It's immersive and the elements in the back/rear speakers that are discrete stand out a lot more.

The overall sound quality though is a 7 to 8 depending on the track. I am however very happy with it as a whole after the changes that I made.

Isn’t it a shame that you have to go to these lengths to make something sound like actually should have in the first place.

 

[mikusguitarius]

Isn’t it a shame that you have to go to these lengths to make something sound like actually should have in the first place.

Totally agree. Which is why I wondered if it was a mastering-stage error. But it's how this guy always mixes I'm told.

 

[Guy Robinson]

Isn’t it a shame that you have to go to these lengths to make something sound like actually should have in the first place.

Yes it is but after my third listening to the "corrected" version, I must say that it is fantastic.

 

[Tat]

The more I cranked the master volume, the sweeter the sound.
Love it.

 

[cbmmm3]

finally got time

and let me preface with the fact that my wife was in no mood for loud audio tonite so volume was set real low

so --
Im not hearing a lot of discrete. just ambiance
regardless- this is a very clean version of the original. true to the original.

I love what I hear, can't wait to go loud with it

 

[Niek]

It sounds like a cliché, but after Fish left I ignored Marillion for a while. With the fantastic 'Brave' from 1994 I picked up the thread again. I saw them live in Belgium (Vooruit/Gent) at the time and was completely convinced. A loyal fan ever since. I also came to appreciate the previous albums “Seasons End” (1989) and “Holidays in Eden” (1991). It just didn't come to an actual purchase. With the appearance of the anniversary boxes, there was a nice opportunity to make up for that lack. I loved the 5.1 mix on “Holidays in Eden”. I rewarded it with a 10. The expectations towards “Seasons End” were high. Unfortunately what a disappointment. Maybe the expectations were too high. I read here that with some adjustments you can improve it a bit. Surely that could never have been the intention. Despite this disappointment, I am still happy with what is offered in its entirety. An 8

 

[minimumtumbleweed]

I liked it just fine but agree that the mix is very conservative. Fidelity is good. I usually like the extras but not so much this time. I'm generally not a big fan of concerts that are just "an entire album from start to finish", and then an entire disc dedicated to live versions of what are probably their worst long songs... I'll still give it an 8 since the album itself is great and I have a lot of childhood nostalgia for it.