HiRez Poll Oasis - WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY? [SACD]

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Rate the SACD of Oasis - WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY?


  • Total voters
    51
I find it funny that nobody likes this disc. I always found it an improvement over the stereo CD. I know the album pretty well and it always sounded very bad, kind of like a wall of noise, which I can only attribute to a deliberate choice they made to give the album a certain nature. The SACD retains that nature while adding some subtle 5.1. I mean, yeah, there's little actual surround stuff going on, but it fills the room and has enough discrete elements - few and far between, but definitely there - to make me accept it as an actual 5.1 mix. I think it's a good one for what it is.
 
there are some high spots (previously mentioned) but too often the surround mixing decisions made here do little or nothing to open up the sound.

still in fairness, I feel regardless of what could have been done differently, anyone remixing this into surround would still be hamstrung by the recording with its inherent overdriven/maximised/distorted/compressed "wall of sound" characteristic of so much of Oasis' music.

I'd even say there's a case that perhaps being able to pick all the elements apart (as one can with lots of discrete surround remixes) wouldn't be the right approach for this type of production.

a "6".
 
That article is fascinating. It's certainly cool to see where the SACDs were mastered for Sony, especially since the early Sony 5.1 discs have a very characteristic sound.

It's also interesting that Neil had to fly certain things in from the CD, and readily admits to what we call "upmixing" -- I can see the cringing now from some purists.
 
If Mr Hoffman remastered this I would be happy. Turn the rears up by +4db. Champagne supernova is a major letdown but the rest of the songs are OK.
 
I too really like this album, but the sacd makes my ears bleed. It's one of the worst one's out there IMHO...A missed opportunity for sure.

AF could remaster it, preserving the dynamics! I am sure this is a title they could acquire the rights to. Oasis are NOT protective of their work in a way that would prevent others from remixing it. Noel does not give a sh*t.
 
This disc gave me The Quadraphonic Blues... you know, that feeling you get when, in spite of all the negative reviews you've read, you spend outrageous money on an OOP disc thinking "maybe it's not as bad as they said..."...but as it turns out... it's exactly as bad as they said (see "Abraxas" DTS CD for another example). In terms of the music, this is classic Brit Pop from start to finish, and it's one of my favorite albums (which is actually the most common predisposing factor leading to The Quadraphonic Blues). The audio fidelity sounds, however, just as highly compressed as the original stereo album (although the separation across the front three speakers does slightly improve the sound)... I say the front three speakers, because the sounds coming from the rears are few and far between (this surround mix is good for burning calories because you'll find yourself repeatedly getting up out of your chair and putting your ear to the rear speakers in search of... any sounds whatsoever). On the bright side, the few times there are discrete sounds from the rears are during the best songs (Wonderwall; Champagne Supernova). I give this 3 for the content, 1 for the fidelity, and 1 for the mix... a total of 5. Spare yourself the blues and ask for this as a gift if you must, but DON'T SPEND YOUR MONEY!
 
Funny... I like this one. Very true to the original stereo version in terms of sound, with enough expansions to turn it into a Surround experience. The way this sounds is, to my mind, a highly deliberate choice, and the surround version reflects that. I know, coulda woulda, but for what it is, I definitely prefer it to the stereo version and I enjoy it thoroughly every time I put it on.
 
Funny... I like this one. Very true to the original stereo version in terms of sound, with enough expansions to turn it into a Surround experience. The way this sounds is, to my mind, a highly deliberate choice, and the surround version reflects that. I know, coulda woulda, but for what it is, I definitely prefer it to the stereo version and I enjoy it thoroughly every time I put it on.

I agree that it's better than the stereo version... but I tend to like a lot of activity in the surrounds (old quad mixes are my favorite), so this was underwhelming for me.
 
Oh dear what happened. Believe the bad reviews. This is one of the best albums ever but sounds really bad in this mix. To be fair from 'She's Electric' onwards it's ok but the first half of the album is all over the place! On wonderwall Liam's vocals switch speakers in a totally bizarre fashion! And there is a weird echo to his voice... The stereo version does at least add something but I wouldn't bother paying the high prices this version has, not worth it.

Hopefully they will reform and we'll have a proper version released?!
 
I actually enjoy this mix overall. As others have said, it’s not the most discrete and innovative surround mix ever. It does lean a lot on the front speakers. And of course it’s compressed. It’s Oasis. I remember asking why anyone would remix this album in 5.1 hi res audio because the CD is deliberately dull and wall of sound. It’s loud and dirty rock n roll at its best (worst). But surprisingly, this mix does sound better than the original stereo mix for sure.

So far the biggest issue I have is the bad reverb of Liam’s vocals in the surrounds for Hello. And the S’s on half the album. Dear god did they not de-ess his vocals? Surely not enough. My lord. It’s the first surround mix where I actually want to turn down my surrounds.
 
I've had a digital copy of the mix for a while, but I saw the actual disc for around $30 recently and I couldn't resist. It is pretty rare these days after all.

It's definitely front-centric. Most of the time there's nothing truly discrete in the rears except some light percussion and ambience. "She's Electric" and "Champagne Supernova" are the strongest mixes overall to my ears.

As noted in post #18- the mix on "Wonderwall" is really weird. It starts off nice with the vocals hard in the center, but then once the full band kicks in it gets muddy and less discrete.

I'd give it a 6.
 
A major disappointment. I love this album, but apart from a few moments on "side 2" such as Cast No Shadow, this surround sound mix fails to exploit the five channels. Basically, the rears echo the front. Nothing discrete heard. I may have heard a few, says, handclaps in the front left of one track and something similar in another track, but that's it. Scored this 4.
 
I'd always been disappointed with this disc and out of interest I thought I'd check it out in Audacity (I converted from dsd to flac). Not sure if this has been discussed before but I think there are some technical reasons why this sounds so odd? I don't think it's down to the actual mixing philosophy...

On Wonderwall for instance, the centre and LFE channels are the wrong way around?! There's just a cello in the LFE channel and the bass is mixed into the centre with a low vocal. On all the other tracks the bass goes to the sub - which makes sense! I think this could also explain the weird opening vocal in the centre as well? I think it was meant to be sent the fronts but something got fooked up...

I did a little bit of boshing things around - mixed the intro vocal into the fronts and swapped the centre/LFE. It seems a lot more balanced now... It's not perfect but a start...

Original
ww original flac.jpg

New
ww new fix.jpg

Haven't had a chance to look into anything further yet... But it does give me hope this album in multichannel might be resurrected somehow? I've read about some excellent 'fixes' on QQ and perhaps some peeps with more knowledge might be able to help? As I said before I think from She's Electric onwards (9-12) it sounds alright...

This album is an all time classic for me, and I'm MAD FOR IT to sound good in multichannel! :cool:
 
I'd always been disappointed with this disc and out of interest I thought I'd check it out in Audacity (I converted from dsd to flac). Not sure if this has been discussed before but I think there are some technical reasons why this sounds so odd? I don't think it's down to the actual mixing philosophy...

On Wonderwall for instance, the centre and LFE channels are the wrong way around?! There's just a cello in the LFE channel and the bass is mixed into the centre with a low vocal. On all the other tracks the bass goes to the sub - which makes sense! I think this could also explain the weird opening vocal in the centre as well? I think it was meant to be sent the fronts but something got fooked up...

I did a little bit of boshing things around - mixed the intro vocal into the fronts and swapped the centre/LFE. It seems a lot more balanced now... It's not perfect but a start...

Original
View attachment 37948

New
View attachment 37949

Haven't had a chance to look into anything further yet... But it does give me hope this album in multichannel might be resurrected somehow? I've read about some excellent 'fixes' on QQ and perhaps some peeps with more knowledge might be able to help? As I said before I think from She's Electric onwards (9-12) it sounds alright...

This album is an all time classic for me, and I'm MAD FOR IT to sound good in multichannel! :cool:

There we go again, Smithers, fiddlin' with the knobs. Try disengaging the center channel. I play this album in 4.2 on my main system and LOVE THE SOUND!

And that's the real story ..... Morning Glory!


whats-the-story-morning-glory-cover-beckwick-street.jpg
 
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