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

[oxenholme]

I've been listening to this one again tonight. Although some tracks have disappointing mixes there are several that are pretty damned good.

 

[key_wiz]

Yeah, I don’t even know where to vote on this.

Reading the interview with Neil Dorfsman explains a lot: he mixed it into 5.1 because he was hired to do so, and was purposely very conservative with it because he wasn’t even sure if the album should even have been in 2-channel stereo let alone surround!

This is one of the best albums ever released from a songwriting standpoint. It also is probably more responsible for the advent of brickwalling and the “loudness wars” than any other single release. This release does nothing to relieve my headache when listening!

As such, I’m not sure we need this album in 5.1. It does “open up” a bit in some places. The rears could have been used more to “envelope” if the intention wasn’t to have many discreet elements back there. IMO. But clearly Dorfsman thought something else needed to be done with the mix.

So judging it on its own merits? Yeah I don’t know where to go with it exactly. I’ll have to play it a couple more times. After my brickwall-headache subsides. Lol.

 

[GOS]

Yeah, I don’t even know where to vote on this.

Reading the interview with Neil Dorfsman explains a lot: he mixed it into 5.1 because he was hired to do so, and was purposely very conservative with it because he wasn’t even sure if the album should even have been in 2-channel stereo let alone surround!

This is one of the best albums ever released from a songwriting standpoint. It also is probably more responsible for the advent of brickwalling and the “loudness wars” than any other single release. This release does nothing to relieve my headache when listening!

As such, I’m not sure we need this album in 5.1. It does “open up” a bit in some places. The rears could have been used more to “envelope” if the intention wasn’t to have many discreet elements back there. IMO. But clearly Dorfsman thought something else needed to be done with the mix.

So judging it on its own merits? Yeah I don’t know where to go with it exactly. I’ll have to play it a couple more times. After my brickwall-headache subsides. Lol.

I agree. I think it sounds terrible.

 

[key_wiz]

One of the most revealing quotes from that interview: Where he says he asked how many they thought they might sell and he was told “if we sell 10,000 it will be amazing”.

Of a SACD of one of the best selling albums of all time released in 2003.

Kinda says it all.

 

[key_wiz]

I agree. I think it sounds terrible.

Yes it does. Yet part of me wants to give it a “10”. It’s a beautiful mess.

I may never vote on this one. Lol.

 

[key_wiz]

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.

If Mr Hoffman remastered this I would be happy.

I realize these are very old posts and the poster has been banned, but I just thought it should be pointed out that the issue with the album is not in the mastering. The brickwalling and lack of dynamics lies in the recording and the mix. Even the illustrious Mr Hoffman would be unable to do much of anything with it.

Dorfsman probably could have done a lot to “unbrickwall” it when he remixed it, but as he alluded in that interview, that isn’t the album that this one is. That “wall of sound” mess is as much a part of the album as are the guitar sounds and the lyrics.

 

[oxenholme]

I would love to know what Neil heard when he mixed it. Presumably on professional equipment that was capable of handling whatever was put through it.

In a similar vein I would love to know what Giles and Sam heard at Abbey Road when they worked on Sgt Pepper & the white album etc.

I suspect that the amount of juice going through the circuitry in domestic equipment is enough to cause distortion through overload.

But, I for one very much love this album in 5.1.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I would love to know what Neil heard when he mixed it. Presumably on professional equipment that was capable of handling whatever was put through it.

In a similar vein I would love to know what Giles and Sam heard at Abbey Road when they worked on Sgt Pepper & the white album etc.

I suspect that amount of juice going through the circuitry in domestic equipment is enough to cause distortion through overload.

But, I for one very much love this album in 5.1.

This album has sparked a lot of controversy both here and at the old SA~CD.net. It's either a love or hate affair .... with few in-betweens. I voted a 10. C R A Z Y or right on the money? I treat my discs, demagnetize them, damper them and place them in my tweaked OPPO. Pre/Pro is a Meridian 861 v.6. Digitizes ALL incoming signals [including analogue]. Interconnects are balanced Transparent Cables as are speaker cables. System is 4.2 .... NO center.

How does What's The Story Sound ...... Glorious. Play it loud ... sounds even better ... and fuller. Surrounds are prominent throughout the album but reach a crescendo with the last two cuts ..... Insane ... almost demo quality.

I also utilize room treatments. In my listening room makes a tremendous difference.

I go to great lengths to ensure my discs sound as good as they can. But a bad disc will always sound worse. This is NOT one of them.


.

 

[fredblue]

One of the most revealing quotes from that interview: Where he says he asked how many they thought they might sell and he was told “if we sell 10,000 it will be amazing”.

Of a SACD of one of the best selling albums of all time released in 2003.

Kinda says it all.

that's probably about as many copies as shipped in total.

(guesstimating 5,000 single layer pressed in the U.S. and 5,000 single layer in Europe)

with little marketing push or fanfare for the release, no 2nd print run and no hybrid reissue in Europe (unlike Toto IV, Blow By Blow, etc) i'll repeat one of my favourite little surround catchphrases; "they could only sell as many copies as they made"

 

[windhoek]

I've only recently bought another Nvidia Shield to replace the one that got moved into my bedroom for streaming music there, so I'm back up and running as far as streaming multichannel music from my NAS to my 4.0 system goes. Anyway, I listened to this album last night and on the one hand, the dynamic range is better than the stereo version. But it isn't as dynamically discrete as I'd hoped it would be. I last played it a couple of years ago and I can't remember what I thought of it then, but I'm giving it a 7: good stuff but would I wouldn't pay big money for it.

 

[halbroome]

I like when these old threads come up: we newbies can have our say!

I gave it an 8. Really fun played loud, and unlike others, I'm not looking for discrete ping-pong effects with WtSMG -- I'm enjoying the retro-psych moment. Did Revolver-era Beatles have surround? Of course not! It's as if the ABBEY ROAD era Beatles tried to go back to their early sound . . . the heaviness factor couldn't go away at that point!

 

[Strilo]

Oh man, this is one of those surround albums where I should take the 5.1 mix and do my own downmixed stereo version. Sometimes those turn out really well!

 

[MrSmithers]

(What's The Story) Morning Glory? is 25 years old today! Released 2/10/1995

To celebrate there's been a few cool things this week, including a really interesting video going back to Rockfield Studios where it was recorded...



One of the greatest albums of all time but still think the surround version is shite. Who knows maybe a new Atmos version could come out someday?!

[EDIT] Bugger - video doesn't seem to play directly but should work in Youtube...

 

[Dynamic Editor]

I wanna circle back on this thread to note that the SACD was released with a TON of errors, including the center channel being 6dB too loud across most tracks and in the incorrect polarity. I tried to fix up all these errors to the best of my ability here!

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/fixing-oasiss-morning-glory-in-5-1.33250/