Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (5.1/Dolby Audio?/UHD & 360 Reality Audio)

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I'm on my third listen right now and will wait to review once it has sunk in and I've listened some more. Some early impressions...

1- The surround mix improves after Dogs Of War. Signs of Life could've been more adventurous, but it is hardly the only song on the album that would've benefitted from more imagination. Learning To Fly just seems like a mess, and the choice was made to separate the guitars from each other, rather than the keys from the guitars. Dogs Of War has TOO MUCH SAX. Good grief it about scared me to death. More on that later.

2- I don't think there is anything wrong with the fidelity. The album sounds largely like it did when I put in my cassette for the first time in 1987. It is a dark sounding album, and the 80s is full of such albums (I was listening to Bark At The Moon on the radio on the way home, and that's a good example of it). Most of it is the tones, but some of it is also the reverb. It likely would've been worse if they had kept the original drum tracks. I don't know if they were able to separate much of the reverb from the original tracks. In some cases you can hear that they did, but I'm not sure about the rest, and even if you have just a tiny bit of room reverb on everything, it will muddy up a mix fast. Regardless, some simple EQing would've brightened this release up considerably and eliminated some of the mud in the source tracks. However, if you do that, are you left with something too far apart from the original release? I don't know. That's Gilmour's call, not mine. The brightest sound in the entire album is that sax in Dogs of War. It sounds so out of place because it is bright and clean, unaffected by verb. I wish other parts of this album felt that same way, especially the keys, which are textured mud for the most part.

3- The sub gets a decent workout in this mix. Not overused, but used when appropriate.

4- Sorrow is a very underrated song.
 
Prices already beginning to fall, the CD/DVD version is now £33.99 at Amazon UK (direct from Amazon, not marketplace, so free delivery)

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Prices already beginning to fall, the CD/DVD version is now £33.99 at Amazon UK (direct from Amazon, not marketplace, so free delivery)

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That's in line with Amazon US - $45.49 with prime free shipping. But keep in mind the specs on the DVD version:
DVD/BD contains A Momentary Lapse of Reason Remixed and Updated in Stereo PCM 48/16; 5.1 Dolby Digital 48/16; and 5.1 DTS 48/16 (DVD) / Stereo PCM 96/24; 5.1 DTS-MA 96/24; 5.1 PCM 96/24 (BD)
It bugs me that on the DVD (only ~$10 less than the blu-ray pkg) you basically get CD quality in lossy formats when they easily could've bumped the bit depth to 24. It's little details like this that show how grasping and oblivious PF are to fans on a budget who may not want to shell out nearly $60 for a 34 year old mediocre album. I'm waiting a bit longer to see if the price falls further, but I'm not counting on it.
 
Mine arrived yesterday, well had of "View From the Top of the World" released a week earlier (estimated 11/2/21). To me it's the best 5.1 mix of actual Pink Floyd, Mary Fahl's FtDSotM may be better. The mix from a couple listens is similar to Rattle that Lock, which would make sense, since I think Andy Parker did both. Parker seems much more adventurous than Guthrie. It's been a while since I listened to the album and the original (80s) mix so didn't notice the changes, just loved how the new release sounded.. Better than I remember, and I was a big fan of this album when originally released. I can't say that I am a fan of the fashion of the band in the videos from the days. Hopefully that doesn't see a resurgence.

The music is great, although the presentation could be better. I would have liked a few graphics while that album played, Again, this is the same as Rattle that Lock with just the song name on the screen while the song plays. It's better than the blank screen of Dark Side and Wish You Were Here from the Immersion sets. The "Audio/Video" leaves a lot to be desired. I played the "INTERVIEW WITH DAVE AND STORM" and was greatly disappointed. two and a half minutes w/o an actual interview then into a stern mix of Dogs of War, with no transition, just the name of the song on the screen. I started watching some of the videos, but lost interest quickly.

Pink Floyd's surround releases, while I have been happy to have to then, leave me with a sense of Stockholm Syndrome. I'm greatly looking forward to the Animals 5.1 but dreading the actual release.
 
Mine arrived yesterday, well had of "View From the Top of the World" released a week earlier (estimated 11/2/21). To me it's the best 5.1 mix of actual Pink Floyd, Mary Fahl's FtDSotM may be better. The mix from a couple listens is similar to Rattle that Lock, which would make sense, since I think Andy Parker did both. Parker seems much more adventurous than Guthrie. It's been a while since I listened to the album and the original (80s) mix so didn't notice the changes, just loved how the new release sounded.. Better than I remember, and I was a big fan of this album when originally released. I can't say that I am a fan of the fashion of the band in the videos from the days. Hopefully that doesn't see a resurgence.

The music is great, although the presentation could be better. I would have liked a few graphics while that album played, Again, this is the same as Rattle that Lock with just the song name on the screen while the song plays. It's better than the blank screen of Dark Side and Wish You Were Here from the Immersion sets. The "Audio/Video" leaves a lot to be desired. I played the "INTERVIEW WITH DAVE AND STORM" and was greatly disappointed. two and a half minutes w/o an actual interview then into a stern mix of Dogs of War, with no transition, just the name of the song on the screen. I started watching some of the videos, but lost interest quickly.

Pink Floyd's surround releases, while I have been happy to have to then, leave me with a sense of Stockholm Syndrome. I'm greatly looking forward to the Animals 5.1 but dreading the actual release.

Do we know who did the Animals mix yet?

Guthrie was ok, but honestly, it's really hard to screw up classic PF in a surround sound format. I wasn't overly impressed with WYWH. SW would've done absolute wonders with any of the catalog.
 
I haven't listened to this album in its entirety for probably 20 years. It's better than I remembered as a total package even if there are few true classic tunes on it (imho). I noticed lots of details that I don't recall from previous listens on the DTS HD mix. While the mix isn't crazy active, I think there is enough going on to be interesting and immersive. I'm pleased to rediscover this album as an album through this purchase.
 
Got mine recently and I'm pleasantly surprised:

1. All the talk about "de-80's-ing" it I found to be a bit excessive. It still sounds very 80's which I like.
2. I like all of the changes they've made.
3. The drums hit low and hard. I don't find it to be "muddy" as some have.
4. I would have preferred a dry vocal isolated in the centre but it's not a biggie for me.
5. I enjoyed the surround mix and bet there'll be more hiding back there on subsequent listens.
6. Image restoration is superb. Good to see that alternate Learning to Fly video.
7. I got it on special so well worth the purchase for me.
 
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