Pink Floyd - The Later Years (1987-2019) [CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Box Set]

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Ok, I've compared the initial two minutes of YAM in stereo: original CD, new album mix and new concert video. The bass heavier is the new album mix (my cans almost starting to tremble, I only got that with interstellar soundtrack before), but the bass has been moved more to the front of the mix. On his new mix the bass sound less defined than in the concert and the original recording, being the latter the more defined. However, in the original album it is so far behind in the mix that after having listened to the new mix, it leaves you wanting more.
In the new mix I found bass on the verge of getting muddy sounding, very close to, but bearable.
It's funny because now I'm unsure about which mix to choose. The original one kind of sounds like a bit duller compared to the newer version, but I must admit I ended up lowering down the volume of the new one, which is never a good sign.
Vocals in all versions are ok for me.
I don't know, I need to continue listening and comparing to be able to decide which version I like the most.
Edit: I had forgotten about YAM in Venice... while sounding nice, bass is almost non existent compared with all the other versions.
BTW, having sampled almost all concerts now (only PULSE missing, this box is a visual treat!
 
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I just listened a few tracks of AMLOR followed by a few tracks of Division Bell - I have to agree with Jon's assessment. These don't sound like they were mixed by the same person. Division Bell is incredibly clear with obvious discrete elements in the rears (piano, guitar, backing vocals, etc) and a perfectly imaged phantom front center - seriously, it sounds like the vocals are coming from my center channel.

AMLOR, on the other hand, is kind of a "wash of sound" (is that a cliche term?). For all the talk of modernizing the production, it still sounds dated to me. The rears on "Learning To Fly" and "Sorrow" are full of echoey drum hits. There are the occasional discrete elements - some guitar or keyboard licks, backing vocals, etc - but a lot of the instruments sort of float towards the middle of the room. Once again, the center channel doesn't really contribute much to the presentation - there's nothing there that isn't louder in the front channels.

The real problem is the EQ - I don't know what happened here, but compared to Division Bell it sounds muddy and lifeless. I noticed this while playing the 2019 stereo mix on Spotify and put it down to some kind of streaming issue. Unfortunately, the 5.1 has that same sound. I can't imagine they intended it to go out sounding like this. Someone on SHF mentioned an EQ tweak they felt improved the stereo mix, so I'll have to try that out. I think cutting the bass and carefully boosting the midrange and/or highs might help bring out the vocals a bit more.
 
On AMLOR if you solo the center channel in Audacity, some tracks have a good bit of dry lead vocals, with the reverb from the vocals sent to other speakers, and some tracks have almost no lead vocal in the center channel at all. The surrounds seem to have a good bit of clarity to me overall compared to the three front speakers. I've toyed with increasing the treble on just the front 3 speakers, since it seems like just the fronts are a bit muffled, and also because the vocals switch from dry in center and reverb sent elsewhere, over to all vocals in mains only, hence increase all 3 fronts.

Increasing the treble slightly helps the center on the ones that actually have vocals and the treble increase in the mains helps the other ones too. Pretty much a quick & dirty fix and probably not the best way to do this, but a general increase in the treble of about +3~4dB on the front 3 makes it sound quite a bit better overall to me.
 
Again, I found the vocals on a couple songs a bit "buried". Other than that, if I simply reduce sub a few notches and crank up the volume, I find this very pleasing. I will gladly play it for my buddy who loves this album. :)
I absolutely love the powerful deep bass on this and consider that one of the best things about this mix. It's borderline ridiculous on the very deep bass, but that's the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I like it! 🤪
 
I’m finding this very interesting [emoji3166] that there are so many differing opinions on this one. It’s always comforting to get a general consensus, but it seems a little muddy here, so the Poll reviews should be a fun read.

Yep! I’ll vote when I have time to dissect each song. I believe it requires it for AMLOR


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Oh brother, you guys are way ahead of me, I have to read through all this to catch up. I agree with Jonathan (sjcorne) in his assessment. I am actually listening now for the very first time Momentary and on the weekend I watched Delicate and I was very impressed with the surround whereas Momentary I feel like I am trying too hard to want it to be perfect. It's not bad just not as good as Delicate.

Couple questions I have:
The track listing on Delicate 2019 is different from my CD track listening. I never owned a video of Delicate so I don't know if they where always different or just 2019 different?

My other question is why DVD's and Blu Rays of the same, surely everyone has a universal blu ray player? They are cheaper than this entire box set.
 
This is definitely an intriguing topic. Across 3 different systems now (CD in my car and blu-ray on 2 HTS's) I haven't heard what I'd describe as muddiness.
AMLoR has some intense bass, but TDB does too.

I wonder what's up here! Can familiarity with the original album have something to do with it? I'm not very, as I never liked it much. I wonder if it doesn't play well with certain bass settings, but is ok with others?
 
This is definitely an intriguing topic. Across 3 different systems now (CD in my car and blu-ray on 2 HTS's) I haven't heard what I'd describe as muddiness.
AMLoR has some intense bass, but TDB does too.

I wonder what's up here! Can familiarity with the original album have something to do with it? I'm not very, as I never liked it much. I wonder if it doesn't play well with certain bass settings, but is ok with others?
Is it being described as muddy because it's like a bad martini (wet) ?
 
I tried again today and I just can't seem to get AMLoR to sound good. It sounds bad. To me. It sounds so bad that it's hard to believe it's on the same physical disc as the rest of the material (TDB, Pulse, etc). It's so bad I almost wonder if something happened to the master when the disc was put together. One thing's for sure, I am not springing for another $300+ box to see if I get a better disc! :)
 
After listening to the first few tracks on AMLOR, this surround mix reminds me a lot of the Styx "The Mission" mix: kind of an "everything everywhere" mix with various elements emphasized in different regions of the room. I like the overall sound/fidelity (not muddy to me), and I'm finding the mix enjoyable... I have to admit, though, I'm a little disappointed if this is Andy Jackson's new style of mixing... the mix on "Meddle" is pure discrete sonic bliss. I seem to remember TDB being more discrete than this as well, but i'll have to revisit that one.
 
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