HiRez Poll Queen - NIGHT AT THE OPERA [DVD-A/BluRay Audio]

[ssully]

I don't have it in front of me right now but I remember a quick A/B of the loud version showed 6db give or take of limiting and boost but no 'volume war' style harsh treble eq or distortion added. Maybe there are two loud ones and I only heard the boosted one and the other is also distorted?

I think it's a bit of a novelty release with the original release being more accurate with crest factor delivery. Perhaps a way to create future demand for a "restored" version? I always wonder if someone is doing that when a substandard release follows a more accurate one.

The accusation of straight clipping is a pretty strong accusation though! The limited one I heard had no sign of anything like that. That kind of accusation demands direct evidence. ie. Show the waveforms zoomed in to the sample level to clearly show the clipping in question. ie. Pictures or it didn't happen.

I think the production is a little lit and hyped I suppose. But it's also bad ass and I'm not sure what to compare it to to try to point out any failing.

If there is a straight up distorted version, show the picture of the waves. Zoomed in to actually show the clipping! (Yes, zoomed out brick wall limiting looks brutal. Show the actual clipping. It's an acusation that demands evidence.) Name and shame with the catalog number and label.

zoom in from front left channel of Bohemian Rhapsody , LPCM 5.1 version from 2021 2013 BluRay:

 

[jimfisheye]

Well, there it is then. Duly named and shamed!

Excellent work! (The detective work, not the mastering! Or lack thereof.)

Yeah, I don't know. It probably still sounds better than some of the mutilated copies of old quad recordings I try to listen to sometimes. But I really wonder if this is a shameless novelty release meant to create demand for a "restored" version when I see this stuff. The other explanation is that someone mastering for a major record label screwed up this badly and then no one caught it.

 

[edisonbaggins]

I like the tonal balance, dynamic range, EQ, sound quality, directional sound effects and immersive presence.

And that is what's important.
I have both DVD-As, the DVD-V, and the BD.
For me, the BD is my go-to. It excites my listening space in the way I like best.

 

[ssully]

Well, there it is then. Duly named and shamed!

Excellent work! (The detective work, not the mastering! Or lack thereof.)

Yeah, I don't know. It probably still sounds better than some of the mutilated copies of old quad recordings I try to listen to sometimes. But I really wonder if this is a shameless novelty release meant to create demand for a "restored" version when I see this stuff. The other explanation is that someone mastering for a major record label screwed up this badly and then no one caught it.

This clipped mastering has been released twice , in 2005 on DVD-V and again on BluRay in 2021 2013. So I doubt it's a 'novelty release meant to create demand for a restored version'. The 'restored version' would be essentially the non-clipped DVDA released in 2002 (or Scheiner's initial mix), notwithstanding the upmix of 'God Save the Queen'.

 

[himey]

And that is what's important.
I have both DVD-As, the DVD-V, and the BD.
For me, the BD is my go-to. It excites my listening space in the way I like best.

I don't think Queen EVER released a truly reference recording. The difference between the three releases aren't that big if you simply keep the volume levels the same. For someone to say that the Blu-ray sounds poor, like one of the members here has done, is just silly. Liking one version a bit better than another is fair.

 

[Owen Smith]

I don't think Queen EVER released a truly reference recording.

I'd agree with that, and I assume you're talking about all Queen albums. There is one track that sounds excellent to me, that's the last of the extra tracks on the Magic album CD which is Freddie playing "Who Wants to Live Forever" as a piano solo. It was recorded away from the studio, on analogue tape (on an otherwise digitally recorded album), and is believed to be a single take. The clarity is breathtaking, spoiled only by tape hiss.

 

[jimfisheye]

I've just worked with enough software and in industry where limitations would be spoofed with software. Marketing driven where they create different levels of quality artificially because it costs less than developing all of them. So I wonder if I'm seeing someone follow that script with music releases sometimes.

Maybe someone really disagrees with the intended volume of these formats and demands louder? Even to the point where clipping didn't bother them that much compared to being too quiet?

If such a request was put in upstream though, a mastering engineer could simply compress or limit and at least not have clipping. So it has a mistake kind of feel. Or there's a corporate entity detached effect going on where someone not particularly qualified is making a decision.

I agree that the damage in this one is minimal sounding, by the way. You can usually limit up to 6db and clip a db here and there with no one the wiser. Level match with the original and A/B even. You usually have to do more than that for thrashed sound. Looking at the waves and seeing brick wall limiting and some actual clips after buying an expensive bluray is maybe not a great look though.

 

[himey]

I'd agree with that, and I assume you're talking about all Queen albums. There is one track that sounds excellent to me, that's the last of the extra tracks on the Magic album CD which is Freddie playing "Who Wants to Live Forever" as a piano solo. It was recorded away from the studio, on analogue tape (on an otherwise digitally recorded album), and is believed to be a single take. The clarity is breathtaking, spoiled only by tape hiss.

I will take your word for that. I have never gotten into those later albums like I have up through The Game. Don't hate the later ones, but I just don't listen to them very often. Give me some Atmos mixes of them and I would listen more.

 

[edisonbaggins]

I will take your word for that. I have never gotten into those later albums like I have up through The Game. Don't hate the later ones, but I just don't listen to them very often. Give me some Atmos mixes of them and I would listen more.

On that point, all this discussion of ANatO in 5.1 is going to be moot when the Steven Wilson Atmos version drops. Just hang in there, everyone.

[Disclaimer: no idea whether this is even a possibility.]

 

[ssully]

I don't recall Queen being on any of SW's 'things I want to remix' wishlists...but it's been awhile since I read one.

 

[Owen Smith]

On that point, all this discussion of ANatO in 5.1 is going to be moot when the Steven Wilson Atmos version drops. Just hang in there, everyone.

Unlikely. Brian May would insist on being involved and overseeing the mix, and them would fail to find time to do it. So many projects have been rumoured or announced and never happened. For example there was a plan (and has been several times over the decades) of a live in South America product from the record breaking 1981 tour.

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

I don’t think we’ll have to wait to long for BM to not be involved. I mean, even Freddie said, Who Wants To Live Forever?

 

[panamac]

Thanks for the reply Owen. It would be fun to compair the two. Still, I paid more than I normally would for a surround disc and will play this blu-ray often for continued enjoyment. I like the tonal balance, dynamic range, EQ, sound quality, directional sound effects and immersive presence.

I've compared the two Night at the Opera versions, and I always play the DVD-A

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

This clipped mastering has been released twice , in 2005 on DVD-V and again on BluRay in 2021.

Are you actually referring to the HFPA Blu-ray disc? If-so it was released in 2013

 

[ssully]

Are you actually referring to the HFPA Blu-ray disc? If-so it was released in 2013

Right, my mistake.

 

[edisonbaggins]

One of these days I ought to sell at least one of my four versions!!!

 

[himey]

One of these days I ought to sell at least one of my four versions!!!

The DVDA was one of the first multichannel discs I bought back when Best Buy had a section for them.

 

[edisonbaggins]

The DVDA was one of the first multichannel discs I bought back when Best Buy had a section for them.

The DVD-V was one of my first 3 surround albums.
Along with Genesis Invisible Touch DVD-V, and Rush Snakes and Arrows MVI.

All acquired simply as bonus discs or for novelty (MVI). Decided to find out what music in surround is like. Plus wanted to hear movies like Star Wars in surround, too.

None sound great, but I didn't know that then. And they were good enough to prompt more acquisitions...

 

[Dynamic Editor]

If y'all wanna see clipped audio, there's a hidden stereo stream on both DVD-A versions that oddly contains part of, but not the entire Night at the Opera album. Clipped to hell, I believe.

 

[Misterbee]

Well, there it is then. Duly named and shamed!

Excellent work! (The detective work, not the mastering! Or lack thereof.)

Yeah, I don't know. It probably still sounds better than some of the mutilated copies of old quad recordings I try to listen to sometimes. But I really wonder if this is a shameless novelty release meant to create demand for a "restored" version when I see this stuff. The other explanation is that someone mastering for a major record label screwed up this badly and then no one caught it.

In 2023, the concept of a purposely inferior physical release, with the goal of creating demand for a “restored” version, is absolutely hilarious.