HiRez Poll Rolling Stones, The - GOATS HEAD SOUP [Blu-Ray Audio (Dolby Atmos)]

[oxenholme]

What the heck was whoever produced the sound on this thing on? The vocal on Angie is excruciating. That piano on Star Star is plain ridiculous and has destroyed the character of the song - it just doesn't work - some parts of the song have degenerated into a cacophonous racket . The horns on Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) are ridiculously loud.

Is this another one with somebody playing it back over big B&W speakers in Studio 2 and capturing the ambience then plastering it all over everything? The whole caboodle is larger than life. No finesse.

I've been comparing it with the (stereo) SHM SACD. They're like chalk and cheese. The SACD has a certain precision to the sound that is obliterated on the Blu-ray.

For me the only songs that work are !00 Years Ago and the three bonus tracks.

 

[Daniel John]

What the heck was whoever produced the sound on this thing on? The vocal on Angie is excruciating. That piano on Star Star is plain ridiculous and has destroyed the character of the song - it just doesn't work - some parts of the song have degenerated into a cacophonous racket . The horns on Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) are ridiculously loud.

Is this another one with somebody playing it back over big B&W speakers in Studio 2 and capturing the ambience then plastering it all over everything? The whole caboodle is larger than life. No finesse.

I've been comparing it with the (stereo) SHM SACD. They're like chalk and cheese. The SACD has a certain precision to the sound that is obliterated on the Blu-ray.

For me the only songs that work are !00 Years Ago and the three bonus tracks.

Curious to know if you are listening on a 5.1 or Atmos set up?

 

[DennisMabry]

I am surprised at the mixed bag of opinions on this one. I know music is subjective but holy molars Batman! I guess I can only speak from my own experience, so first let me describe my listening set up. I'm using an Oppo 205 with 7.1 analog outs to a Sunfire TGIV pre-pro. My main surround speakers are in ceiling and my surround backs are in wall (Typical 7.1 layout, no height speakers). The surround backs are used mostly with movie viewing. I have listened to this on the BD in stereo and Dolby Atmos (the Oppo says Dolby True HD 7.1).

OK, I agree with most that "Dancing With Mr. D" sounds wonky (for lack of a better word). Just sounds a little bombastic, boosted and a little distorted. Also not a fave of mine but that's irrelevant. On a side note, I think "Come Together" on Abbey Road has the same effect. Perhaps being the first tracks on both sets they are purposely mastered a little hot.

That being said, the rest of GHS in my opinion sounds great. Clean clear and crankable. As others have noted that this is the Stones and their blues based music should not nessasarily be critically compared to some other audiophile recordings.

The mix could certainly be better from a surround perspective however there are only so many instruments to work with. Heartbreaker sounds great with organ and back up singers in the rear channels. Contrary to others opinions I think Angie sounds crystal clear. Silver Train has some nice surround moments. Can You Hear The Music is immersive.

Not sure why others have such a negative reaction to mixes that are front centric with supporting instrumentation or vocals in the rear? Sure, most of us prefer a more aggressive mix, but the end result is still far superior to the original stereo, opening up the recording to hear more detail. You cannot compare this recording to the Doobie Brothers Quadio (which by the way is awesome!) Or to a Steven Wilson mix for that matter. It is comparing apples to oranges. Not that they couldn't have done a mix like that if they chose to, however the fact remains that they didn't. So what we have is another classic album mixed much like Rush - Moving Pictures, which I gave a 10, and I still stand by that.

My wife and I both listened and compared the 24/96 stereo to a mid 80's LP in pristine condition. Both sound great! the BD understandably had a bit more bass. We also compared the 7.1 to the 5.1 and found little differences. The 7.1 noticeably filled the rear listening area a bit more. Two additional channels of volume sort of smoothed out the sound. I had to change the down mix in the set up menu on the 205 to do the comparison. You can compare the stereo to the Dolby Atmos on the fly in the pop up menu.

I agree that the way the box set was designed was poor. The set looks nice when it's closed. When you open it, the yellow cardboard stock seems cheap. Nice book but not removable. I don't really care about the posters, so that is moot. This will be stored with all of my other box set relics, to be occasionally dusted off and admired.

Content, 9
Sound Quality, 8
Mix, 7
Packaging, -1
Bonus Tracks, +1
My vote; 8

Most of my friends don't really understand my musical obsession. Luckily I can stop in here a couple times a day and see what my fellow surroundaholics are chatting about.
Good, bad, or indifferent.

Dennis

 

[MikeT]

I personally think the surround mix was a missed opportunity. I definitely hear things coming from the rear speakers, but everything is so cluttered and muddy sounding, and overall it sounded to be more front centric than anything else. I was listening with my Oppo 205 in 5.1 mode. Not the worst surround mixes - but if you are going to do a surround mix, at least for me, make it exciting and aggressive.

 

[oxenholme]

Curious to know if you are listening on a 5.1 or Atmos set up?

5.1

I was looking forward to the advertised 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix.

 

[mcherdering]

Very disappointing experience here. This was an opportunity lost for the Stones, IMHO. I gave this a very generous 6. Whilst listening to the Atmos mix on our 7.2.4 system, it lacked presence from the beginning of 'Dancing With Mr. D.' through track 3, 'Coming Down Again'. After that it opened up a bit, but not much. Then, about midway through the bonus track 'Scarlet', the Oppo BP-103D started pausing and skipping. A first for this player.
I had high hopes for this one, and the thought of similar subsequent Stones releases in Atmos. The Beatles Abby Road Atmos release is so much better than this. Given the price for this, I'll be hesitant to purchase the next Stones surround remix, should it appear.
Now I get to see how ImportCDs.com handles defective product returns.

 

[~dave~~wave~]

I was looking forward to the advertised 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix.

I'm also very upset there's no 5.1 DTS - HD Master tracks on this set like they advertised. Because of this, at least I can get a refund from Amazon!

The mix is what it is, if it's not your cup of tea, fine.
Not a soul complained about about the 5.1 mix on Kraftwerk 3-D.

Compatible 5.1 from Atmos is real, and it works.
If you own the highly-rated Abbey Road blu ray and a 5.1 system you can test it yourself.
Both DTS-HD MA and Atmos are available.

So I don't have Atmos, but I took the 5.1 mix from the disc and listened to it twice all the way through today in my car
...I would not recommend it if you don't have Atmos...

Issues with ripping and playing Atmos files aside, spinning this disk on a 5.1 system will output Atmos as Dolby TrueHD 5.1.

Implying otherwise is uncalled for, IMHO.
It doesn't pass the common sense test.

 

[EricKalet]

The mix is what it is, if it's not your cup of tea, fine.

The larger issue that I see is that the GHS deluxe box blu ray was advertised as having a DTS MA 5.1, so @Bob Vosgien is right to complain about the lack thereof. Blatent false advertising or misrepresenting the product at a minimum.

 

[edisonbaggins]

Menu music is loud AF. Otherwise, enjoyed the album and bonus tracks in Atmos, and the videos too, in plain Jane stereo.

I'm sort of scratching my head over some comments. Fidelity is on par with the original album mix, which is a bit lo-fi, IMO. Plenty of surround/immersive activity for my taste.
BGVs, extra guitars, string ensembles, keys of various kinds, all make fairly frequent appearances or reside back (and up) there.

 

[beerking]

I voted an 8
It is a very generous 8
All the negatives have already been covered, so I will leave it there.
Positive...for me, the main one is: 'It is a Stones album in surround'.

There we are, a short and sweet review.

Would have liked to give a fuller appreciation but it is very difficult to do so, when the overall disappointment in this release questions Giles skills set. Let alone the crazy box set design and the lack of the advertised 5.1 mix.

 

[edisonbaggins]

Switching back and forth between the hi-res stereo and Atmos is interesting.
The stereo mix packs a bit more punch, for sure. But after adjusting the volume so they sound about the same loudness, to me, the difference isn't vast. And the Atmos is interesting and pleasant enough, in it's own right.
I can see how those intimately familiar with the original mix might not find this acceptable.

 

[sjcorne]

I'm sort of scratching my head over some comments. Fidelity is on par with the original album mix, which is a bit lo-fi, IMO. Plenty of surround/immersive activity for my taste.
BGVs, extra guitars, string ensembles, keys of various kinds, all make fairly frequent appearances or reside back (and up) there.

It seems to me that a lot of folks (not calling out anyone in particular, we are all entitled to our opinions) are getting hung up on the lack of surround action on "Dancing With Mr. D.". I get that it's disappointing to have one of the signature songs of the album end up being the least-interesting mix, but it shouldn't discount the fact that some of the other tracks are mixed really well. It reminds me of how the 2018 remix of The Band's Music From Big Pink got some low votes just because "The Weight" had a poor surround mix. YMMV.

 

[edisonbaggins]

It seems to me that a lot of folks (not calling out anyone in particular, we are all entitled to our opinions) are getting hung up on the lack of surround action on "Dancing With Mr. D."

Pianos, and back up singers back there for the whole track!

 

[EricKalet]

I'm sort of scratching my head over some comments. Fidelity is on par with the original album mix, which is a bit lo-fi, IMO. Plenty of surround/immersive activity for my taste.
BGVs, extra guitars, string ensembles, keys of various kinds, all make fairly frequent appearances or reside back (and up) there.

I think the fidelity is very good considering that this was originally recorded in less than ideal conditions. Also, not sure how folks' systems are calibrated, but I am getting good surround activity as well. Maybe not as aggressive as a Scheiner or Wilson mix but enjoyable in the surrounds nonetheless.

 

[sjcorne]

Pianos, and back up singers back there for the whole track!

The backing vocals are just as loud in the front channels (I checked out the 5.1 downmix on headphones with the fronts in the left ear and rears in the right) and the piano is relatively low in volume compared to the other instruments. There's also the matter of that acoustic part buried 25 dB too low in the surround back channels.

I thought just about everything else was pretty great though! "Coming Down Again" is killer. I love the horns in the back on "Heartbreaker" and whistle-like guitar in the left rear during "Silver Train".

 

[skherbeck]

In my opinion "Dancing with Mr. D" is the only song with disappointing surround activity. "Angie" is a little thin regarding rear activity, but I think the use of the strings in the rears is tasteful and effective, and I enjoy the track. The rest of the tracks have plenty of surround activity, although on many of them I felt the need to adjust the levels of some of the rear elements. I also think the low end needs some help on some of the songs. I'm basing these comments on the 7.1 mix down-mixed to 5.1 by merging the extra 2 tracks with the surrounds in Audacity (this process also allows you to adjust the levels of some of the rear elements).
I guess I'm in the minority here, but I really am grateful for this release and have been listening to tracks 2-9 (with some adjustments) nightly (I like track 10, "Star Star" too, but I just feel weird blasting that one around my kids, even though they're 18 & 20, lol). If I were to vote on the 5.1 mix "as is" off the Blu-ray I'd give it 2/3 fidelity, 3/3 content, and 1.5/3 for the mix, so 6.5 rounded up to 7 (but I'd give it a 7.5 rounded to 8 after making adjustments)

 

[HugoPhyrst]

I've listened to the surround (album and extras) a couple of time now. The "deluxe edition" overall is disappointing to me. I do not have Atmos or 7.1 surround. I was able to rip into flac and then Media Helper to remix to 5.1 files. Playing the Bluray from Oppo 103 as bitstream sounded identical to playing the remixed 5.1 files. Native DVDAE extracted 7.1 flac files would not play at all. I feel cheated not having the 5.1 mix included as was advertised (and a major reason I did not hesitate to purchase this).

The surround mix is inconsistent from track to track. Never very discrete, but after Dancing with Mr. D (which sounded muddy to me), the mixes were clean and relatively bright. I really enjoy this album; originally listening to my Nakamichi cassette dub back in the early 80's. The extra tracks are a nice addition and the Brussels Affair never sounded better to me. The packaging is truly awful; bad decisions made on gluing the book in and, overall, feels cheap. Doesn't come close to the quality of other boxes by the Beatles or the Band.

Glad to have Stones in surround and I have enjoyed the album (after track 1), but overall it feels like a missed opportunity. 7.

 

[zimmy]

Goats head soup is for me an very special album as it was the one that turned me into an stones fan, very much because of the song Angie.
I was worried about what would turn up in Atmos as stones has failed many times with their upgrades. To me that Japanese SACD has been the one i rank highest so far.

At first i reacted like many here have done that Dancing with Mr D wasn´t so much to talk about when it comes to surround effects.
As the album means so much to me i listened to it several times which honestly i don´t do directly with discs even if they sound great.
This meant that i had an good view of what i had heard when i then put on the japanese SACD. So far i had realized that the Atmos track was better than the stereo track even if i got fooled at first because of its higher volume.

When i put on the SACD there was for me no question that the BD was much better in every possible way.
Yes i can number up many discs with better surround but to me the main thing is if i finally have gotten something that sounds better than any older version. This one really does!
Also i enjoy the surround effects that are on the album.
Also it was very interesting to hear the CD version of Brussels affair which i have had countless version of starting with the bootleg LP Bedspring symphony.
I honestly didn´t think it would sound better than the one they released as download but it is an remarkable improvement in the sound.
Of course it should have been on the BD instead for be on an CD.
Because of my high stones interest i bought the package from HDtracks so i got the concert in 24/96. The price was really good with the reduction codes they had at the moment.
So for people not caring for surround the files give more value for the money.

But i really like this BD very much even if the package was expensive but there has been more expensive boxes in the past.
I remember an insane price for teh Box for Eagles Hotel California and wre i live the BD for Led Zeppelins The song remains the same had an prize in the shops that i just couldn´t take. Luckily i found an better place to buy it on the net.

 

[EricKalet]

In my opinion "Dancing with Mr. D" is the only song with disappointing surround activity. "Angie" is a little thin regarding rear activity, but I think the use of the strings in the rears is tasteful and effective, and I enjoy the track. The rest of the tracks have plenty of surround activity, although on many of them I felt the need to adjust the levels of some of the rear elements. I also think the low end needs some help on some of the songs. I'm basing these comments on the 7.1 mix down-mixed to 5.1 by merging the extra 2 tracks with the surrounds in Audacity (this process also allows you to adjust the levels of some of the rear elements).
I guess I'm in the minority here, but I really am grateful for this release and have been listening to tracks 2-9 (with some adjustments) nightly (I like track 10, "Star Star" too, but I just feel weird blasting that one around my kids, even though they're 18 & 20, lol). If I were to vote on the 5.1 mix "as is" off the Blu-ray I'd give it 2/3 fidelity, 3/3 content, and 1.5/3 for the mix, so 6.5 rounded up to 7 (but I'd give it a 7.5 rounded to 8 after making adjustments)

Can't disagree!!

 

[GOS]

I'm really enjoying this release. I mean, first off....Stones in high rez and multi-channel. That's a big plus, and I'm loving it.

Content - 10
Fidelity - 8
Mix - 7

That averages to 8.333. Rounded down to an 8.
While I don't really think the price is fair, this is a keeper for me. I will proudly display this on my shelf, alongside other box sets.