HiRez Poll Ten Years After - A SPACE IN TIME [Blu-Ray Audio (Dolby Atmos)]

[ar surround]

This is purely speculation on my part - but I'd guess that Chrysalis simply couldn't find the original lossless files from 2012 in time for the release, so the quad on the Blu-Ray is a PCM rip of the old DVD DTS 96/24 that was channel-corrected and then encoded back to DTS-HD. If true (again, just speculating here), whatever difference you're hearing might be placebo effect...

Might it be that the original quad on the new Blu-ray is remastered a bit differently? Sometimes a little bit of EQ can be an improvement...or a detriment. Right?

 

[quicksrt]

I wonder what SDE has to say about the source of this Quad mix. When I first played the Quad from this set it sounded noticeably cleaner than the earlier DTS DVD-V. This does not mean that the latest Quad incarnation is not from a lossy source, but simply that it sounds better to me.

"Cleaner" in what way?

 

[edisonbaggins]

"Cleaner" in what way?

Maybe clearer? Less muddy?
Or maybe better signal to noise?

 

[quicksrt]

Maybe clearer? Less muddy?
Or maybe better signal to noise?

Less background noises?
Less hiss?

 

[barfle]

Anybody want a slipcase? PM me.

 

[barfle]

Love this release! I have the SQ LP, and the BD is amazingly clear and full. Of course, I listened to all the different mixes of “I’d Love to Change the World,” and the 5.1 is a delight to my ears.

BTW, the slip case is long gone.

 

[Quad Linda]

One of the best Quads, music and mix!

 

[eirepaul2]

Well, I'd really only heard "I'd Love To Save The World" in the past and didn't have any of their albums, but this album is a real discovery and is apparently their best. I am listening to it a lot and I'm struck by the clarity of this disc ( for a 1971 recording). Love the Atmos mix, only item would be that the drums could have been recorded a bit better - they are somewhat buried in the mix. Otherwise, another great SDE release.

 

[jimfisheye]

I think I was almost more excited to see the original quad released digitally than the remix! I mean, the quad is a remix itself. There are some gratuitous moves. Maybe a missed cue with the fx tape on Here They Come. Few other things that smell of lack of budget for a little rework that the stereo counterpart got. But it has serious vibe and clearly Alvin Lee's involvement.

I thought the Q4 transfer I had was in decent-ish shape. The clarity in the high end here is revealing! The old copy has generational damage very much revealed by this. But this new mastering is pretty thin. I suppose it's possible the fatness in the old copy could be some tape bass bump running a little wild but it sounds more intentional and under control than that. The damaged old copy still sounds a decent amount better in general despite the obvious generational damage.

The new 7.1.4 mix is a decent mix. It's not a showroom 12 channel mix that will convert a 5.1 listener to 7.1.4 or anything but it's a good mix and a well done 12 channel mix at that. But it just kind of sits there. Nearly all the surround moves from the original surround mix are unceremoniously dismissed or downplayed here. Kind of a shitty attitude with that. The opening 360 deg swirl might be a gratuitous example but the acoustic guitar walk around the room was really on point. For just one example.

Not a mix I'm likely to return to with the original quad being what it is. And I'll be hoping for a much better mastering job in the future on that!

I was never aware of the SACD mentioned. The quad channels in this bluray release match the Q4 transfer I listen to. The few 360 deg pans throughout suggest this channel order is correct. (It tracks around the room as expected as opposed to doing a criss cross.) So if this was released with the rear channels reversed from that, I'd say that would be the one in the wrong. (The SACD that is.)

 

[sjcorne]

…I’ll be hoping for a much better mastering job in the future on that!

I wouldn’t count on the quad being reissued again - we were lucky enough to get this version after the limited 2012 LP & DVD (not SACD) release with the swapped channels.

 

[joelee]

Well, I'd really only heard "I'd Love To Save The World" in the past and didn't have any of their albums, but this album is a real discovery and is apparently their best. I am listening to it a lot and I'm struck by the clarity of this disc ( for a 1971 recording). Love the Atmos mix, only item would be that the drums could have been recorded a bit better - they are somewhat buried in the mix. Otherwise, another great SDE release.

Not a QUAD release but you owe it to yourself to own a copy of Cricklewood Green, sublime TYA.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

I was never aware of the SACD mentioned. The quad channels in this bluray release match the Q4 transfer I listen to. The few 360 deg pans throughout suggest this channel order is correct. (It tracks around the room as expected as opposed to doing a criss cross.) So if this was released with the rear channels reversed from that, I'd say that would be the one in the wrong. (The SACD that is.)

There has not been an SACD release of this album...

 

[jimfisheye]

Oops, DVDV and not SACD. Got it!

(Now I can understand how I might have ignored a DVDV release. Was wondering how I missed a whole SACD release of this!)

Any comment on the sound of that? Same thing reissued here or different mastering? I don't like the thin hyped balance here. The low end sounds more intentional on the old copy than like unintended tape bass bump.

But if I didn't have the old copy this release would be pretty welcome as is! These are minor remarks next to some of the truly poor mastering we get too often. Just one of those things where a new release is sort of expected to sound at least as good as the previous one or someone is gonna say something.

Hey @eirepaul2, check out Shhhhhh! and Rock and Roll Music to the World as well as Cricklewood Green. Space & Time is the only surround unfortunately.

 

[quicksrt]

I voted 8.

I didn't vote 10 because:
- the Atmos should/could have been much better, and I thought it was all point of remixing this album in 2023;
- the Quad mix seems encoded from a lossy source. I can't prove this, but a null test resulted in very minor differences between the DTS-HD MA and the DTS core;

This is purely speculation on my part - but I'd guess that Chrysalis simply couldn't find the original lossless files from 2012 in time for the release, so the quad on the Blu-Ray is a PCM rip of the old DVD DTS 96/24 that was channel-corrected and then encoded back to DTS-HD. If true (again, just speculating here), whatever difference you're hearing might be placebo effect...

I've never found this album to have a harsh sound quality to it at all. So if the quad does indeed sound harsh then a digital capture from DTS HD and then back to DTS HD could result in this kind of sound quality.

At any rate, I am starting to think that I need the old original DVD-V in the collection. Talk of harsh sound, and another stating cleaner sound (on the BD) with no details forthcoming on that front. That DVD-V is dropping in value now that a corrected channel assignment version has been released, or any other version of the 70s quad has been released. Since it is one of the ultra hot 70s quad mixes, I do need the first generation transfer of it. I can do my own corrected 24/96kHz capture with corrected chans myself actually.

 

[par4ken]

I've never found this album to have a harsh sound quality to it at all. So if the quad does indeed sound harsh then a digital capture from DTS HD and then back to DTS HD could result in this kind of sound quality.

At any rate, I am starting to think that I need the old original DVD-V in the collection. Talk of harsh sound, and another stating cleaner sound (on the BD) with no details forthcoming on that front. That DVD-V is dropping in value now that a corrected channel assignment version has been released, or any other version of the 70s quad has been released. Since it is one of the ultra hot 70s quad mixes, I do need the first generation transfer of it. I can do my own corrected 24/96kHz capture with corrected chans myself actually.

I didn't find the sound quality of the Quad version to be harsh either. As I mentioned earlier I found that it sounded better than the 5.1 version.

 

[uffeolby]

I didn't find the sound quality of the Quad version to be harsh either. As I mentioned earlier I found that it sounded better than the 5.1 version.

Harsch - no! Better than the 5.1 version - no way. To each their own, different tastes etc