Vince Guaraldi - Charlie Brown Xmas Deluxe 4 CD + Bluray set (Atmos)

[mrcond]

I've been rereading the comments in the poll of the DVD with the DTS 5.1 mix because it's much less expensive, but I'm starting to doubt if it's worth it over the stereo CD version. I was interested in the other CDs, so maybe the deluxe CD with 13 extra tracks could be the way to go.

Any thoughts?

P.S.: With things like this, sometimes I feel I get "surround fatigue" like @edisonbaggins mentioned in one of his videos, trying too much to get surround albums when plain stereo is enough or when an album is too expensive to get (because of initial pricing or because of rarity).

I love this album. I own the 5.1 version from Monster Music (I believe that is the one with 2 different DTS 5.1 mixes) and I have streamed the Atmos version on Apple Music, and I'll be honest, the stereo version is the one that I always return to. The surround versions don't do it for me.

 

[fcormier]

Streaming?

Atmos version:

Stereo super deluxe: 80 songs, four hours:

For those of us who do not have an Apple subscription, the Super Deluxe Edition is also on Spotify

 

[4-earredwonder]

I love this album. I own the 5.1 version from Monster Music (I believe that is the one with 2 different DTS 5.1 mixes) and I have streamed the Atmos version on Apple Music, and I'll be honest, the stereo version is the one that I always return to. The surround versions don't do it for me.

Probably because it's a TRIO recording and mucking around with trying to expand the soundstage to 'conform' to ATMOS overhead speakers and side or rear surrounds can only result in diluting the original source master tapes!

 

[fcormier]

Probably because it's a TRIO recording and mucking around with trying to expand the soundstage to 'conform' to ATMOS overhead speakers and side or rear surrounds can only result in diluting the original source master tapes!

They should have done like what was done for Kind Of Blue: the three tape tracks on the three front channels and the rears are reverb recorded in the studio.

 

[4-earredwonder]

They should have done like what was done for Kind Of Blue: the three tape tracks on the three front channels and the rears are reverb recorded in the studio.

But if you read the QQ Forum reviews of KIND OF BLUE, the consensus is that it's just that ..... diluting the front three channels into ambient rears and nothing else.They should just release it on three channel SACD ... and call it a day! Just like Analogue Productions has done with several well received 3 channel prior releases [Miles' Someday My Prince Will Come being a prime example]. Or Oscar Peterson's WE GET REQUESTS [on VERVE in three channel]. And some of those wonderful Nat King Cole three channel SACDs ......

Unless you are an absolute stereo purist ...... if you have a capable Surround receiver or pre/pro you can achieve ambience by employing one of the many DSP modes available on most if not all modern AVRs/Pre Pros ..... and that includes pretty convincing upmixes .......

I will admit, that one of the few successful 5.1 surround achievements from original three channel recordings is Monster Music's SKETCHES OF SPAIN and its included booklet lays out the process Monster CEO Noel Lee employed while remixing this iconic album into that format ... and IMO, it was quite ingenious!

 

[~dave~~wave~]

But if you read the QQ Forum reviews of KIND OF BLUE, the consensus is that it's just that ..... diluting the front three channels into ambient rears and nothing else.They should just release it on three channel SACD ... and call it a day! Just like Analogue Productions has done with several well received 3 channel prior releases [Miles' Someday My Prince Will Come being a prime example]. Or Oscar Peterson's WE GET REQUESTS [on VERVE in three channel]. And some of those wonderful Nat King Cole three channel SACDs ......

Unless you are an absolute stereo purist ...... if you have a capable Surround receiver or pre/pro you can achieve ambience by employing one of the many DSP modes available on most if not all modern AVRs/Pre Pros ..... and that includes pretty convincing upmixes .......

I will admit, that one of the few successful 5.1 surround achievements from original three channel recordings is Monster Music's SKETCHES OF SPAIN and its included booklet lays out the process Monster CEO Noel Lee employed while remixing this iconic album into that format ... and IMO, it was quite ingenious!

Have you formed an opinion on the Apple Atmos rendering of We Get Requests vs the 3-CH?

 

[4-earredwonder]

Have you formed an opinion on the Apple Atmos rendering of We Get Requests vs the 3-CH?

I don't do Apple Atmos Dave ...so what is your take?

 

[~dave~~wave~]

I don't do Apple Atmos Dave ...so what is your take?

Like you, I've delighted in the three channel for years.
What could be better than drums L piano C bass R?
At least 50% improvement on stereo.

Comparing the Atmos sound field on the first track was a little dis-orienting from the opening notes.
On my budget 7.4.1, the "zing" of Mr Peterson reaching into the grand piano to strum the strings and let them ring, rather than located dead-center, seems panned hard left.
The bass answers hard right as on the SACD, the piano key-strikes remain left blended with the drums.
But as my ears and brain adjust during the first verse, the piano seems to widen out and wrap around the sound field in a pleasant way. The LFE thump of the bottom octave of the bass is perceptible, no kick in the mix. An enhancement IMHO, but depending on the size of one's mains vs three channel, YMMV.

The center channel is a mix of all three instruments at a reduced level, which seems to annoy some folks. But as part of the room mix it fills in middle of the front without calling attention to itself. The sides surrounds are quieter than the back surrounds, which have more signal and create a quad feel, but with things more filled in between the corners of the room than 4.0.

The fairy dusting from the ceiling speakers is more than ambiance in my perception.
No single instrument is soloed in a single speaker or pair, that would be gimmicky and ineffective.
Listening to this alternative mix compared to the floor level mix from 25% as many speaker boxes is perhaps enhancing my understanding of "object-oriented" mixes versus "discrete."

Comparatively, the grand piano seems a little cramped in the three-channel mix now.
Instead, even though panned left front in Atmos, its seems to swell to it's full twelve-foot length.
Ditto for the bass & drums, which seem to have a natural sound more focused than spongey from anywhere in the room, though not "discrete"as defined as a single instrument in a single speaker.

There's full range bass content in the back surrounds which benefits from large woofers.