HiRez Poll Yes - MAGNIFICATION [DVD-A]

Please post your comments, thoughts and observations.......

I am not a huge Yes fan but I must say this is one of the most sonically broad and impressive surround mixes I have ever heard. The mix of Yes and a complete orchestra was a smart combination.
One of my "show off my system" discs still after, what has it been, 2 or 3 years?
/\/\

I would agree. A great mix and, for me, a return to something a little closer to the classic Yes. Really immersive sound and really great songs.

I give it a 9.

Mix 10
Sound 10
Music 7
There is better Yes out there and worse.

I really enjoyed this title and I fully expected not to. Reminds me of classic Yes. Great mix, decent songs, very fine performance. I give it an 8.

The surround mix is ok to nothing spectacular. While the songs are exceptionally catchy for Yes, the performance is weak. Alan White on drums is a drag on this one. And the addition of the orchestra just takes away a lot of power that Yes has.
Would have preferred to hear a dvd-a of "the Ladder" an album on which Yes really play for their lives.

Superb vocals and harmony, i also liked the songs. But i would have prefered the songs arranged without so much orchestra. Would have liked more synth's and organ instead. But over all quite enjoyable. I gave it an 8.

The surround mix lifts Howe out of the orchestra and leaves him in the front soundstage; the orchestra goes to the rear speakers. It's a nice move (and one that I have no doubt Steve Howe insisted on). However the music is only fair-to-middlin' Yes. I bow to no one in my Yes fandom, and I'm rarely moved to play it.

Just bought this today at FYE, used, for about $6. Had to replace the case, but I like the music. Didn't expect to. Almost put it back.

There are some odd menu problems when played on a Denon 2900 like giving me one of those circles with a red line thru it every time I press a button on the remote. Finally got it to go though.

A title from the past resurrected!

I just managed to get this one off Ebay after looking in stores for several yrs. I had the CD and this blows it away. I really like the mix and orchestra placements. On many songs the guitars seem to hover in space, localized not just between left-right speakers but also positioned in front of the mains. Very nice!

Like others have said, this is classic Yes. I like the music too Yes, there's better, but this stands on its own. Worth seeking out if you can find it.

I'd like to give it a 8 music, 9 mix so 8 overall.

ss9001 said:

A title from the past resurrected!

I just managed to get this one off Ebay after looking in stores for several yrs. I had the CD and this blows it away. I really like the mix and orchestra placements. On many songs the guitars seem to hover in space, localized not just between left-right speakers but also positioned in front of the mains. Very nice!

Like others have said, this is classic Yes. I like the music too Yes, there's better, but this stands on its own. Worth seeking out if you can find it.

I'd like to give it a 8 music, 9 mix so 8 overall.

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I played this for the first time in a while over the weekend. Like said above I really like how they've mixed the orchestra in this one. Dreamtime is a great mix.

not being a big yes fan, have the mag. sampler, and use it to show off bass response. well worth an 8.

I'm a Yes fan. So I adore Yes's Magnification music and stereo mix is superb, one of the better I've ever heard. But IMHO the surround mix is poor, because the orchestra is in the surround speakers and the effect is not natural.

If I choose PURE DIRECT sound, the mix is directly horrible. It's a bit better if choose DIRECT or AUTO mix.

I used a Pioneer 989 AVi (i-link interface), Pioneer 610AV (HDMI interface) and Oppo 981 HD (HDMI interface) with a Pioneer AX-4AVi and Pioneer SC-LX-81 receivers. The mix sounds not natural definitely.

The mix is very discrete. The orchestra is opposite to the band, which is in the front, also backing vocal in the back and Squire's bass guitar in the center.
I miss Rick Wakeman here, the orchestra is an alternative but not quite same. The disc as a whole sound good though. The last album with Jon Anderson.

Ge Someone said:

The mix is very discrete. The orchestra is opposite to the band, which is in the front, also backing vocal in the back and Squire's bass guitar in the center.
I miss Rick Wakeman here, the orchestra is an alternative but not quite same. The disc as a whole sound good though. The last album with Jon Anderson.

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Once the band changed the sound was never the same again. I like the older yes more. new stuff is ok, but Fragile is the one to have if any.

Hey All,

I gave this a 9 on the following criteria:
Mix 10
Sound 10
Music 8

From my standpoint, it does not matter as much in a given review if the band has BETTER music that could be mixed surround. I am trying to rate what IS available.

This has a great aggressive mix, which I like. I always find it interesting that some people will judge things as "unnatural" in a surround mix. For a concert recording, it is quite "natural" to have some person yapping away behind me along with slap-back from the rear of the hockey arena, but this is not what I look for in a surround mix on a live video. I guess what I am saying is that, particularly in an aggressive mix of the sort I prefer, the idea of NATURAL is out the window, and the idea of creative use of the medium, ie the expanded soundstage, comes into play. In most recordings of any format even reverb is not applied in a "natural" way to a studio recording, as it is applied selectively to different instruments and in differing amounts. To be natural it would have to be applied to all sources equally, as if it were a performance in a church hall, for instance.

All this is to say that I appreciate and enjoy the creative use of the surround field in this recording. I find most conservative surround mixes to be not worth the power consumption required to drive the extra channels. Just my bias.

This is no longer an inexpensive purchase (I paid $38 in 2012 which was a deal) but if you are a prog rock fan I should think that listening to this would be an easy win for you!

Ken

I'm a long time Yes fan and bought Magnification DVD-Audio list price waaay back when it first came out. To be brutally honest I have never really considered it to be a glowing example of the format but it's been many, many years since I played it and I have changed systems since last time. In view of the buzz surrounding the impending 5.1 release of "Close to the Edge" I thought it was about time to re-visit it, review it and rate it.

...and I'm finding it quite a difficult recording to rate. The surround mix itself is quite good, but I find the channels do not have the clarity and separation that I've come to expect in a hi-res DVD-A. The sound is slightly "muddy" and as a consequence the surround sounds not quite fully discrete (though it surely is.) I suspect quite a lot (but not all) of this is down to the vocal treatment; the harmonies are heavy in reverb and also quite low in the mix, so, even when positioned to make use of the surround channels, they still sound quite distant and mushy.

It's pleasant enough and, as others have pointed out, is definitely an under-rated Yes album, so the material is good. Also it isn't compressed to hell, so that's good too, and any Yes in surround is good news. But it doesn't quite tick enough boxes for me to rate it high in terms of fidelity and use of surround. I was tempted to go with a six but thought that was probably a little too harsh, so it gets a seven from me.

HOOKEVE said:

I'm a Yes fan. So I adore Yes's Magnification music and stereo mix is superb, one of the better I've ever heard. But IMHO the surround mix is poor, because the orchestra is in the surround speakers and the effect is not natural.

If I choose PURE DIRECT sound, the mix is directly horrible. It's a bit better if choose DIRECT or AUTO mix.

I used a Pioneer 989 AVi (i-link interface), Pioneer 610AV (HDMI interface) and Oppo 981 HD (HDMI interface) with a Pioneer AX-4AVi and Pioneer SC-LX-81 receivers. The mix sounds not natural definitely.

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I understand where you are coming from. It's like the orchestra is separate and the music is not 'one'. Many 5.1 titles suffer from this. Instead of one large soundstage; there's two if you know what I mean. Rears/ fronts have a disconnect.

keenly said:

I understand where you are coming from. It's like the orchestra is separate and the music is not 'one'. Many 5.1 titles suffer from this. Instead of one large soundstage; there's two if you know what I mean. Rears/ fronts have a disconnect.

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a lot of Quads were like this, v.discrete to the point it's almost like two distinct recordings are going on - one in the front pair and another in the rear pair. while it gives a different arguably less immersive soundfield than many modern 5.1 mixes, I like the effect, it's engaging and I think it can be a lot of fun! Edgar Winter's Jasmine Nightdreams Quad mix is v.much in this vein and I love it.

fredblue said:

a lot of Quads were like this, v.discrete to the point it's almost like two distinct recordings are going on - one in the front pair and abother in the rear pair. while it gives a different arguably less immersive soundfield than many modern 5.1 mixes, I like the effect, it's engaging and I think it can be a lot of fun! Edgar Winter's Jasmine Nightdreams Quad mix is v.much in this vein and I love it.

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I largely detest it myself. I like surround mixes where the music is 'one' if you know what I mean.