HiRez Poll Alan Parsons Project, The - THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD [Blu-Ray Audio]

[Quad70s]

I love Time, although for me it seems to borrow something from Pinks Floyd's Comfortably Numb.

 

[surroundsoundman]

I finally returned home from holiday and put on Turn of a Friendly Card. Based on what I have been reading, I am either going deaf, or there is something wrong with my rear speakers. I did not hear the hot high-end that most have been complaining about. It sounded wonderful. I was impressed that Alan was not overdoing it with the surround gimmickry and balanced the album quite well around the room. The depth and proportion of the mix was classic Parsons and very well done. This is a magnificent album and am glad that the remix was done by the artist himself. IMHO only Alan can do it Justice.

 

[inspclouseau]

I finally returned home from holiday and put on Turn of a Friendly Card. Based on what I have been reading, I am either going deaf, or there is something wrong with my rear speakers. I did not hear the hot high-end that most have been complaining about. It sounded wonderful. I was impressed that Alan was not overdoing it with the surround gimmickry and balanced the album quite well around the room. The depth and proportion of the mix was classic Parsons and very well done. This is a magnificent album and am glad that the remix was done by the artist himself. IMHO only Alan can do it Justice.

Us too. Sounds fantastic in our setup..and our old ears.

 

[WBP]

I'm going with an 8 on this, pretty good 5.1 mix, nothing spectacular but it serves the music well, glad I picked it up

 

[admsh]

I'm really enjoying this release. Treble is a little hot as others have mentioned but nothing egregious. Generally it sounds great and the mix is as awesome as all the others from AP. The box is way too much, if I didn't need immediate satisfaction I would have waited for the BR only release for sure. This is a 9 to me.

 

[Plan9]

Ouch! to my 38 years-old audio engineer's ears this mix is indeed as bright as a LED floodlight right in your face. The cymbals in Games People Play is when I first really noticed it... and felt some discomfort. And also at other moments in the album.

The surround mix irself is nice though, great envelopping sound, with a good amount of compression on individual tracks to be forward without being too shouty. Still a bit too much limiting on the Front channels, it's not 2008 amymore Alan!

The LFE is indeed a bit low on my system.

I guess I would enjoy this more with some EQ to tame the brightness. An 8 for me, not revolutionary but fun to listen to.

 

[quicksrt]

Ouch! to my 38 years-old audio engineer's ears this mix is indeed as bright as a LED floodlight right in your face. The cymbals in Games People Play is when I first really noticed it... and felt some discomfort. And also at other moments in the album.

The surround mix irself is nice though, great envelopping sound, with a good amount of compression on individual tracks to be forward without being too shouty. Still a bit too much limiting on the Front channels, it's not 2008 amymore Alan!

The LFE is indeed a bit low on my system.

I guess I would enjoy this more with some EQ to tame the brightness. An 8 for me, not revolutionary but fun to listen to.

It's not only that it's bright up there, it's the sound is cold up there as well, kind of digital sounding imo, and noticed on cymbals. I felt like it is EQ's for aging ears like they think the audience for this album needs that boost. And why would I think it sounds more digital then it should? I need to go back and listen to the HDAD and see if that metallic quality is there even on that disc, and it is just more apparent to me here.

 

[beerking]

Alan has been a regular to please my ears.
His approach to surround music is not as dynamic as perhaps we would like.
Having said that, I find this release a very pleasant listen.
Great that they've seen sense to release it in a Standalone format.
It's a friendly 9 from me.

 

[mikusguitarius]

Great immersive mix but I agree the top end is a little harsh here and there.

 

[gene]

Just got my copy today. So far so good.
Very decent 5.1 mix as wall.

 

[quicksrt]

I just checked the other night, the new issue compared with the original mix as on HDAC from Classic. It has the metallic sounding high end mastered nearly 100% out of it. It's there deep in the sound, but the thicker bass and a tad roll off keeps it well hidden. Bernie G. knew what he was doing there. The new mix opened up the sound much more and reveals some slight shortcomings on the top end. I say slight because it is a pretty damn good recording over all. I am not bugged so much by the brighter sound as I am the sound itself up there in that area. APP were always (from iRobot on) trying to make audiophile records, and that meant brighter, splashier, and more thereness, and that will always come at a cost unless you are Pink Floyd who somehow could pull off all of these things and yet remain smooth as silk and rich & deep never going bright.

 

[Sal1950]

From Cherry Red
"Hi Sal,
Thank you for your e-mail. We are very sorry you did not receive a dispatch notification.
Your order shipped on May 23rd."

And it's still not here.
I wish they would just offer a download until the discs arrive.
The music is 99% of what I want anyway.
GRRRR

 

[Imbobman]

From Cherry Red
"Hi Sal,
Thank you for your e-mail. We are very sorry you did not receive a dispatch notification.
Your order shipped on May 23rd."

And it's still not here.
I wish they would just offer a download until the discs arrive.
The music is 99% of what I want anyway.
GRRRR

I purchased from them also & got no shipping notice. But it did arrive, safe & sound, this past week.
Hope yours arrives soon!

 

[barfle]

I put in my order from SDE yesterday, along with Ten Years After.

ticktickticktick…

 

[srbjab]

After listening multiple times and comparing with my old DAD, I'm voting a 9. After volume matching, the hi-res stereo on blu-ray sounds virtually identical to the old DAD, with the 24/192 just edging out the blu-ray in fine detail and lower noise floor. The 5.1 mix is just a touch brighter than I like when first starting to listen, but I quickly adjust and don't notice it as the album goes on. However, to me the surround mix is just stellar, exhibiting tons of detail and frequent directionality within a fully immersive soundfield that makes great and pretty much constant use of the surrounds. It's definitely going to be my preferred way to listen to this album going forward. The extra video content is nothing too special but worth seeing once or twice. However, getting the album in hi-res stereo, 5.1, and with a comprehensive booklet at this price is pure value we don't see enough of in this era of bloated and way overpriced box sets. Kudos to Alan Parsons for supporting ALL his fans with these standalone blu-ray releases.

 

[quicksrt]

I also don't have any problem with the instrument placement(s) in the 5.1. Lots of rhythm guitar separated in the rear channels. Lots of separation all over the place. I don't need any movements of things bouncing form speaker to speaker, I'm fine with placement remaining static so long as they are set up to well represent the musical program. I think that they are here. I'm leaning on a 9, docked a point for a metallic edgy top end on several or many tracks. But maybe I won't dock it a point as I'd rather have a tad bright than a tad dull. So I don't kow yet. I'll listen again to the whole thing.

 

[Sal1950]

wOOt.
Finally got my stand-alone BD today!
Seems like I've been waiting on this one
since before Christ lost his sandals. LOL

 

[4-earredwonder]

IMO, another home run from Alan. Just the very fact a stand alone BD~A 5.1 was released is a real coup. On my system the album sounds sensational! Hopefully paves the way for I, Robot which I've been awaiting for YEARS to replace my audiophile Classic Records HDAD 192/24 STEREO DVD~A!

 

[Sal1950]

IMO, another home run from Alan. Just the very fact a stand alone BD~A 5.1 was released is a real coup. On my system the album sounds sensational! Hopefully paves the way for I, Robot which I've been awaiting for YEARS to replace my audiophile Classic Records HDAD 192/24 STEREO DVD~A!

+1 Some Atmos mixes would be nice.

 

[Albert Dagger]

After listening multiple times and comparing with my old DAD, I'm voting a 9. After volume matching, the hi-res stereo on blu-ray sounds virtually identical to the old DAD, with the 24/192 just edging out the blu-ray in fine detail and lower noise floor. The 5.1 mix is just a touch brighter than I like when first starting to listen, but I quickly adjust and don't notice it as the album goes on. However, to me the surround mix is just stellar, exhibiting tons of detail and frequent directionality within a fully immersive soundfield that makes great and pretty much constant use of the surrounds. It's definitely going to be my preferred way to listen to this album going forward. The extra video content is nothing too special but worth seeing once or twice. However, getting the album in hi-res stereo, 5.1, and with a comprehensive booklet at this price is pure value we don't see enough of in this era of bloated and way overpriced box sets. Kudos to Alan Parsons for supporting ALL his fans with these standalone blu-ray releases.

I assume you are referring to the 24/192 HDAD release. Apologies if not.

The 2023 hi-res remaster sounds significantly different from the HDAD disc. I don't want to discuss our personal tastes in mastering, but simply comparing the EQ of these two remasters shows some radical differences. For example, in Games People Play, the 2023 hi-res remaster has a 3dB boost between 500Hz and 3kHz, and about 1dB above that frequency. It's also about -2/3dB at 80/100Hz. These differences are audible and result in a quite different presentation, definitely mid-centric, brighter, less punchy, with less bass overall.

Most tracks in the HDAD disc also have speed issues. Assuming the 2023 hi-res remaster runs at the correct speed (it's very close to all other releases), the HDAD runs slower on many tracks, and this is also quite audible.

All I am trying to do is to provide some objective measurements that these two releases do not sound virtually identical. They are quite different, and it's probably best to hear them both before picking up your favourite mastering. I'm not a fan of this new remaster. Dynamics are intact and the waveforms look very good, but I am disappointed by how it sounds. Given the quality of the hi-res remaster of Eye in the Sky, my expectations were higher. I'll stick with the DSD download mastering.