HiRez Poll Anathema - WEATHER SYSTEMS [FLAC Download]

[JonUrban]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this, the first pop/rock, non-classical/jazz HiRez 24/48 5.1 Multichannel download: Anathema's latest titled "Weather Systems".

Originally announced as a CD/DVD-A release, this title was instead released as a CD/DVD-V Dolby Digital 5.1 Disc. In response to customer disappointment that the announced 5.1 DVD-A release was changed in production to a DVD-V Dolby Digital disc, Burning Shed has created an uncompressed 24bit/48khz FLAC file of the 5.1 audio which is available for download.

The link to purchase the 5.1 download directly from Burning Shed for £10.00 GB is as follows:

https://www.burningshed.com/store/24/product/436/3813/

Please comment and vote on the 5.1 FLAC Download only, and not the sound quality of the Dolby Digital disc. You can of course comment on the comparison of the HiRez vs the Dolby Digital.

There is a discussion thread on this title that started prior to the release of these files in the forum at the following link:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?15668

 

[LizardKing]

I think it's great that Burning Shed have offered this as a FLAC download - after the debacle of the DVD-V release.

I recommend it - not surprisingly it sounds waay better than the Dullby on the DVD-V.

The mix is good, but not to Steven Wilson quality. I put on Storm Corrosion after listening to this and the sound quality and mix were better.

 

[Robert van Diggele]

Thanks to Lisa and Burnng Shed for making this possible. As said by LK, this is much better than the Dolby affair.

The mix seems a bit unbalanced in places, for example the strings in Untouchable pt 1 are very prominent in the rears, so is the mix in a few songs different from the stereo placing. But these are minor things, love the music and mix, a 9 for me.

 

[SMS]

I will copy my comments from another thread here:

The sound is sooooo much better than the DD DVD. You can hear the difference within seconds. The DD encoded disk is simply a waste of plastic. I never did listen to more than 10 minutes of it because it sounded so bad. The flac sounds great!

I've listened through the album once. It sounds crisp and clear now. But, the mix is not perfect. The surrounds for the most part aren't very discrete, although they are certainly active. They are mostly used to widen the soundstage, with discrete elements on occasion. But, what was the most odd is that the 5.1 mix is not very true to the stereo mix. Some songs sound quite different. Some vocal layers are totally missing from the 5.1 mix, or at least very quiet. At other times i found the opposite, I hear sounds in the 5.1 mix that don't appear in the stereo mix.

Here is the most obvious example: Listen to the first 2.5 minutes of "The Storm Before the Calm". At about 1:10 you hear the chorus "It's getting colder...". In the stereo mix, this is dominated by Lee Douglas' female vocals, with some processed vocals (likely Vincent) layered underneath. While, on the 5.1 flac, there is a rather unprocessed male vocal singing the chorus. I can't hear Lee's female vocals being used at all. It sounds totally different, like a totally different vocal track. Very odd. I don't remember any 5.1 mix being so different from the stereo mix. It is not bad... just VERY different.

I just checked the DVD, and it is indeed the same mix as the flac.

As others have noted, the LFE track is a bit too strong, which is a little distracting. Not a big deal. I am used to adjusting the subwoofer.

Despite the above "complaints" I think it sounds quite good. I really love the music, and the 5.1 mix is decent, despite being unfaithful to the stereo mix.

I still find the very different 5.1 mix as compared to the stereo mix a little distracting. The stereo mix sounds "right" to me, although perhaps that is because I listened to it many times before the 5.1. I expect I will get used to it.

The music is excellent (5/5) and the mix is about 3.5/5. I am going to round up because I am ecstatic that KScope and Burning Shed released this hi-res download after the DD debacle, and I think they should be rewarded for listening to us. So, that's a 9/10.

If you haven't purchased this yet, please do so. You won't be disappointed with the fidelity, and the music is wonderful. The mix is not SW quality, but it is better than the Rush releases (for example).

 

[LizardKing]

If you haven't purchased this yet, please do so. You won't be disappointed with the fidelity, and the music is wonderful. The mix is not SW quality, but it is better than the Rush releases (for example).

Yes - please support this and purchase it.... if it's successful - who knows we might get some more 5.1 downloads...

 

[rusinurbe]

Yes - please support this and purchase it.... if it's successful - who knows we might get some more 5.1 downloads...

I dont want 5.1 downloads though i want 5.1 discs.

 

[LizardKing]

I dont want 5.1 downloads though i want 5.1 discs.

So do I..... I like something tangible... I have the Digibook CD/DVD Dullby to look at.

You can of course burn a DVD-A blu-ray or whatever of course.

 

[SMS]

I dont want 5.1 downloads though i want 5.1 discs.

I understand what you are saying. I'd rather have 5.1 disks too. But, I'd rather have the download than nothing at all.

We all know record companies are very reluctant to release 5.1 surround music. There is very little up-front cost to release downloadable 5.1 music, however. The number crunchers at the record companies may see releasing a 5.1 download as financially viable, where the a "physical" 5.1 release may NOT be. This may be a way for us to get access to 5.1 releases that we may not otherwise get. It is not my preference, but I certainly welcome it.

Sorry for going off-topic.....

 

[DKA]

I understand what you are saying. I'd rather have 5.1 disks too. But, I'd rather have the download than nothing at all.

We all know record companies are very reluctant to release 5.1 surround music. There is very little up-front cost to release downloadable 5.1 music, however. The number crunchers at the record companies may see releasing a 5.1 download as financially viable, where the a "physical" 5.1 release may NOT be. This may be a way for us to get access to 5.1 releases that we may not otherwise get. It is not my preference, but I certainly welcome it.

Sorry for going off-topic.....

This leads us to the same problem, though: We're asking the record companies to do with surround what they will barely do with stereo. You want hi-rez 5.1 in downloadable format, but how much hi-rez downloadable STEREO really is there? HDTracks, and what artists sometime make available, are an absolute drop in the bucket.

I'll say this again: Want surround to succeed? Then support stereo as much as possible. Smaller projects will not be brought to fruition by this industry unless there's the extra money to invest in them.

 

[SMS]

This leads us to the same problem, though: We're asking the record companies to do with surround what they will barely do with stereo. You want hi-rez 5.1 in downloadable format, but how much hi-rez downloadable STEREO really is there? HDTracks, and what artists sometime make available, are an absolute drop in the bucket.

I'll say this again: Want surround to succeed? Then support stereo as much as possible. Smaller projects will not be brought to fruition by this industry unless there's the extra money to invest in them.

I agree with that you are saying. I didn't bring this up since we are on a Quad forum, but supporting hi-res stereo downloads will certainly help make downloadable hi-res surround a reality.

 

[fredblue]

whichever way you look at it, this is an amazing gesture to make good by the record label.
I also see this as the future of 5.1 music.

I for one will be buying this FLAC download and if Burning Shed release more 5.1 this way, I will buy it too.

If Sony (or Razor & Tie, or whoever!?) decide to release the upcoming ELP 5.1 Steven Wilson mixes as FLAC files just like this, I'd buy them too -- and may even go so far as to say prefer them to having more Lossy DVDs cluttering up my already groaning shelves..!!

 

[patrick1]

Hello, Thanks to timbre4, I'm able to hear this. It sounds so much better than the DD disc. Still can't play that middle-ish song; not as much bass on the FLAC, but still too much to bear listening to. A million thanks yous to t4 and Lisa at BS. Thanks.

 

[0tto]

7. nice to have it in surround but could be done more interesting.
i found mix to be somewhat messed up, without too many accents in surround field.
mastering of the sound isn't great either. in sound's fidelity haven't got much above sound's of CD.

 

[neil wilkes]

This leads us to the same problem, though: We're asking the record companies to do with surround what they will barely do with stereo. You want hi-rez 5.1 in downloadable format, but how much hi-rez downloadable STEREO really is there? HDTracks, and what artists sometime make available, are an absolute drop in the bucket.

I'll say this again: Want surround to succeed? Then support stereo as much as possible. Smaller projects will not be brought to fruition by this industry unless there's the extra money to invest in them.

This is a very good point, when you get right down to thinking about it.

 

[timbre4]

DVD-A (homemade) is 9 and DTS DVD is 7 hence the 8.

 

[keenly]

I just found out this band existed. Where to start? What 5.1 titles do they have, including DVDs/Blu rays?

 

[Robert van Diggele]

Hi Keenly, great that you discovered Anathema, great band, especially live!

Apart from Weather Systems (get the flac download, the dvdv is awful soundwise) Anathema have an album called We're Here Because We're Here out on cd/dvd-a, mixed by Steven Wilson.

Their new album, Distant Sattelites, will come out as dvdv soon, with a 5.1 mixed by Jens Borg.

There is also a live album, called Universal, out on dvd and bd. Stereo only but very good sound quality. Where You There? is also a live dvd, but I do not own that one, so cannot comment on sound and mix.

The rest of their studio work has not been released in 5.1.

 

[keenly]

Hi Keenly, great that you discovered Anathema, great band, especially live!

Apart from Weather Systems (get the flac download, the dvdv is awful soundwise) Anathema have an album called We're Here Because We're Here out on cd/dvd-a, mixed by Steven Wilson.

Their new album, Distant Sattelites, will come out as dvdv soon, with a 5.1 mixed by Jens Borg.

There is also a live album, called Universal, out on dvd and bd. Stereo only but very good sound quality. Where You There? is also a live dvd, but I do not own that one, so cannot comment on sound and mix.

The rest of their studio work has not been released in 5.1.

Hi, thanks. Not a big fans of Jens but will check that out. Shame the Blu Ray is not mixed in 5.1 by SW.

 

[timbre4]

The Blu Ray despite mere stereo (5CH stereo helps), is very strong and provides two totally different types of shows on the same package. I watched the "smaller" show first and find the redeem themselves in both settings.


Tapatalk

 

[edisonbaggins]

Can someone help me figure out how to burn the Anathema Weather System FLAC to disc?
I hope I don't have to listen to it only on my computer...