HiRez Poll Beck - SEA CHANGE [DVD-A/SACD/BluRay Audio]

[Titch]

Just got a copy of Beck - Sea Change and listened to it for the first few times.
It's my first Beck recording and I thank QQ for turning my on to him. I voted a 9 but
could just as easily been a 10 I guest. The 5.1 mix and sound quality are about as
good as it gets, just a bit undecided on his music.
Can anyone recommend some more good albums by him like this, preferably multich?
TIA

Oh you definitely should check out his last album: Hyperspace. Sadly, no multichannel edition of that, but what a dreamy, blissful, swooping album!

 

[Genious]

Just got a copy of Beck - Sea Change and listened to it for the first few times.
It's my first Beck recording and I thank QQ for turning my on to him. I voted a 9 but
could just as easily been a 10 I guest. The 5.1 mix and sound quality are about as
good as it gets, just a bit undecided on his music.
Can anyone recommend some more good albums by him like this, preferably multich?
TIA

If you can find Guero in surround, it's a very enjoyable album. I've loved all of Beck's albums but the more upbeat ones with lots of sampling and odd instruments and noises are my favorite. It saddens me that his entire discography isn't in surround - the music is perfect for it.

 

[ted_b]

Yes, I have been a HUGE Beck fan for many years, and seen him on at least 5 occasions. Even met him (accidentally) when he and the band were going in to rehearse before a gig was eventually postponed due to illness (Las Vegas a few years ago) and I was standing at the box office window when they walked by.

Anyway, ever since he went pop with Colors I can't get into him lately. I've listened to Colors and Hyperspace like twice each, period. Argh! I've heard the rest of his discography in the hundreds of times.

 

[Lensflair]

I don't know much about Beck. I checked out a copy of "Morning Phase" from the library, after it won a Grammy. I found it enjoyable, but not that memorable. However, I came across a cheap used copy of "Sea Change" at the music store. After seeing that the surround mix was by Elliot Scheiner, and a quick check on this surround poll that it rated quite highly, I bought it. I was glad I did. Again, I had no preconceived notions, and didn't know what to expect. I found the surround mix to be excellent. Even though the arrangements are relatively sparse, there is a lot of action going on in the surround mix. The music was enjoyable. I had no problem that it wasn't an upbeat release. It creates a certain mood, and I was drawn into it. I must admit though, that I don't think I would like it nearly as much in just stereo. The surround mix is what made it exciting. I gave it a 9.

 

[himey]

I don't know much about Beck. I checked out a copy of "Morning Phase" from the library, after it won a Grammy. I found it enjoyable, but not that memorable. However, I came across a cheap used copy of "Sea Change" at the music store. After seeing that the surround mix was by Elliot Scheiner, and a quick check on this surround poll that it rated quite highly, I bought it. I was glad I did. Again, I had no preconceived notions, and didn't know what to expect. I found the surround mix to be excellent. Even though the arrangements are relatively sparse, there is a lot of action going on in the surround mix. The music was enjoyable. I had no problem that it wasn't an upbeat release. It creates a certain mood, and I was drawn into it. I must admit though, that I don't think I would like it nearly as much in just stereo. The surround mix is what made it exciting. I gave it a 9.

For stereo Beck, check out Odelay and Midnite Vultures. MV upmixes very nicely too using SpecWeb.

 

[stoopid]

Sea Change in surround (Bluray) was love at first listen. The few times I've had the chance recently to expose someone to surround music for the first time this was one of a the first discs sampled.

 

[Lensflair]

Sea Change in surround (Bluray) was love at first listen. The few times I've had the chance recently to expose someone to surround music for the first time this was one of a the first discs sampled.

I'm going to listen to it again to find the best song. I am still relatively new to surround music. I haven't shown off my system to anyone (except family) yet. I have been looking for a "universal" song or songs to show it off. Most of my collection is prog, which is an acquired taste. Other than a few Elton John songs, this might be perfect to play for people. You are right. It sounds great.

 

[ted_b]

Sea Change in surround (Bluray) was love at first listen. The few times I've had the chance recently to expose someone to surround music for the first time this was one of a the first discs sampled.

First ballot surround Hall Of Fame! A top five surround desert island disc.

 

[Tres Discrete]

I'm going to listen to it again to find the best song. I am still relatively new to surround music. I haven't shown off my system to anyone (except family) yet. I have been looking for a "universal" song or songs to show it off. Most of my collection is prog, which is an acquired taste. Other than a few Elton John songs, this might be perfect to play for people. You are right. It sounds great.

I knew nothing of Beck other than the song “Loser”, which is great if a bit novelty.
Took a chance on Sea Change due to all the glowing surround reviews, and was glad I did. Fantastic from start to finish in my opinion…
Particularly got stuck on “Guess I’m Doing Fine”…but you may find a different fave…enjoy

 

[Mcallister]

Brought this up earlier in the thread A few years ago at this point probably. Do yourselves a favor and listen to Mutations if you haven’t. Amazing album.

I love Sea Change and Morning Phase also and Mutations tends slightly more towards these with maybe a bit more psychedelic approach.

 

[Muppet69]

I absolutely love this album. 9:30pm Saturday night feeling chilled out with some good food and drinks inside me. Lights low and volume high. This is a sublime album from start to finish and so bloody well mixed for surround too, perfect chill out disc for me. It just wraps you up and sounds amazing.
Bought it on eBay several years ago for $80 so it’s my most expensive purchase for an SACD but worth every penny! If morning phase and Mutations were available in surround they’d be the perfect trilogy.
If you don’t have this already you really need it. SDE in Atmos er hello!!!

 

[Mcallister]

I always preferred DVD-A discs to the SACD counterparts when both were available. Have had Sea Change DVD-A for years and it’s one of my favorite discs still to this day.

I recently listening the NIN Downward Spiral DVD-A and although good, seemed more compressed then I remembered and had to ride the volume a lot, on the DS anniversary only a week or two later I decided to grab the SACD and was amazed at how much better the SACD sounded then the DVD-A.

Been wanting to buy the Sea change Blu-Ray for years but never did only because I had the DVD-A and missed the chance on release. Anyway after my NIN epiphany I said hell with it and bought Sea Change Blu Ray (still have never heard the SACD) off Discogs. And I can say, although good, the DVD-A is better to me. Better, more defined bass and midrange, the Blu-Ray may have slightly better fidelity right at the vocal range but I could be wrong.

Alright I’ve talked myself into it, putting in the DVD-A after this ha

 

[Mcallister]

Might I add the DTS-HD sounds like garbage compared to the PCM on the Blu Ray, more then I’ve ever noticed on another disc with options.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Might I add the DTS-HD sounds like garbage compared to the PCM on the Blu Ray, more then I’ve ever noticed on another disc with options.

I'm so glad you mentioned this as when I had an HDMI capable AVR I thought I was starting to go deaf. However, when I set my OPPO (BDP-103 at the time) to transcode the DTS-HD MA audio to PCM and compared that with the native PCM audio stream it became very clear how distorted the encoded DTS-HD MA audio stream actually is!

This issue prompted me to go back to all the multi-channel Blu-ray-Audio discs I had at the time and save each one of their native streams separately (I never save the video streams)...

EDIT: I don't play this album very often as I find it a bit depressing!

 

[Dynamic Editor]

Been wanting to buy the Sea change Blu-Ray for years but never did only because I had the DVD-A and missed the chance on release. Anyway after my NIN epiphany I said hell with it and bought Sea Change Blu Ray (still have never heard the SACD) off Discogs. And I can say, although good, the DVD-A is better to me. Better, more defined bass and midrange, the Blu-Ray may have slightly better fidelity right at the vocal range but I could be wrong.

Alright I’ve talked myself into it, putting in the DVD-A after this ha

Apparently the blu ray has its back channels inverted compared to the front channels, which affects the mix.

 

[Mcallister]

I'm so glad you mentioned this as when I had an HDMI capable AVR I thought I was starting to go deaf. However, when I set my OPPO (BDP-103 at the time) to transcode the DTS-HD MA audio to PCM and compared that with the native PCM audio stream it became very clear how distorted the encoded DTS-HD MA audio stream actually is!

This issue prompted me to go back to all the multi-channel Blu-ray-Audio discs I had at the time and save each one of their native streams separately (I never save the video streams)...

EDIT: I don't play this album very often as I find it a bit depressing!

It’s very depressing. It helped me go through a tough time after a breakup around its release, and I like depressing music anyway ha

 

[Mcallister]

Apparently the blu ray has its back channels inverted compared to the front channels, which affects the mix.

Is it just the Blu Ray or all the discs?

 

[Dynamic Editor]

Is it just the Blu Ray or all the discs?

I know for a fact that it's not the case on the DVD.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Apparently the blu ray has its back channels inverted compared to the front channels, which affects the mix.

Is it just the Blu Ray or all the discs?

I know for a fact that it's not the case on the DVD.

I guess the next question should be... Is the inverted issue on the DTS-HD MA encode and/or the PCM encode?