DVD/DTS Poll Bowie, David - Young Americans [DTS/DD DVD]

[fredblue]

I wouldn't be surprised at all if Bowie's back catalogue is now exploited even more since his untimely death, including the release of any and all unreleased 5.1 mixes that have been lingering in the vaults over the years. I just hope none of us depart this earth as well before we have a chance to hear them!

Indeed.. knowing my luck if they ever get around to releasing some of this stuff (its been a long wait for Low..) I'll get run over by a bus or something! Doomed never to hear any of it!

 

[rtbluray]

Indeed.. knowing my luck if they ever get around to releasing some of this stuff (its been a long wait for Low..) I'll get run over by a bus or something! Doomed never to hear any of it!

I'm sure you have said the same thing about other albums, and look what's happened over the last five years, so you know what I always say, "Hope Springs Eternal!"

 

[fredblue]

I'm sure you have said the same thing about other albums, and look what's happened over the last five years, so you know what I always say, "Hope Springs Eternal!"

Haha.. True.. :upthumb

..it was "a little bit funny" when someone was commenting about my QQ posting frequency recently I almost responded "yeah but 4,000 posts are moaning on about the elton bloody john's not getting released!".. but I demurred.. anyway back to Bowie.. fingers crossed for 5.1's of his Berlin trilogy this year..

 

[himey]

Finally been able to listen to Bowie and not feel sad...This mix is great and it has excellent sound quality. Wish it was lossless but it still sounds great. 9.5 for me. I would give it a perfect score if it was lossless on bluray or SACD/DVDA. Rounding up to a 10 on the poll. Love all the stuff going on in the rears and everywhere else...

 

[sjcorne]

I just pulled the trigger on this for $25! Very excited to listen and vote.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I just pulled the trigger on this for $25! Very excited to listen and vote.

Jonathan, this is such a great album and the surround mix is likewise excellent and in re~reading Adam's [fredblue] post #51 dtd: January 28, 2016 ...... makes me long for the day Bowie's superb Berlin Trilogy is released in 5.1!

I'm just hoping that window of opportunity hasn't come .... and gone as there's been NO movement in the Bowie camp regarding surround mixes in ages.

 

[MrSmithers]

Surprised I’d forgot to vote on this but just gave it another spin. It’s Fantastic! 10! Absolute belter of a mix! I love John Lennon coming in the rear right at the end of ‘Across The Universe’. It sounds like he’s just burst into the studio! The whole thing is great from start to finish. Sonics are good even though it’s lossy...

Here’s the rather eye opening Dick Cavett interview - he certainly had his Weetabix that day!



EDIT - Think I had voted - on the other (probably correct) thread. I just upgraded 9 >10 because whatever version I have - it sounds great!
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...owie-david-young-americans-dts-dd-dvd-v.8075/

 

[ssully]

Shame about that missing 'fame' though.

 

[skherbeck]

Shame about that missing 'fame' though.

What do you mean?... Oh nevermind... it's in the thread.

 

[filper]

If you FLAC the dts tracks you get convenient 96 kHz/24 bit 7.2 Mbps files for simple playback. Sounds dandy.

 

[key_wiz]

A “9” from me. One of my favorite Bowie albums. Great mix. I like the “subtle center” mix. Fidelity is pretty damn good, although I guess this was never an audiophile recording to begin with. And it has 5.1 bonus tracks! 1 point off for not giving us a DVD-A and for the missing “fame!”

Almost makes up for the unlistenable (to my ears and taste) “Ziggy Stardust”.

 

[steelydave]

This might be my favourite "lossy" surround disc in my entire collection, and I didn't pick it up until just a few years ago because, like keywhiz, I didn't like the 5.1 mix of Ziggy Stardust at all. In fact, I wouldn't count myself as a massive Bowie fan at all but thanks to the surround mix, I love this album from one end to the other, including the three bonus tracks which are anything but throwaways.

There are some mixers that just "get" surround, and based on this 5.1 mix, Tony Visconti doesn't just fit in to that category, for me he's near the top - in terms of discreet rear usage, this mix even gives a lot of the old quad mixes a run for their money. This album doesn't just make me want to hear what he'd do with some of the other Bowie albums I don't know very well, it also makes me desperate to see him revisit some of the other albums he worked on, particularly the trilogy of Thin Lizzy albums (Bad Reputation, Live and Dangerous and Black Rose: A Rock Legend) he did in the late 70s.

I've always considered Young Americans to be the grown-up older brother to The Brecker Brothers' Back to Back album (which was recorded the following year) by virtue of the shared participation of David Sanborn and Luther Vandross on both albums, much like I find Talking Heads' Remain in Light occupies a similar position in my mind relative to King Crimson's Discipline thanks to Adrian Belew's shared musical DNA in both projects.

 

[key_wiz]

BTW—. Why is this poll in the “DVD video” section rather than the “(non DVD-audio) DVD-based surround discs” section?

I’m confused. But that happens rather easily.

 

[Frogmort]

Best sounding Bowie in surround by a long shot to me! 9 because it's not the original lossless. But it's awfully damned good.

 

[salsdali]

Such a strange disc. Listening to the DTS mix on the DVD-V

Music content = 9.(1-9)

Mix = 7-8.(1-9) (So Stereo heavy but the times Tony releases to the other channels its
great (awesome) but he's just so timid about going there MOST of the time.

Very good but coulda been Great (which is what bugs me when I listen to it)

EDIT: I just adjusted the channel volumes, in a Big way.

I boosted every channel a lot (like 30-35%or so) and downmixed the Fronts, and WOW, sounds like it should have the whole time Tony. WTF? (I'm also smoking Gelato, but that's a different topic lol)

The Fidelity is increased because of the leveling (a Mastering or Mixing trick?)

Is that a faux pau of the Mix or the Mastering for those that know (because I'm ignorant of the difference)?

IOW where do the channel levels get inputted (Baked In) as part of the disc, in the Mix, in the Mastering, or (a combination of) both?

IOW, does the Mixer submit his/hers Channel Levels, and then the Master (Accepts, or Decides to mix those levels into) his/her the final output?

Is that part of the job of the Master or is it just left to his discretion?

 

[sjcorne]

Seems we have two poll threads for this title - perhaps they should be merged?
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/david-bowie-young-americans.7823/page-2

 

[artwwweb]

Mix: 5/5: Maybe not totally spectacular but it's got lots of discrete stuff in the rears (gtrs, strings, bvox) with all the sensible stuff (vox, bass, drums) staying up front. And some nice pans. So you cannot really ask for anything more. The multiple gtr parts sound fantastic separated out on Fame, esp. the really dirty lead part (maybe played by Lennon?)

Sound: 4/5:

Music: 5/5: Not his best, but Bowie's very good is anybody else's excellent. And it has extra tracks in surround including the sublime John I'm Only Dancing Again.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this can still be had relatively cheaply (< £20) - I reckon a lot of non-surroundophile Bowie fans bought it for the video or even just out of loyalty and are now happy to offload it, not realising what they are missing. Please can we have all the other Bowie 70s albums with brilliant Visconti mixes for £15 each?

Score: 5*3+4*2+5*1 = 15+8+5 = 28/30 =9.33/10 = 9/10.

 

[ssully]

The missing 'fame' at the end of 'Fame' suggests it was a vocal fly-in recorded into the 2-channel mixdown. So there's no separate element for it to use in a remix.

Or else its absence is just a mistake.

Either way how hard could it have been to isolate it from the stereo mix and drop it into the 5.1?

 

[Frogmort]

4 year bump, but this is still the best sounding surround Bowie, right? I never listened to this album all the way through until I got the surround version. Now I listen beginning to end and consider this one of Bowie's best. Any other great sounding surround Bowie?

Edit: Yes, please do merge both threads.

 

[himey]

Any other great sounding surround Bowie?

Space Oddity and a few others in 360.