My first disc review on the updated forum!
Finally got my hands on this one. Obviously the main attraction is ES' 461, which is awesome (though not as good as the
Layla mix IMO). I've never heard the alternate 5.1 on SACD, though based on what I've read it's more of an ambient presentation which I doubt I'd enjoy as much.
It's interesting reading comments upthread (from members whose opinions I respect very much) claiming ES didn't quite hit the mark on this one. Maybe I just don't know the album well enough yet to really understand.
However, what I am finding with the ES mix is that the that the slower tracks seem to be far more effective than the faster ones...who would've thought I'd enjoy the beautiful acoustic guitar work and backing vocals in "Please Be With Me" more than the guitar frenzy of "Motherless Children".
The real surprise for me was how much better the quad transfer is than the old DTS-CD. Yes, it's not the greatest quad mix, but it has some nice moments and this is without a doubt the best way to hear it.
Here's "Motherless Children" from both the 1990s DTS-CD and the 2013 Blu-Ray. It seems the rears were mastered too low on the DTS...I'm tempted to record in my CD-4 LP and see how it looks, though the newer mastering seems a lot better balanced.
Blu-Ray:
View attachment 32386
DTS-CD:
View attachment 32387
Overall, this whole package is absolutely "10" worthy- it's great having all 3 surround mixes presented in hi-rez on a well-authored disc. I could understand complaining about the lack of stereo, but it doesn't really bug me as I honestly doubt I'd play it more than once.