Close TO The Edge in Atmos

QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Back on topic...I assume that SW's Atmos mix of CTTE has been prepared for the next SDE set, fingers crossed. No reason why CTTE should not follow the format of TYE and Fragile. I really like these sets and their footprint/packaging. TFTO should be interesting however (from a packaging perspective). I guess it will just be a thicker cover!
 
And that BSS Rhino/Warner release was what heralded in the DVD-Audio format. The reason why I purchased my first DVD-Audio player in 2000. I would go into an audio/video store and ask them if they had any DVD-AUDIO players and those knowledgeable fellows had NO clue what I was talking about...
The same thing also applied to SACD players. I'd ask about them, and from the look on their faces, I could hear the crickets.
 
The same thing also applied to SACD players. I'd ask about them, and from the look on their faces, I could hear the crickets.
Hell, I get the same look in used record shops when I ask for quads. I’m shopping for a new turntable to play CD-4s, and even though the place has been in business for 40 years, nobody there knows quad, even though they have some gorgeous turntable setups.
 
Hell, I get the same look in used record shops when I ask for quads. I’m shopping for a new turntable to play CD-4s, and even though the place has been in business for 40 years, nobody there knows quad, even though they have some gorgeous turntable setups.
That's because it's niche in a niche format on physical media that is also, now, niche. Until joining this forum a few years ago I didn't know about surround vinyl either, and I've been actively listening to surround since dvda (~25 years).

I don't know that forum members truly appreciate what unicorns we are as consumers to the music industry and audio format landscape. Even with the recent interest in surround downloads and streaming, the number of people actively engaged is still tiny compared to those who stream Spotify/Amazon/Apple/Youtube music. I have a coworker with a decent Atmos setup that didn't even know music only material existed until I told them about it.
 
That's because it's niche in a niche format on physical media that is also, now, niche. Until joining this forum a few years ago I didn't know about surround vinyl either, and I've been actively listening to surround since dvda (~25 years).

I don't know that forum members truly appreciate what unicorns we are as consumers to the music industry and audio format landscape. Even with the recent interest in surround downloads and streaming, the number of people actively engaged is still tiny compared to those who stream Spotify/Amazon/Apple/Youtube music. I have a coworker with a decent Atmos setup that didn't even know music only material existed until I told them about it.
Of course, quad records have always been a niche format, in spite of some of the labels’ attempts to make them mainstream. But I’m regularly surprised by thise folks you would expect to be knowledgeable who are not.

The B&M store I’m dealing with for my new atmos gear sure wasn’t interested when I told them about Involve Audio. So I’ll get what I can from them and get the rest where I can. Sadly, it’s the same way with everything from grocery stores to houses.
 
There are 2 5.1 of Brain SS one is Jakko and I think the other is a Razor and Tie release and I can’t remember if the artwork tells you who mixed it. If I remember right the Jakko version is the one that sucks
The best 5.1 mix of BSS is on the 2000 DVDA from Rhino. It also has a bonus track of Lucky Man in 5.1. It's been a while since I listened to it, but I thought the later Jakko mix was generally pretty good up until the last track. The mix of Karn Evil 9 3rd Impression is unaccountably missing the voice of the computer during the climactic confrontation - you can only hear a very faint echo of it in the other channels - which pretty much destroys the point of the track. That glaring error doesn't reflect well on Jakko and/or whoever was doing QC for that release.

The entire ELP catalog needs to be revisited in Atmos, but only if a good mixing engineer is given a free hand to make their own decisions. Apparently there are a lot of alternate track/takes to choose from.
 
The best 5.1 mix of BSS is on the 2000 DVDA from Rhino. It also has a bonus track of Lucky Man in 5.1.

This BSS dvda is still a good test piece/calibration disc, despite it being so early in surround format's history. It was the disc that got me into surround as well. Might even say it's one of surround's GOATs.
 
Back
Top