Deep Purple "Machine Head 50 (Deluxe)" 3CD+LP+BD-A w/ Atmos, US quad and 5.1 bonus (3/29/2024 -Universal)

[Tres Discrete]

I wrote about the new Machine Head Atmos mix in an article yesterday. I love the mix. It got me to listen to this music, purchase the box, and want more Deep Purple.


https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/bits-and-bytes/system-install-prep-and-deep-purple-pep-r1264/

Spot on!

 

[Blackwood]

Listened to the Warner 5.1, UK quad, US quad, and Atmos one after the other this morning.

Might need a walk. And a bit of Windham Hill to cleanse the aural palette.

 

[JediJoker]

...a bit of Windham Hill to cleanse the aural palette...

*Palate, you mean? Unless you've been painting in/with your ears...

My go-to Windham Hill palate cleanser would be Chiaroscuro by Mike Marshall and Darol Anger:

 

[m-g-dixon]

I think if Dweezil could have mixed Homer into the heights in his mix, we’d be much more unified as a forum in it being one of the best Atmos mixes ever created.

Someone with better Photoshop skills than me should replace Gillan on the album cover with Homer.

I agree just finished listening to Atmos Mix, incredible more than i expected very open and spacious sounds extrapolated from mix sound excellent. Pick your choice Quad Reel, SACD, DVD AUDIO they all have a different sounds

 

[Blackwood]

*Palate, you mean? Unless you've been painting in/with your ears...

The sad part is I looked it up... and still got it wrong!! Guess I shouldn’t go with the first link Google throws up.

For me and WH, Michael Hedges, Michael Manring or Montreux which featured Anger and Marshall.

Oh my gosh... see what I unintentionally did there? Managed to bring it back home to Deep Purple and Montreux.

 

[ssully]

This is where we fall into the area of opinion.

What here is not in that area?

Of course it's an opinion.

I also know much of the original mixes like the back on my hand and find the majority of
his work to be improvements in the revealing of inner detail and FR balance. If he was just to make exact copies what would be the point?

And here is where we enter the area of art.

A surround mix is already a giant departure from 'exact copy'. So I would say the art is in preserving whatever made the original something you wanted to listen to again and again.

Maybe that doesn't necessarily mean enhacing 'inner detail' or tweaking EQ. I've heard cases of both where I think his choices sound simply wrong.

From his remastered stereo to 5.1 multich and Atmos, I've found very little to be disappointing.
YMMV

Well, obviously, it does vary.

'It's just your opinion" never needs saying. Intelligent people can recognize an opinion.

 

[ssully]

I know. When I say the low end leaves a lot to be desired on the Atmos mix, (and I know others that feel the same) but otherwise superb to me, yet others say the low end is a punch in the face. I don't get it, but I'm not going to get too up about it, whatever the reasons are.

I know the sub is working, and the system has been calibrated and working fine otherwise. So I am without understanding on that point.

I often feel when things like this are mentioned that some jump on the "complainers" bandwagon, or your system is not right or such. But I'll leave it at that.

Unless people are naturally really variable in sensing bass, which seems unlikely, vastly different perpeption of bass in the same recording must be due to different rooms and setups, with their different modal issues and different bass response at the MLP Not different ears.

 

[ssully]

A basic understanding of the equal loudness curve might help some people here.

Because of how hearing works, as you decrease the level from 'reference' (whatever that was for the recording), bass falls off far more rapidly than mid and (to a lesser extent) treble. To experience the balance the maker intended, you have to replicate the level the maker heard, at their listening position.

Of course no know knows what this was. But some sort of loudness compensation EQ -- typically a bass boost and a smaller treble boost -- is advised when levels are much lower than ~80 db.

tl;dr to get the intended balance, you gotta play stuff kinda loud. (NB: the intented balance might be bad)

 

[Guy Robinson]

*Palate, you mean? Unless you've been painting in/with your ears...

My go-to Windham Hill palate cleanser would be Chiaroscuro by Mike Marshall and Darol Anger:

October Wedding or Every Deep Dream

 

[mandrix]

A basic understanding of the equal loudness curve might help some people here.

Because of how hearing works, as you decrease the level from 'reference' (whatever that was for the recording), bass falls off far more rapidly than mid and (to a lesser extent) treble. To experience the balance the maker intended, you have to replicate the level the maker heard, at their listening position.

Of course no know knows that this was. But some sort of loudness compensation EQ -- typically a bass boost and a smaller treble boost -- is advised when levels are much lower than ~80 db.

tl;dr to get the intended balance, you gotta play stuff kinda loud. (NB: the intented balance might be bad)

I loaded the Harman -10db curve into the Dirac Live calibrations and put it in a slot on the AVR, that and some volume made a world of difference on the Machine Head Atmos. I'm happy with it.

 

[beerking]

I'm sitting here drooling over my copy, which has just arrived from Amazon France.

 

[jimfisheye]

...

tl;dr to get the intended balance, you gotta play stuff kinda loud. (NB: the intented balance might be bad)

I tried explaining this to mom when she told me to turn it down but I could never get her to understand.

 

[quicksrt]

Maybe you'll get lucky and Rhino will put this out as a standard Quadio in a year or so. I think the quad is definitely something you would want to have for $25 ,,,,, $80, not so much.

I like to consider possibilities like Machine Head quad arriving as a standalone at some point not too far off. Then one has to consider that those 50th sets need to be 100% sold out and gone, and demand remaining for that US quad mix (now saturated), and I get a sinking feeling that it would be a long way off if at all.

So in order to keep the optimism going forward, I’m going to consider Machine Head a done deal, like over, and Stormbringer much more likely to happen in coming months.

 

[quicksrt]

I'm sitting here drooling over my copy, which has just arrived from Amazon France.

View attachment 104226

Is the paper stock on the big box high gloss, slick and fancy?

I called Deep Discount yesterday about when my set would ship and they said on Monday.

So I’ve really been jacked around on shipping in my effort to get the lowest price on the damn thing. But I had to get the lowest price on this because all I wanted was basically the US quad mix and that’s it.

 

[perzon57]

Got mail from the Norwegian vendor that their supplier was empty and that my order was cancelled. Checked out BS and amazon.uk, both were about $150 with shipping. Then as a last try I went to amazon.com and to my surprise they had free shipping to Norway and a total price of $100 including Norwegian VAT. That is $10 cheaper than my cancelled order.

 

[beerking]

Is the paper stock on the big box high gloss, slick and fancy?

I called Deep Discount yesterday about when my set would ship and they said on Monday.

So I’ve really been jacked around on shipping in my effort to get the lowest price on the damn thing. But I had to get the lowest price on this because all I wanted was basically the US quad mix and that’s it.

Well, whether it's slick and fancy maybe stretching it a bit far....

 

[GilWave]

I'm sitting here drooling over my copy, which has just arrived from Amazon France.

Don't drool on it, play it! ;-)

 

[Guy Robinson]

After playing all versions multiple times, I appreciate what each one has to offer in the way of detailing and sonics. However, my go to is still the 5.1 SACD. The others just don't seem to have the same impact.

 

[DuncanS]

My copy from jpc.de is still in transit somewhere! can't track it - so I suspect in customs awaiting the excessive tax gathering fee to be agreed with the courier

 

[beerking]

Don't drool on it, play it! ;-)

I've got the Atmos on Marshall volume 11 .
And I'm still drooling.
Dweezil done well in bringing this 50yr old gem up to date ...imo.