HiRez Poll Doors - PERCEPTION (DVD-A Box Set)

[Guy Robinson]

So this is officially sold out?

From Doors Management:

Due to overwhelming demand, The Doors' Perception Boxed Set is a complete sellout!

We are no longer able to offer the Perception boxed set here at www.thedoors.com, as Rhino is sold out and has no more copies available. They have assured us that we will get any and all returns from retailers, if there are any - and if/when we do, we will make them available to our fans at the same price as always, but for right now, the warehouse just doesn't have anymore in stock.

In the meantime, while you are out there doing your holiday shopping, if you happen to come across one of the Perception boxed sets - make sure you grab it! And, of course, remember to keep checking back at www.thedoors.com to see what we have in store for you - Happy Holidays!

 

[JonUrban]

So this is officially sold out?

From Doors Management:

Due to overwhelming demand, The Doors' Perception Boxed Set is a complete sellout!

We are no longer able to offer the Perception boxed set here at www.thedoors.com, as Rhino is sold out and has no more copies available. They have assured us that we will get any and all returns from retailers, if there are any - and if/when we do, we will make them available to our fans at the same price as always, but for right now, the warehouse just doesn't have anymore in stock.

In the meantime, while you are out there doing your holiday shopping, if you happen to come across one of the Perception boxed sets - make sure you grab it! And, of course, remember to keep checking back at www.thedoors.com to see what we have in store for you - Happy Holidays!

Holy Crap!!!

Guess they didn't plan on selling a lot of these. The worst part is, if they don't make any more, they'll never know how many they COULD have sold, thus further limiting sales of DVD-A.

 

[Guy Robinson]

Holy Crap!!!

Guess they didn't plan on selling a lot of these. The worst part is, if they don't make any more, they'll never know how many they COULD have sold, thus further limiting sales of DVD-A.

It's a run of 20,000 with apparently no plans to print more. I guess they will be released separately next year though. Doesn't change the fact that there are only 20,000 boxes out there.

 

[Felix E. Martinez]

Wow! How long was it on the market, less than a month??!! 20,000 copies in a month - not bad...

 

[daved64]

It's a run of 20,000 with apparently no plans to print more. I guess they will be released separately next year though. Doesn't change the fact that there are only 20,000 boxes out there.

Mine arrives with my friend on the 21st. Glad I got it now!

 

[JonUrban]

Shudda stock up at BB when it was $99, then put them away!

 

[Guy Robinson]

The amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk sites still seem to have some. The uk site has put it's price up however and the Canadian site is way overpriced. I can't see the individual releases being cheaper per title unless of course you don't want all six. I figure I paid less than $18 Canadian per title pre tax. Believe it's very few DVD-A/CD combos that we get that cheap here. "LOVE" was about the only one I can remember that was cheaper than that lately.

 

[Guy Robinson]

Though just re-reading the announcement from the Doors Management, it could mean anything really. They could be trying to cause a stampede for the remaining units. So let's say the Doors website kept 5,000 to sell themselves and sent the other 15,000 to e-/retailers. So they have sold out of their 5,000. Let's say another 5,000 was sold by the e-/retailers. That still leaves 10,000 out there in various locations. I'm not buying this as generally sold out. This is the first time I have heard how many units in total were available though. All those that want to get it better pick it up soon.

 

[Guy Robinson]

Mine arrives with my friend on the 21st. Glad I got it now!

Hope they want to spend a whole lot of time on their visit listening to the Doors!

 

[stormchaser]

For me the question is what message does this unanticipated sell-out (unanticipated at least according to the doors site) along with the Love sales mean for future hi-rez releases? 20K sold of a 100 dollar hi-rez surround set should surely get someone's attention.

 

[DennisMabry]

After extensive listening to this fine set, I finally voted. First of all the appearance of the packaging is unique and kind of cool. I will admit that the peep hole in the door has the quality of a Cracker Jacks toy, and the box itself is larger than it needs to be, so storage is an issue. However I did not purchase this for the box, but for the music itself, so it's not a big problem for me. I am completely satisfied with the individual digipak sets themselves. They are laid out nicely, good artwork, and great liner notes with band history, commentary, and lyrics. What's not to like?

The clarity of the recordings themselves in advanced resolution is outstanding, in MC as well as stereo.

I am a little bit disapointed with the mixes, but not terribly. I expected them to be at least as good as the L. A. Woman release on DVD-A. Of course the first two titles are not quite as good for reasons mentioned before. Also I think they could have moved Jim's voice out of the center channel a little more, or widened it a bit for my liking, (but I'm not a recording engineer, so what do I know). Even if the mixes on the first couple of these are not what most surround folks typically look for, the sound is still great. As it has been said before, I don't think these recordings will ever sound better! BTW I've listened to a couple songs on the hi-res stereo tracks from Strange Days, resampled into PLII with positive results.

The video content is fun and probably a must if you are a Doors fan. The bonus tracks in multi-channel are the hidden gems here, Orange County Suite (on L. A. Woman) just blew me away! The menu screens are tastefully done, and add a bit of polish to the overall quality feeling. With the inclusion of DD, DTS, and CD this really is the definitive collection. I'm giving The Doors - Perception an overall 8.

Dennis

 

[Felix E. Martinez]

Back in stock at CDUniverse.

 

[ss9001]

I ordered from Amazon at $119 (less than cduniverse) and the set should arrive early next week

After I get to , I'll be happy to post a rating. I have reasonably hi expectations.
ss9001

 

[ss9001]

The set came today!
I've listened to selected songs on first, WFTS, MH and Soft Parade in DVD-A surround, stereo, and stereo with DPLIIx applied.

It's going to be very interesting to sum up with a single "grade". First, the high point for me:

Clarity, especially of Morrison's vocals, is stunning. No CD-digital edginess here. All instruments were clear, distinct, and could easily be discerned from the mix.

Mixed bag:

Use of surrounds, with Waiting for the Sun & Soft Parade being the best (so far). What's been said about first Doors album is accurate, that surrounds are barely noticeable.

Low points:

Consistently low center channel volume compared to front L/R's. This made Morrison's voice very recessed even though clear. In stereo & using DPLIIx, vocals become "normalized" to the sound levels in the fronts. This was annoying to me and detracted from my enjoyment of the songs. I particularly thought Morrison Hotel suffered from this, which is a shame, since that is one of my favorites. I preferred listening to MH in stereo w/DPLIIx over 5.1. JMO

I found several cases where on one song, center channel level was low, then on the next song, it was louder. Not enough attention paid to consistency between songs.

Also, I thought songs were almost too "discrete", with not enough in the middle, except Morrison's voice of course. Guitar on far right, organ on far left, Morrison dead center, and nothing in between. Reminded me of the old stereo days. They could have widened his voice across more of the fronts. Again, JMO

Sum up:
Overall, I agree that these are the best recordings of these albums and am satisfied with the sound. However, if more attention were paid to the mixes, it could have been a home run. As a comparison, I'd give these high marks for clarity, equal to the Elton John SACD's, but I would give the mixes on the EJ and Moody Blues SACD's overall more involving.

I'd give this set a solid 7
ss9001

 

[rd1]

The set came today!
I've listened to selected songs on first, WFTS, MH and Soft Parade in DVD-A surround, stereo, and stereo with DPLIIx applied.

It's going to be very interesting to sum up with a single "grade". First, the high point for me:

Clarity, especially of Morrison's vocals, is stunning. No CD-digital edginess here. All instruments were clear, distinct, and could easily be discerned from the mix.

Mixed bag:

Use of surrounds, with Waiting for the Sun & Soft Parade being the best (so far). What's been said about first Doors album is accurate, that surrounds are barely noticeable.

Low points:

Consistently low center channel volume compared to front L/R's. This made Morrison's voice very recessed even though clear. In stereo & using DPLIIx, vocals become "normalized" to the sound levels in the fronts. This was annoying to me and detracted from my enjoyment of the songs. I particularly thought Morrison Hotel suffered from this, which is a shame, since that is one of my favorites. I preferred listening to MH in stereo w/DPLIIx over 5.1. JMO

I found several cases where on one song, center channel level was low, then on the next song, it was louder. Not enough attention paid to consistency between songs.

Also, I thought songs were almost too "discrete", with not enough in the middle, except Morrison's voice of course. Guitar on far right, organ on far left, Morrison dead center, and nothing in between. Reminded me of the old stereo days. They could have widened his voice across more of the fronts. Again, JMO

Sum up:
Overall, I agree that these are the best recordings of these albums and am satisfied with the sound. However, if more attention were paid to the mixes, it could have been a home run. As a comparison, I'd give these high marks for clarity, equal to the Elton John SACD's, but I would give the mixes on the EJ and Moody Blues SACD's overall more involving.

I'd give this set a solid 7
ss9001

I agree with your review, I gave it a 6.

I'm glad that this was released, the music sounds great in hi-rez,(stereo) but the mc-mixing is not as good as it could be.

 

[rusinurbe]

This set has been everything I had expected. 6 Surround discs with plenty of Bonus material. I am a little dissappointed with the first album but given that its was essentially recorded live to four track I did not expect a great surround mix.

I have no real problem with the mixes they ar nice an clear I may have put the bass up a notch on all of the albums but that is my taste. Great music a nice box set and bonus CDS for the car.

 

[daved64]

Just finished Waiting For The Sun, and so far I think this set is fantastic. Perfect? No. But I had low expectations based on some of the reviews here, and so far I'm very happy. Yes I wish the first album could have been better, but if you know the history of the recording, Botnick didn't have much to work with.

I'll score it when I'm done, but so far it's a 9.

 

[JonUrban]

I picked up a copy of the magazine "Uncut" (from the UK) this week at a Borders, the January 2007 issue . There is a write up of this box set on page 116.

Not only do they not even mention the surround sound tracks AT ALL, they actually point out that the box sets "cornerstone is the six CDs, not the short DVDs that accompany them."

 

[mattB2]

After the reviews for "Love" I had hopes that music journalists might actually be catching up with the idea that surround music exists but it seems that, unless the record company actually sits the reviewers down in a surround environment to listen to the music, they're not going to have the time or inclination to slap the disc into anything other than a standard cd/dvd set-up.

I pretty much dismissed the review after seeing the passage quoted by Jon above in the first paragraph but the writing itself is quite entertaining as an example of the more pretentious side of rock journalism. "Meretricious poetry" I could cope with but "crepuscular phychedlia" and "kaleidoscopes bumped into triskaidecahedrons" - come on! It's supposed to be a music review not an English lit exercise.

 

[kvsawilson]

Finally got this one a couple weeks ago and have had a chance to listen to all of it. I think it's great! Maybe my expectations were low after seeing the posts here, but I'm impressed with it. The surround mix is lacking in places and there is some weak material spread throughout, but I think it all sounds fantastic. I've always considered myself a Door's fan, but having gone through all this, I'm even more of one now. And with the great packaging (minus how hard it it to get the discs out), the booklets for each disc, the outtakes and the video added, I'll give it a 9. Not perfect, but pretty close.

It really is such a shame that with how great this and the Beatles Love disc was, that the whole hi-res market can't get enough traction to seem as though it will survive. With how few copies are selling of new material by long-time popular artists, it seems the record companies would be happy to sell 20K+ copies of an old title with no more investment than a 5.1 channel remix.

K