Elton John "Madman Across The Water" 50th Anniversary Box Set (3 CDs & 5.1 Blu-Ray)

[~dave~~wave~]

My perception is that applies to the video material only.
There is no track listing for 2.0 audio versions, only 5.1.
I guess we'll find out for sure Friday.

Happy to report that the blu ray does in fact have a LPCM 2.0 96/24 option.

 

[The Rang]

Happy to report that the blu ray does in fact have a LPCM 2.0 96/24 option.


View attachment 80087

That’s good, except I cancelled the pre-order thinking it wasn’t there, and now the price has gone up LOL

 

[~dave~~wave~]

If the disc is not DTS~HD MA 5.1 I will return it to AmazonUS for a full refund.

Doing that without listening to it first would be a grave mistake, IMHO.
There's nothing wrong with the 5.1 mastering, in fact it's excellent, with plenty of LFE content.

What a Chicken Little day it's been.
The sky is not falling, the blu ray is properly loud & dynamic from my 5.1 sweet spot.

 

[Clement]

That’s good, except I cancelled the pre-order thinking it wasn’t there, and now the price has gone up LOL

Check out this POST. With the coupon (and tax and shipping) it's just under $70

 

[~dave~~wave~]

That’s good, except I cancelled the pre-order thinking it wasn’t there, and now the price has gone up LOL

I sincerely regret engaging in that speculation, but I did observe we only had to wait one day to find out for sure.

 

[Perp]

Without doing some research, I’m not sure exactly when this item was announced but I ordered the set via Amazon on April 23rd. It was supposed to be delivered along with Pineapple Thief today but when I look, the release date has been pushed back to June 24th.

Upon reading the past few pages of this Thread, I’m wondering if I should just cancel the damn order since I already have the SACD.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Without doing some research, I’m not sure exactly when this item was announced but I ordered the set via Amazon on April 23rd. It was supposed to be delivered along with Pineapple Thief today but when I look, the release date has been pushed back to June 24th.

Upon reading the past few pages of this Thread, I’m wondering if I should just cancel the damn order since I already have the SACD.

Mine is being delivered according to AMAZONUS tomorrow and I ordered the same time you did, Perp!

 

[Bill Sherbon]

Without doing some research, I’m not sure exactly when this item was announced but I ordered the set via Amazon on April 23rd. It was supposed to be delivered along with Pineapple Thief today but when I look, the release date has been pushed back to June 24th.

Upon reading the past few pages of this Thread, I’m wondering if I should just cancel the damn order since I already have the SACD.

Since I already have the SACD and have ripped it to my computer, I was on the fence on this one (sad about lack of ATMOS). I ended up going for it when the price dipped into the $50s on Amazon. But not having lossless surround on a blu-ray disc and not being clear about this in the product description/specs is a deal-breaker for me personally. Even if it turned out to have lossless surround, I don't regret cancelling my order since the description and specs are so unclear. But this is just a 'me thing' I will eagerly read everyone's updates and reviews.

 

[himey]

Since I already have the SACD and have ripped it to my computer, I was on the fence on this one (sad about lack of ATMOS). I ended up going for it when the price dipped into the $50s on Amazon. But not having lossless surround on a blu-ray disc and not being clear about this in the product description/specs is a deal-breaker for me personally. Even if it turned out to have lossless surround, I don't regret cancelling my order since the description and specs are so unclear. But this is just a 'me thing' I will eagerly read everyone's updates and reviews.

I haven't heard it but if the mastering is better, then it should sound better, despite being lossy. The mastering on the original 5.1's were far from being perfect. Still disappointing they didn't do lossless.

 

[Perp]

Mine is being delivered according to AMAZONUS tomorrow and I ordered the same time you did, Perp!

I thought maybe they pushed up the release date because of yhe error on the BD. Do I really need this particular release? I think, maybe not.

 

[The Rang]

I sincerely regret engaging in that speculation, but I did observe we only had to wait one day to find out for sure.

I cancelled of my own free will and had been thinking about doing so anyway, trying to cut back.
If it drops back down to a good price I’ll probably bite.

 

[Perp]

Mine is being delivered according to AMAZONUS tomorrow and I ordered the same time you did, Perp!

I have a feeling that Amazon will ship out my order tonight because, earlier, it showed if I purchased another set, it would be delivered tomorrow. Now, because a few hours have passed, it shows Sunday delivery.

 

[fredblue]

I haven't heard it but if the mastering is better, then it should sound better, despite being lossy. The mastering on the original 5.1's were far from being perfect. Still disappointing they didn't do lossless.

the mastering may be potentially/arguably a tad better but i'm not convinced tbh, from briefly looking at the waveforms etc of a couple of rips i did, it seems like it's had little more than some lowering of the 5 main channels and filtering of the LFE going on.. but whatever has gone on, it should have been in Lossless Surround. to me its bonkers to have Lossy 5.1 on a Blu-ray in this day and age, particularly of a mix previously available in Lossless form (and i am unanimous in that, Captain Peacock!!)

 

[fredblue]

I cancelled of my own free will and had been thinking about doing so anyway, trying to cut back.
If it drops back down to a good price I’ll probably bite.

the set itself is very nice, the curators of it did a great job! if it wasn't for the Blu-ray niggles, i'd say its well worth picking up, even then i still don't regret the purchase one iota

 

[fredblue]

I sincerely regret engaging in that speculation, but I did observe we only had to wait one day to find out for sure.

if there was a failing on Universal's part with this set prior to release, it was perhaps a lack of clarity in exactly what was on the Blu-ray and the quality thereof.

i mean, not even knowing upfront if there'd even be Stereo on the Blu-ray feels just plain daft, it should've been made clearer.

apart from that, a hearty "well done" from a lifelong EJ fan for a good job to all concerned (clearly a lot of work went into this set, the book and bonus tracks alone make it essential for me) and now looking forward to the next one! (hopefully that happens and hopefully with Lossless Surround..)

 

[fredblue]

Doing that without listening to it first would be a grave mistake, IMHO.
There's nothing wrong with the 5.1 mastering, in fact it's excellent, with plenty of LFE content.

What a Chicken Little day it's been.
The sky is not falling, the blu ray is properly loud & dynamic from my 5.1 sweet spot.

i don't find the Elton 5.1's hugely dynamic and never have, there's compression baked into the mixes by design and to me every now and again its audible, not particularly detrimental or invasive but its there. Greg Penny talked about using compression in his new mixes in interviews around the time of the EJ SACDs and i can see where he was coming from, certain tracks are just less dynamic than the original Stereo - but i don't think that's necessarily always a bad thing.

Captain Fantastic is the most obvious example among the 5.1's that saw release, the original Stereo mixes are a virtual masterclass in their use of dynamics in Pop Music but sometimes things get kinda clumped in the 5.1, mercifully the spread around the channels counteracts a lot of that but the Surround mix isn't quite as dynamic as the 70's Stereo, i would say.

this is not to condemn the 5.1 mixes for lacking dynamic range however but rather to applaud them for their use of compression because if you'll recall Gus' 1983 "Superior Sound Of.." Stereo remixes, it was then made apparent that going back to the multitracks, many of the original recordings were hugely dynamic, way beyond Gus' original 1970's renderings on LP and at casual listening levels those 80's remixes were almost quite unlistenable in places because the softest passages were just way too quiet and if you cranked the master volume to hear that lower level content you'd later get your head completely blown off when things reached a crescendo and got very very loud indeed!!

where were we? oh yeah, the Elton 5.1's are dynamic as far as Pop music goes and aren't they just groovy! totally forgotten what point i was trying to make, if any! time for a coffee ️ 🕊

 

[fredblue]

Happy to report that the blu ray does in fact have a LPCM 2.0 96/24 option.


View attachment 80087

"DTS, oh DTS,
why do you leave us in distress,

DTS, oh DTS,
with all your Lossyness
you've caused a mess

96,
24,
its all HD,
nothing less and nothing more

DTS, oh DTS,
thanks to you this set has no Lossless,

DTS, oh DTS,
you're why this Blu-ray has no Atmos-ness

DTS, oh DTS..

oh screw you DTS!!"



(kick in coffee!! the muses have deserted me!!) ️

 

[user 18421]

Replacement BD for fault

Hi, Universal have announced that due to a fault on the Madman blu-ray, there will be a re-press. Click on the link to get a replacement disc.
The fault is that the Mick Ronson version of Madman that should be on the disc has the album version instead by mistake.

kate

 

[cbmmm3]

now, all this talk about the surround mix yada yada yada, what is even more bothersome is the lack of a toy in this Deluxe package !! What ? no little red car ?

 

[Quadkid]

Perhaps i'll ask them to throw in the Atmos mix to further compensate me for the inconvenience!

My email to Universal bounced back as undeliverable. Has anyone else had theirs bounce back?