HiRez Poll Emerson Lake & Palmer - EMERSON LAKE AND PALMER [DVD-A/BDA]

[bugdaddy]

Gave it an 8.
Would have been a 9 if the surround layer had an upmix of the missing tracks. Much better than gaps and replacing by disjoined extras (in my opinion)
Take a pebble sounds glorious!

Agree on all counts. What I have sounds great, but it's not the full album.

 

[paligap]

I gave it a 9. The fidelity and mix are absolutely stunning. Sorry for beating a dead horse, but I would have given it a 10 if it had some form of the missing tracks on Disc Three. I'm aware of the reasons, but the fact remains that one of the criteria for these polls is content.

 

[tarkusnj]

I gave it a 9. The fidelity and mix are absolutely stunning. Sorry for beating a dead horse, but I would have given it a 10 if it had some form of the missing tracks on Disc Three. I'm aware of the reasons, but the fact remains that one of the criteria for these polls is content.

Anyone want to hear what I have to say about these relesases? I don't think so...

 

[Quadzilla]

Anyone want to hear what I have to say about these relesases? I don't think so...

Always go with your gut Jersey. If you don't think so, then ...

 

[Spencer1812]

Make no mistake.. These mixies are simply awesome. A 10 in my book.

 

[Ge Someone]

Seems to be lacking some presence.

The thing that seems to help is turn it up real loud. I don't think anything is wrong with the mix, just a little bit of mastering might have made it great or epic or something like that.
That said, great disc anyway.

 

[watsontr]

I think it's an excellent disc. The sound to me is as good as its likely to be so I have no complaints. The missing tracks should come as no surprise as we were told when this was released so in my opinion I can't mark it down. I must give it a 10. I hope that I'm able to vote on a DVD-A of Trilogy and Pictures

 

[HDJK]

Gave it a solid 9

I wrote a short review on my blog:

http://www.surroundsoundmusic.com/blog/2012/09/10/emerson-lake-palmer-deluxe-surround/

Bottom line, there are a few parts that don't work so well in this surround mix, like the solo piano in the quiet part of Take a Pebble. There's not enough to counter balance the surrounds with the fronts until the drums come in. But all in all, a great sounding, very discrete and immersive mix. More please

 

[GabeL]

I never heard this album before today, but I'm glad I waited Phenomenal job!!! A solid 10.

 

[tarkusnj]

I never heard this album before today, but I'm glad I waited Phenomenal job!!! A solid 10.

Do you mean that you NEVER heard this album in the 42 years since it was released or just the surround version?

 

[steelydave]

The thing that seems to help is turn it up real loud. I don't think anything is wrong with the mix, just a little bit of mastering might have made it great or epic or something like that.
That said, great disc anyway.

That's the whole point of discs with good (or great) dynamic range - you crank up your amp so you can hear the quieter passages well, and when the louder parts come in, they blow your head off...in a good way. If you have any of the Living Stereo classical SACDs you'll know exactly what I mean...and given ELP's classical leanings, I think the wide dynamic range is perfectly suited.

 

[GabeL]

Do you mean that you NEVER heard this album in the 42 years since it was released or just the surround version?

Believe it or not, I never ever heard the album at all before....I also hadn't heard BSS until the DVDA, I wouldn't consider myself as someone with any prog rock knowledge, but I sure am enjoying this form of education

 

[tarkusnj]

Believe it or not, I never ever heard the album at all before....I also hadn't heard BSS until the DVDA, I wouldn't consider myself as someone with any prog rock knowledge, but I sure am enjoying this form of education

So you never heard Tarkus either?

 

[GabeL]

So you never heard Tarkus either?

That is correct. Looking forward to my first listen of Tarkus tomorrow night

 

[strat54]

Emerson, Lake & Palmer sounds nice.

 

[wavelength]

I am also of the group that has never heard this album before. Nevertheless I am thrilled with this version. The music is good but how much of my appreciation is due to the stellar 5.1 mix? The opening of Knife Edge is a killer - another SW moment of brilliance like we all got used to on Aqualung. And of course there are many more moments on the disc. A true surround experience with great sonics that can be savoured from start to finish.

 

[radiodaddy]

So is the US Razor & Tie release identical?

 

[Pockets17red]

So is the US Razor & Tie release identical?

Yes. The content is the exact same.

 

[LivingForever]

That is correct. Looking forward to my first listen of Tarkus tomorrow night

I'm a big prog fan but also had never heard either of these albums in their entirety, having ignored ELP somewhat until now.

Glad to be able to hear them this way first!

 

[ssully]

View attachment 6773

You can see a visual representation of the two mixes in the jpeg above. The upper wav files are from the Rhino version which was a bonus track on the "Brain Salad Surgery" DVD-A, one of the very first DVD-A's released back in 2000. The lower wav files are from the Steven Wilson 5.1 mix from the new Sony release. I know you cannot tell much by looking at these pictures, but you can see right away that there is no brick walling, loudness war crap, or over processing.

The Rhino doesn't look overly processed in the amplitude domain to me either, from the looks of it, unless you consider the overall level difference to be too much. (FWIW, higher magnification of the front L/R reveals there is no brickwalling in either channel -- just some mild peak limiting , mostly in the front left channel)

Here's a brief run down on the 5.1 mix comparison.

First off, center channel on the Rhino version is strictly the bass guitar! Very strange, as if you do not have a big center speaker, you are in trouble with the lows!

No more trouble than if the bass was played from 'small' L/R. Fortunately for most systems regardless of where the bass is mixed, the lows will be routed to the sub....which it should be, for speakers that aren't full-range.
But if you have a center speaker that is grossly mismatched or frequency restricted compared to the other loudspeakers, and/or isn't crossed over correctly to the sub, then there will be issues.

Btw from the graphs, it appears the Wilson mix of this track simply doesn't use the sub as much as the Rhino mix, perhaps explaining the reports of 'no low bass' . (I hear sub output in my setup, though-- it just doenst vary much in this track). What's odd that the Rhino left surround and right surround channels are so different in level throughout the track, with the left surround channel being notably louder than the right (they're very similar to each other throughout Wilson's mix) . I don't recall hearing then when I listen to the track, but I'll have to recheck. [UPDATE: It appears to be because there are drums in the LS channel, but no drums in the RS channel-- RS also much more devoted to acoustic rhythm guitar)

From about 3:00 on we can discern interesting difference in mix choices for the Moog synth section of the song, between the Rhino and Wilson's.