HiRez Poll Gaye, Marvin - THE MARVIN GAYE COLLECTION [SACD/DVD-A]

[fredblue]

Great! Is it proper, discrete 5.1 or upmixed?

I haven't played them in yonks but from memory its a little bit of a mixed bag, though don't let that put you off as the majority of numbers on each disc are discrete, with lead vocals often isolated in the centre (nothing to set the world on fire in the rears most the time)..

..there's the option of selecting a 3rd soundtrack for certain songs (the discrete mixes) where you get to hear the Marvin, Four Tops & Temptations discs in a Capella (which is absolutely amazing!).. earliest songs and later things like "Got To Give It Up" on the Marvin DVD are (again from memory, I'll play some of these again tonight & report back here) upmixes but if you're a Motown fan these are essential and if you're into surround too all the more so.

edit: I meant "Heavy Love Affair" not Got To Give It Up, latter is on the Marvin DVD but Live in Belgium in '81..! Oops

 

[bmoura]

Great! Is it proper, discrete 5.1 or upmixed?

It's a real live 5.1 mix from the master tapes. Very immersive with some panned effects. Thumbs up !

 

[fredblue]

It's a real live 5.1 mix from the master tapes. Very immersive with some panned effects. Thumbs up !

some clips on that Motown DVD series are live performances mixed into 5.1 but there's studio originals reworked into 5.1 too that have been married upto performance footage of the same song it sounds like a car crash but it works. if you're into Motown you can't miss these DVDs imho.

 

[Franklin]

Great! I notice there's a Smokey Robinson/Miracles one in the series too.

 

[fredblue]

also if you don't have it already Mike the Fish, you have to get this..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SONGS-KEY--...2759&sr=1-9&keywords=songs+in+the+key+of+life

played back thru synthesized surround (PLII Music, Panorama On works particularly well for me) you'd be forgiven for thinking this was true discrete surround, its incredible! there must be heaps of OOP ("Out Of Phase" not "Out Of Print", for once round here.. it's normally the latter!) in there! fidelity is superb too.

 

[fredblue]

Great! I notice there's a Smokey Robinson/Miracles one in the series too.

yeah! they're all worth getting, you can find them used for a fiver or less if you "Shop Around" (just a little nod to Smokey... )

 

[Franklin]

Ah, I see the Stevie doesn't even cost half a kidney. I have the album on vinyl, so can give that a go and see what I think. Thanks to this place I found out I could adjust parameters in DPL II Music. Thanks for the tip!

 

[fredblue]

Great! I notice there's a Smokey Robinson/Miracles one in the series too.

yeah! they're all worth getting, you can find them used for a fiver or less if you "Shop Around" (just a little nod to Smokey... )

OOPS! Duplicate post balls up!

 

[fredblue]

Ah, I see the Stevie doesn't even cost half a kidney. I have the album on vinyl, so can give that a go and see what I think. Thanks to this place I found out I could adjust parameters in DPL II Music. Thanks for the tip!

DPLII Music definitely gives you the most flexibility out of the processing options most AVRs give you, I prefer a better/wider stereo spread so only just have it 1 notch off wiping out the centre completely but I'm sure some people prefer narrowing it and going the other way. wouldn't do for us all to be the same!

 

[fredblue]

Home now and spinning through the official Motown DVDs for 1st time in a while.. the compilation (this one - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002QVTBEM?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1&ref_=aw_bottom_links ) is a real mixed bag but worth it particularly just for the 5.1 and a cappella mixes of Kim Weston's "Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)", Stevie's "Uptight", The Marvelettes "Don't Mess With Bill" , Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted", Edwin Starr's "War" ...the rears are more active with backing vocals etc on those tracks.. and those naked a cappella vocals for that lot are just incredible.

 

[Franklin]

Ooh, 60s Stevie in 5.1? Lovely!

 

[fredblue]

Ooh, 60s Stevie in 5.1? Lovely!

yes! the rears aren't doing much special in "Uptight" but its a 5.1 mix alright (in Dolby Digital, that means stuff to people, 'nuff said) anyway the rears are doing stuff but nothing much that isn't upfront too, the real highlight of these discs are all the a cappella's. Stevie's isolated vocals on "Uptight" are just totally gorgeous.

I'm onto the Marvin set now... DTS 5.1 on this disc unlike the Dolby Dig'l of the compilation.. there's isolated vocals aplenty to really Oooooohhhh about here!! :banana: ..the 11 tracks with a cappella's are on a separate Dolby Dig. stream, you can either select the a cappella's on the fly in each video or just choose to pre-program them from within the menu's.

these sets are great you know, I'd forgotten how good they are! vintage interviews, tv performances, mono mixes, single mixes, surround mixes, great liner notes.. Did I mention the a cappella's..!?!?

..the Marvin DVD is a 2-disc set stuffed full of goodies, the DVD has 50 mins of Belgium '81, plus 16 videos, 11 with a cappella remixes, 24-page booklet and disc 2 is a CD of 70 previously unreleased minutes of stuff from his '76 European tour.

 

[fredblue]

to sum up (I feel I've bleated on about them enough here already, these Motown DVDs should probably have their own QQ thread if they don't have one!?) from a 5.1 p.o.v. I'd say these vary from non-existent surround to great. not upto the standard of the Marvin Collection SACD/DVDA/DTS CD but certainly worth a punt.

 

[jsayers]

I agree on those Motown dvds - I wanted to mention the excellent Curtis Mayfield "Movin' On Up - The Music And Message Of Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions", a great dvd with surround.

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Message-Curtis-Mayfield-Impressions/dp/B0014JKL6Y/ref=pd_sim_mov_31

 

[Franklin]

Has anybody noticed there's an indexing error on the red book layer? Ain't That Peculiar is split into two tracks!

 

[Franklin]

also if you don't have it already Mike the Fish, you have to get this..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SONGS-KEY--...2759&sr=1-9&keywords=songs+in+the+key+of+life

played back thru synthesized surround (PLII Music, Panorama On works particularly well for me) you'd be forgiven for thinking this was true discrete surround, its incredible! there must be heaps of OOP ("Out Of Phase" not "Out Of Print", for once round here.. it's normally the latter!) in there! fidelity is superb too.

Trying some of the vinyl now - wow, loads at the rear. I like to have the centre channel entirely excluded on DPL II Music, and for a change I set dimension to -3 rather standard. Impressive. Thanks for the tip!

 

[fredblue]

Has anybody noticed there's an indexing error on the red book layer? Ain't That Peculiar is split into two tracks!

no! I don't understand it baby! Its so strange sometimes!

in all seriousness, I've never played the redbook layer of this at all.

John Matousek's early-80's CD masterings of classic Motown are mostly so good I've never felt the need to try anything else, his CD mastering of "Innervisions" is particularly good.

 

[Franklin]

In my defence guv'nor it was only ripping requirements that led me to investigate the CD layer!

 

[blue.monk]

I'm not sure how this title escaped my attention all these years. I ordered the SACD after some mention of it in a recent center channel thread (thanks folks!). It's an excellent 5.1 mix and surprisingly adventurous at times (i.e. ping pong backing vox in "Ain't That Peculiar", Tammi Terrell dueting from the rear channels in "Mountain", wandering conga in "Grapevine"). The older tunes sound surprisingly modern with perhaps a bit too much bass for my tastes. Only drag is the atrocious stereo mastering. What a shame. Still I bought it for the surround mix so a "9" for me.

 

[fredblue]

I'm not sure how this title escaped my attention all these years. I ordered the SACD after some mention of it in a recent center channel thread (thanks folks!). It's an excellent 5.1 mix and surprisingly adventurous at times (i.e. ping pong backing vox in "Ain't That Peculiar", Tammi Terrell dueting from the rear channels in "Mountain", wandering conga in "Grapevine"). The older tunes sound surprisingly modern with perhaps a bit too much bass for my tastes. Only drag is the atrocious stereo mastering. What a shame. Still I bought it for the surround mix so a "9" for me.

It's funny this surround mix got slated by some quarters back when.. for me it's a triumph! I've heard Marvin's back catalogue zillions of times (another artist I have everything of, I looooove that voice.. It's such a gorgeous instrument hard in the Centre) and yet this Surround Collection (for that's what it is, I guess the producers didn't put it together as such, it's origins being on DTS CD solely in 5.1.. and I didn't buy it for the zillionth stereo mixes and I imagine I'm not alone in this!) really takes this overfamiliar material and utterly transforms it!

FWIW, there's a few Motown DVD-V Video collections of various artists (incl Marvin, Four Tops, Temptations) which have some 5.1 and a Capella mixes where you can isolate the lead vocals in similarly spectacularly spine-tingling fashion.