HiRez Poll Gentle Giant - FREE HAND [Blu-Ray Audio]

[duneman]

Same problem here...this is the second disc the Oppo 83 couldn't play (Transatlantic's Absolute Universe was the first). Fortunately I have a Panny UDP 820 that handles both discs, but the Oppo still sounds better to me...when it plays. I just had Oppo repair my 83 last year, so it isn't firmware related...just old tech.

Free Hand is awesome - hope you can play it somehow.

Oppo support says “Sounds like the disc is using a BD-JAVA format that is not compatible with the player. Unfortunately, it is not likely we will be able to resolve the issue.”

Which is as I suspected. So I went to Magnolia Audio and double checked that the disc wasn’t faulty (it’s fine) and bought the Sony UBP-X800M2. Hooked it up and all is as it should be.

 

[martin russell]

Mine arrived late yesterday and I put it in my Oppo BDP-83 and it’s having the same problem as yours. I see the Alucard Digital production logo then the warning notice then nothing but a black screen. Have tried reinserting and powering down and back up again and get the same result. Pressing play does nothing. Seems the Old 83 might have reached its final mark. I’ve played a number of other BDs recently so there must be something in the authoring of this disc the 83 cannot handle.

Is this by any chance authored by Ray Shulman? I have an Oppo 83 and have had issues with previous bluray things he's done (Chris Squire and Transatlantic to name two - the other one I had a problem with was The Future Bites, but I can't be sure who authored that. There's a mastering credit but not an authoring one). These kind of things would be easily avoidable if his network of play-testers was expanded. As things stand I'm not going to bother with any more blurays he does...I'm certainly not about to ditch a great-sounding player which is compatible with literally every other disc I own. Thanks for shining a light on the issues with this particular release.

 

[Guy Robinson]

This is quite amazing. Voted 10. I don't have Atmos but enjoyed the Dolby TrueHD 7.1. I found it a bit "delicate" with more "finesse" than the 5.1. Having said that, I prefer the 5.1. To me it has much more impact with balls to the wall sound. That might be due in some part to the increased bass in the 5.1. It's excellent but not overdone. Nice to have a non-lossy version of the Quad as well so that I have a better source to reassign the channels as pointed out in other threads here. Steven Wilson just keeps bettering himself. Oh, and I also like the video accompanying the 5.1

 

[temporaryhuman]

This is quite amazing. Voted 10. I don't have Atmos but enjoyed the Dolby TrueHD 7.1. I found it a bit "delicate" with more "finesse" than the 5.1. Having said that, I prefer the 5.1. To me it has much more impact with balls to the wall sound. That might be due in some part to the increased bass in the 5.1. It's excellent but not overdone. Nice to have a non-lossy version of the Quad as well so that I have a better source to reassign the channels as pointed out in other threads here. Steven Wilson just keeps bettering himself. Oh, and I also like the video accompanying the 5.1

I noticed the increased bass, I hoped it was just my system. I love the bass guitar playing on this album but the Atmos mix has quieter bass than the other mixes?

 

[MartinGr]

Strange, that the "original" Quad is as messy as it was on the CD/DVD. I think I've reversed the back channels, and the mix made sense to me.
But as the new mix is so good, it's not a big problem.

 

[Mcallister]

mine finally arrived yesterday but I’m outta town for 10 day in the morning, I gotta find a way to take a listen tonight somehow

 

[madship]

This was a great surprise for me when I listened to it for the first time. Free Hand is my first exposure to Gentle Giant. The mix is a lot of fun, it's going to take many listens before I stop noticing new things. The sound quality is great, and the content on the Blu-Ray is great. four different version of the album all in hi-res. The animations for each song are a also a lot of fun. The songs are a little weird. I give it a 9.

 

[Guy Robinson]

The songs are a little weird.

It's funny but after listening to this for years the songs don't sound weird at all to me.

 

[AYanguas]

The songs are a little weird.

It's funny but after listening to this for years the songs don't sound weird at all to me.

Prog Rock is weird by itself. It is usual that we need several listenings to learn and appreciate the art that are within many Prog songs and many Prog Rock music.
We are weird.

But that is not a bad thing. It is just that the majority of people ("the masses") do not understand this music and consequently they do not like it and they do not try and give any opportunity.

 

[duneman]

Is this by any chance authored by Ray Shulman? I have an Oppo 83 and have had issues with previous bluray things he's done (Chris Squire and Transatlantic to name two - the other one I had a problem with was The Future Bites, but I can't be sure who authored that. There's a mastering credit but not an authoring one). These kind of things would be easily avoidable if his network of play-testers was expanded. As things stand I'm not going to bother with any more blurays he does...I'm certainly not about to ditch a great-sounding player which is compatible with literally every other disc I own. Thanks for shining a light on the issues with this particular release.

Authoring credit not listed as you note, but it’s a pretty safe bet that Ray authored it.

 

[ctoelle]

This was the easiest 10 vote. Steven has done another phenomenal job in mixing. I really enjoy that he really opened up on this, especially with the multi-tracked vocals. And the fidelity is amazing for a 40-plus year old album

Free Hand is one of my favorite Gentle Giant albums, Hard to pick a top album, but this is easily in the top 3.

 

[perzon57]

This was the easiest 10 vote. Steven has done another phenomenal job in mixing. I really enjoy that he really opened up on this, especially with the multi-tracked vocals. And the fidelity is amazing for a 40-plus year old album

Free Hand is one of my favorite Gentle Giant albums, Hard to pick a top album, but this is easily in the top 3.

What soundtrack are you listening to?

 

[ctoelle]

What soundtrack are you listening to?

DTS 5.1

 

[efb18]

Really loved the 5.1 mix and the album (I don't have an Atmos setup). I also listened to the quad mix. In the past I've found the quad mixes to be an interesting shorthair but in this case the 5.1 mix was far superior, imo.
I also really liked the graphics. Really nice touch.

 

[edisonbaggins]

I'm in the "10" crowd. Life in Surround review (with giveaway):

 

[BillSamm1]

A top shelf remix of Gentle Giant's (arguably) best album. Powerful low end, clear mids & highs. Very active & entertaining surround mix. The music of Gentle Giant is an acquired taste, but is also a prime candidate for the SW treatment. The animations are fun too. The whole package raises the bar of how 5.1 Blu-Ray remix releases should be done. If you enjoy 5.1, this is a must-buy. Solid 10!

 

[jimfisheye]

The mix and mastering presentation are spot on!

I like bits of some of their older albums. (The more creative musical bits in between the vocal sections.) This one isn't going to get repeat listens. Which is too bad because the mix sounds really well done and we get mixes like this maybe 10% of the time if we're lucky.

If there's something missing in here that a more ardent fan would spot, then I'm none the wiser and easy to please.

Nice surround stage in general. Fully anchored in surround with discrete elements. Clear natural/intentional sound. Nothing obscured or damaged sounding in any way. That "round and round" vocal bit was well done.

 

[srbjab]

One of the more accessible Gentle Giant albums (relatively speaking) gets two terrific surround mixes by Steven Wilson that really highlight the superiority of surround sound for complex music. As good as the 5.1 mix is, for me the definitive way to listen to this album will be now be the atmos mix. It really opens up the instruments and vocals, providing a full 360 degree, hemispherical listening experience. I have a 7.2.4 atmos setup with separate amplification for each speaker pair, so it's pretty easy to listen to the channels in isolation. What struck me about the height channels is that they are not continuously engaged in an ambient way; instead at various points in each song, vocals, instruments and sounds are strategically placed to enhance the music. Sometimes these are used to support sound in the horizontal plane (which elevates the sound stage) but in many cases they are used as the sole source which clearly places a vocal, sound effect or instrument above you. Often these sounds gently pan back and forth, right to left, and other times a sound might appear only in one or both front or rear height speakers. I also found the additional rear surround channels made the 360 degree horizontal sound field more seamless and convincing. Clearly this mix was meticulously designed to accentuate the music to maximum effect. For the mixes and excellent fidelity, an easy 10 for me. As to the packaging, I do have a couple of minor gripes. The included booklet contains no photos or additional info - just the song lyrics. Contrast this with the booklet included in the DVD quad release - it includes song lyrics, photos and comments from the band members on the album. Why something like that wasn't done for the new release is mystifying. Also, for a relatively short album (well under 40 minutes) it's a bit disappointing that more previously unreleased or live material wasn't included. But with so many different mixes provided in lossless, and at this price point, it's hard to complain. For any Gentle Giant fan, this is a must own.

 

[CINERAMAX]

I gave it a seven for weak heights usage, you guys need to up your spatial audio standards, yes the bed channel mix is a 10, but mixing in atmos SW is a newbie on placing objects with good interaural cues on the tops.... 50% of the TIDAL club music are reference tops implementations.

 

[IMachine]

I gave it a seven for weak heights usage, you guys need to up your spatial audio standards, yes the bed channel mix is a 10, but mixing in atmos SW is a newbie on placing objects with good interaural cues on the tops.... 50% of the TIDAL club music are reference tops implementations.

This is not only an atmos voting.
It also has 5.1 and the quad mix.