HiRez Poll Harrison, George - ALL THINGS MUST PASS [Blu-Ray Audio (Dolby Atmos)]

[LuvMyQuad]

You guys all seem hung up on the Atmos, but how is the 5.1 mix?

I don't even have Atmos.

I haven't had a chance to listen to the 5.1 yet, but the bass issue is common to both mixes.

 

[ar surround]

You guys all seem hung up on the Atmos, but how is the 5.1 mix?

I think that the 5.1 mix is OK, but the fidelity is mediocre to my ears. The Atmos mixed down to 5.1 or 7.1 sounds much smoother to me.

 

[jimfisheye]

You guys all seem hung up on the Atmos, but how is the 5.1 mix?

Nice one.
I was listening, altering, and commenting on the 5.1 mix. I listened to and mentioned the stereo mix as well. Sounds like a fold down of the surround with the boosted bass.

 

[Guy Robinson]

Its not a low bass issue. Its a mid bass issue mixed to the mains. The subs contribute very little to it.

Not sure about this. Looking at the waveform in Audacity there appears to be no LFE activity at all but I have my bass managed at 50 hz and there is a ton of bass coming from my subs.

 

[Elad]

I remember when this came out was not a big fan of what it sounded like and thought the songs were ok. So here we are in 2021 with the new and another over bloated box set so I can listen to one immersive disc. It almost makes what I paid for this worth it I said almost. I was amazed how good this sounded in Atmos have not listened to the 5.1 maybe I will down the road just enjoying it for what it is. Beware of darkness gives me goosebumps. almost

I have had a serious issue bloated expensive box sets with material one might listen to maybe once. We keep on buying them so we can get that one disc. In all honesty it makes no difference what we say which is to bad. I am off my proverbial soap box and yes the immersive disc is amazing.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

There are several comments in this thread from members whose ears I trust. ar surround feels the 7.1 fold down has better fidelity. jimfisheye and sjcorne point out an excessive boost to the mid bass. @GOS (an admitted bass hound to begin with) and edisonbaggins feel the bass level is not an issue and is in fact a welcome improvement.

Tonight I did a very subjective comparison between the 7.1 fold down and a remastered 5.1 using the EQ recipe jimfisheye suggested.

Jim is correct, the EQing does indeed bring out the midrange nicely. On the other hand, the bass boost does grow on you. I settled on the idea that a 10dB cut takes it too far and ends up only marginally better than the original release, which I also compared as a reference on a few tracks. The original seems bass shy to me. It always has. I want some of that newly discovered bass in the surround mix. But I also want that hidden midrange detail the re-EQing brings out. It really surprised me how much the boosted bass takes away from the midrange.

I did get the feeling the fold down sounded fuller, as arsurround suggests. But I only compared it to the EQ'd 5.1, and its by no means a night and day kind of thing. It just seems more liquid and has less electronic sheen. Both are in a different ball park from my old CD, which is quite veiled by comparison.

With respect to the mix itself. It seemed the 5.1 was more discrete as sjcorne had mentioned. and it imaged slightly better on my system.

What a mixed result. I think you are all correct in your evaluations. I'm going to try the 5,1 with less bass cut, maybe only 5dB or so. Perhaps that porridge will be just right for papa bear.

So far I stand by my vote of 8. I would do 8.5 if I could. But I'm rounding down because I shouldn't have to go through all this BS. I paid for someone else to do this for me. Its a common thread for me among these Apple releases.

 

[srbjab]

I don't think anyone is wishing for the demise of physical media, but I will not refrain from griping about and passing on expensive box sets whose padded contents include little of interest to me except for one high resolution / surround disc. If you are a collector, completist or OK with a big boxset price, go for it. I just wish all artists and record companies would have a little more regard for the surround sound community and offer smaller standalone surround releases. Even if that means delayed release dates or digital downloads (5.1 flac, lossless MKV atmos files, etc.) are the only alternatives to big boxsets, in many cases that's an option I'd like to have. Thankfully there are many artists and companies willing to do just that, even though paid subscription streaming is probably where everything is eventually headed.

 

[jimfisheye]

What a mixed result. I think you are all correct in your evaluations. I'm going to try the 5,1 with less bass cut, maybe only 5dB or so. Perhaps that porridge will be just right for papa bear.

That might be more correct there. I tried to guess quick to make a less confusing example because I went about the correction in a roundabout way. (I'm aware of the correct math but not off the top of my head and I'm a little lazy so I guessed at -10db.)

I started with a linear phase cross-over style eq that let me mute/solo the bands. I listened with the lowest band muted and moved the frequency to hear where the bass started blooming - if that was to happen. That happened. It was 170Hz and it was the same for every song.

Then I made a mix of the bass cut track with the original (effectively making a bass shelf attenuation). I'm listening to just the front pair for all this. I wanted to keep the balance control as it were on faders instead of inside the eq plugin because.
Then I balanced that new front pair (with the effective bass eq cut) with the rear pair. Then brought in the center and decided that had to come down 2db.

There sure isn't anything wrong with the bass itself! It's just a lopsided listen out of the box. Like if you had your balance control 75% to one side in stereo. I'm not trying to turn down the too loud part per say. Just trying to bring back the rest. And with audio gain staging, turning something up usually translates to turning everything else down.

 

[markshan]

I gave it an eight. I toyed with a seven, but the material is so strong. Probably a 9 for material and a 6 for fidelity. I played the Atmos mix downmixed to 5.1. I tried the native 5.1 in several spots but found the Atmos to sound better.

I'm sure they did the best they could with it, but I suspect technical limitations in the original multis restricted just what they could do. I found certain elements to be more clear and distinct than they ever have been (guitars, vocals) and others to have the same muddy presentation they always did (percussion, strings, horns). The most obvious example of this was on "What is Life". When the lead part started in the rears my ears perked up. It sounded great and this has always been my favorite song from the album. Then the bass came from the front/sub and I started getting excited. Then the band kicked in and the whole thing fell apart. It went right back to Spector's blob of sound. Most disappointing is the fuzzy, ill defined tambourine coming from all speakers at once. BTW, I don't understand the people who were complaining about the bass level. On my system the bass levels were fine. It never would have even occurred to me to consider that they might be a problem if people here hadn't mentioned it.

Don't get me wrong, this is still probably the best this material will ever sound, but I can't see how people are giving it a 10. I reserve tens for demo disc level material. This is a strong presentation of a classic album, but it is decidedly NOT a demo disc. On the polls right now (of course this may change) this is ranked higher than Moondance, Wish You Were Here and Bob Marley Legend. Those are demo discs, this is not. I think that once the excitement and newness wears off most people will agree with me.

 

[ngv99]

I listened to it a couple of times over the weekend again, and I've decided to change my vote. I think I was overly-excited about having one of my all-time favorite albums in surround, and while this is a very solid disc, it's not something that I feel deserves a 10. It is very front heavy and not as discrete as I believed at first listen. That said, I do enjoy the mix overall and it's worth repeated listens, as it's still such a great album. I'm lowering my vote to an 8.

 

[marpow]

I voted 10.
This 1970 release is so highly respected and enjoyed by millions, it's hard for me to not have the expectaion of a 10 going in.
My purchase was the Japanese edtion with 16/44.1 SHM CD's and the Blu Ray.
Box Set: slightly dissapointed with the smaller size, would have liked it at lease equal to the John Lennon sizes. That said, really nicely put together, easy to get book, poster and discs out. Discs fit just right in there paper sleeves. The book was perfect for my brain, just the right amount of info. Not like a Jethro Tull box set which takes weeks to read.
CD's 1 & 2: Orginal album with the 2020 stereo mixes. I have not listened.
CD's 3, 4, & 5: I really loved these 3 discs, when I listened it put me in a mellow place. Many tracks George and guitar, other tracks with band. CD 3, mostly Take 1's with a few 2's & 3's. CD 4, all take 1's. CD 5, Track 1 "Isn't A Pity" Take 14, is really funny. These are recording session outakes so you can really hear the album develop.
One thing I noticed on all 3 of these discs in stereo that George's vocals lay pretty center, which suprised me, I did not have any expectation, but so many stereo recordings from that era, are ie; vocal left, guitar right, you know that kind. I was extremely pleased with the stereo imaging of the 3 extras discs. The DR's for the 3 discs are mostly 9's, 10's, 11's.
Blu Ray Disc: The stereo 24/192 2.0 is just superb, really crisp with great stereo sound stage. Love the stereo. The DR's are mostly 6's and 7's, suprising.
5.1 DTS-HD master: Pretty good, nice surround, great fidelity, little discrete moments here and there. Unfortunately I listened to the 5.1 after the Dolby Atmos and they just don't compare.
Dolby Atmos: This is what we wanted and this is what we got, wow, beautiful is all I can call it. These great songs that I love listening to even on my phone in MP3, now in Dolby Atmos in my listening space with home rig. Plays at 24/48. DR's are 9, 10's, 11's, 12's. Comfortable listening was at 66db. My 4 height speakers where fully active the entire play through. This is a plus as some Atmos mixes have a hard time really firing the heights. The feel was the imersive bubble, fully engulfed. Little artifacts pop through discretely here and there. Don't expect anything like Ringo's drum solo blasting down from the heights, awesome, in Abbey Road's Atmos, The End.
Tracks 19-23 are really non existent ATMOS, these extended jams fire the heights barely, center channel is inactive, and rears are used a bit immersively. These 5 tracks are at best enhanced stereo.
My system: 5 on the floor, 3 subs, 4 recessed ceiling speakers.
Playback: All discs where ripped and listened to the ripped versions except the Atmos, I just had to right away. But then ripped later.
For all music (the CD's) except Atmos it is JRiver player USB out from dedicated PC to Pre/Pro. For Dolby Atmos listening it is HDMI out from the same dedicated PC to the same Pre/Pro which grabs and plays the Dolby Atmos signal.
Ripping: THe SHM CD's where ripped via Windows Media Player to FLAC.
The Blu Ray was ripped using MakeMKV which grabs the audio and video from the Blu Ray depending on my selection. Flawless, never a problem. I only use MakeMKV for BD ripping, nothing else.
Then the next step is to use Music Media Helper (MMH), this paticular recording I split into chapters (songs) as none of the tracks are gapless with this recording. Thats it, play away.
Thank you, I had a good time writing this and more than anything listening to this monumental album in a version that is the best I ever heard, thats for sure.

Keep poll threads pure, no off topic chatter.

 

[Breetle]

Couldnt have said it any better.

I kept toggling back and forth between the Atmos and the DTS, the Atmos had more bass, for one/ and in fact I turned off the subs and the bass remained the same. They weren't needed. I am still on the fence for this remix- Paul Hicks cannot do wrong (unlike that son of a Martin) but I think the multitracks he was given to work with on this project were all so overburdened with multiple instruments everywhere, that I don't think he had a proper chance to "mix" the way that he usually would. I put in the "Gimme Some Truth" bluray and the difference was jaw-dropping!

 

[MrSmithers]

Paul Hicks cannot do wrong (unlike that son of a Martin)

Paul Hicks did do wrong on Plastic Ono Band. Extremely disappointing Atmos mix. I take it he was instructed to do it that way, but the end result - from a surround point of view, is very disappointing. What’s annoying is that this George Harrison Atmos mix is fantastic so he knows how to do a good mix.

Giles Martin has produced an amazing and an “up there” Atmos mix on Abbey Road… Plus other excellent surround mixes…

Just the way I see it…

 

[ar surround]

I finally got my Atmos rig fired up. ATMP was the first Atmos recording that I listened to. Overall, this Atmos presentation is miles ahead of what we had before on redbook CD. It is a bit too rear-centric for my tastes, but the clarity and detail is excellent. They also did a nice job with Despectorization on most tracks. What Is Life still is too smeared and messy, but that's the only track I really have serious complaints about. I'm going with a 9.

 

[markshan]

One thing I noticed on all 3 of these discs in stereo that George's vocals lay pretty center, which suprised me, I did not have any expectation, but so many stereo recordings from that era, are ie; vocal left, guitar right, you know that kind. I was extremely pleased with the stereo imaging of the 3 extras discs.

Were the outs mixed in 1970 or were they just mixed from multis for this release?

 

[ogrequad]

After some back-and-forth, I finally took the plunge and bought ATMP. My debate had nothing to do with the content - instead, it was purely driven by the cost of the set, which is wildly overpriced. While I am not a fan of the big bloated box sets that include all sorts of unnecessary ephemera and redundant vinyl, I can at least understand a near $150 price tag when a box is packed with that stuff. In terms of ATMP, I actually like the physical size of this box and I'm OK with the booklet, but the price should have been half what they are charging. George would likely have been embarrassed by such price gouging.

Anyway, I've given the 5.1 mix a listen (no Atmos here, though I will check out the Atmos downmix next), and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Fidelity is great, especially when turned up, and the surround mix is warm and enveloping. I would have liked a bit more playfulness and discrete elements, but there still was enough happening in the rears to make it interesting (other than the Apple Jam tracks). So, while this mix wasn't revelatory to me, I'm sure I will be returning to it as my go-to version.

Just started into the outtakes CDs and I'm enjoying them quite a bit. I really like the fact that they didn't bog these discs down with multiple takes of the same songs, so I anticipate that these discs will get plenty of repeat plays.

I'm gonna give it an 8 overall.

 

[lennon fan]

I'm so over the moon for this album and the Atmos is now, after 50 years, my new go-to. Turned off the center channel and transferred it to quad reel. Mind blowing!!!

 

[bayards]

Not blown away with this...a lot of the usual front stage stuff, a bit of reverb in the rears and i didn't detect any overhead stuff. As to music - oh dear.

 

[rtbluray]

Paul Hicks did do wrong on Plastic Ono Band. Extremely disappointing Atmos mix. I take it he was instructed to do it that way, but the end result - from a surround point of view, is very disappointing. What’s annoying is that this George Harrison Atmos mix is fantastic so he knows how to do a good mix.

Giles Martin has produced an amazing and an “up there” Atmos mix on Abbey Road… Plus other excellent surround mixes…

Just the way I see it…

But Plastic Ono Band does not have enough recorded elements on it to do a very immersive surround mix, whereas All Things Must Pass is loaded with recorded elements and overdubs.

That’s the difference. Paul Hicks did the best he could do for both albums.

 

[ngv99]

I called that one, didn't I?

This is the reason I'm holding off on Let it Be for a few weeks. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of releases like this. I did the same.