Sashaaa
Senior Member
I only heard a snippet today, and will give better impressions later but holy crap, this sounds soooooooooooo similar to the original. Can't wait to give this a full listen in 5.1 as oxygene is an all time fav of mine.
DVD/DTS Poll Jarre, Jean-Michel - Oxygene: The New Master [DD DVD]
- Thread starter Bob Romano
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Sashaaa
Senior Member
Just gave this a full listen, here are some of my thoughts.
Oxygene is undoubtedly one of the most important and classic albums in modern music, and it's influence I feel like I don't really need to explain. None of that matters though unless the music is great, and well, it definitely is. This release sounds incredibly similar to the original, to the point where unless I compare side by side, I easily forget I'm listening to a different recording of it. That's really a good thing not a bad thing, because you get the benefits of modern recording technologies to make a excellent 5.1 mix, while not having to have a really different version of the album (much like the content on his own aero dvd, which is still excellent btw). This album uses the full speaker array exceptionally well, and has things super directional while still being quite directional and discrete. I think my favorite moment is when there is that "giant sounding synth" in the beginning of part one and its just straight in the center. If I had a gripe with the 5.1 mix I'd say its a slight bit too rear heavy from looking at the vu meter on foobar2000, but it isn't really a problem.
Such a breath of fresh air in the sea of rock based 5.1 mixes out there. Look, I love rock as much as the next guy, but I like pretty much every other genre just as much. I always wished there was more good electronic releases in 5.1, because I feel like it's the genre that should benefit most from the full speaker array. It's more that I just wish we had a more variance in genre's for 5.1 mixes. Anyways that's a bit off topic.
I'm going to give this a 9, and it's one of a few absolutely essential electronic releases in 5.1. (some others that come to mind is 3-d the catalogue by kraftwerk, phaedra by tangerine dream and Tomita's stuff)
Oxygene is undoubtedly one of the most important and classic albums in modern music, and it's influence I feel like I don't really need to explain. None of that matters though unless the music is great, and well, it definitely is. This release sounds incredibly similar to the original, to the point where unless I compare side by side, I easily forget I'm listening to a different recording of it. That's really a good thing not a bad thing, because you get the benefits of modern recording technologies to make a excellent 5.1 mix, while not having to have a really different version of the album (much like the content on his own aero dvd, which is still excellent btw). This album uses the full speaker array exceptionally well, and has things super directional while still being quite directional and discrete. I think my favorite moment is when there is that "giant sounding synth" in the beginning of part one and its just straight in the center. If I had a gripe with the 5.1 mix I'd say its a slight bit too rear heavy from looking at the vu meter on foobar2000, but it isn't really a problem.
Such a breath of fresh air in the sea of rock based 5.1 mixes out there. Look, I love rock as much as the next guy, but I like pretty much every other genre just as much. I always wished there was more good electronic releases in 5.1, because I feel like it's the genre that should benefit most from the full speaker array. It's more that I just wish we had a more variance in genre's for 5.1 mixes. Anyways that's a bit off topic.
I'm going to give this a 9, and it's one of a few absolutely essential electronic releases in 5.1. (some others that come to mind is 3-d the catalogue by kraftwerk, phaedra by tangerine dream and Tomita's stuff)
-This is a coy of a post I made before finding this thread -
Just listening to that DTS version. I love Oxygen, I will be biased.
What a mess.
1) Tt sounds harsh, there a light distorsion in some places, it sounds as anti analog as it can be, with a medium emphasis (what for ?).
2) The 5.1 mixing is embarassing.
Like it was done by someone that had no idea what do with the material. That means nonsensical movements to pretend the space is used at the price of coherence (already into Oxygene 1) or reverb for bigger space, even -gasp- rear reverb on front signal.
3) There is often added reverb also on parts (bass parti in Oxygene 1) to make the sound "bigger" like a child messing with effects to make is mp3 rip sounds bigger (or so he thinks) but it just makes the mixing messy and blurred.
This is the very definition of a missed opportunity, really I am the image of disapointment.
Just listening to that DTS version. I love Oxygen, I will be biased.
What a mess.
1) Tt sounds harsh, there a light distorsion in some places, it sounds as anti analog as it can be, with a medium emphasis (what for ?).
2) The 5.1 mixing is embarassing.
Like it was done by someone that had no idea what do with the material. That means nonsensical movements to pretend the space is used at the price of coherence (already into Oxygene 1) or reverb for bigger space, even -gasp- rear reverb on front signal.
3) There is often added reverb also on parts (bass parti in Oxygene 1) to make the sound "bigger" like a child messing with effects to make is mp3 rip sounds bigger (or so he thinks) but it just makes the mixing messy and blurred.
This is the very definition of a missed opportunity, really I am the image of disapointment.
After the initial disappointment experienced by some people due to the misleading promotion (see the first post in this stream), looking back, this is a rather excellent and quite generous release. Not only do you get a fantastic live performance (no audience) in 5.1 of four guys surrounded by mountains of analog equipment, with some terrific additional material (about 20 mins) that fits in as if it's meant to be there, but you also get a 5.1 studio version (not a remix apparently, but you'd be hard pressed to tell) of the original album. And the mixes are very enjoyable! Not adventurous by today's standards but still great, and with a full sound.
This is a must for Jarre fans who have surround equipment and copies are available (secondhand now, obviously) for a pretty good price at Discogs. I have had this from the start but have never voted for some reason. There are mixed reviews above, but I'm giving it a ten (the only one who has). Great music, enjoyable mix, generous content.
I'm playing it on my 5.1.4 system (mixing in the .4, which works quite nicely).
This is a must for Jarre fans who have surround equipment and copies are available (secondhand now, obviously) for a pretty good price at Discogs. I have had this from the start but have never voted for some reason. There are mixed reviews above, but I'm giving it a ten (the only one who has). Great music, enjoyable mix, generous content.
I'm playing it on my 5.1.4 system (mixing in the .4, which works quite nicely).
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