HiRez Poll Jethro Tull - AQUALUNG [Blu-Ray Audio]

[jimfisheye]

They ALL should've included a BD~A

No argument there!

As I've stated numerous times, the 96/24 DVD~A Stereo remasters on all the JT DVDs were pretty astounding and clearly demonstrated the limitations of the DTS lossy 5.1 by comparison.

Limitations of the core dts decode. The full decode nearly nulls with the lossless. This set literally gave you the same masters in both formats to compare. I remember posting some samples for anyone interested to listen to themselves of a full decode vs. the core only decode vs. the lossless from the bluray. Good luck telling the difference between the full dts decode and the bluray! The core only decode though is very perceptible. No argument that it's a truly awful format due to the lack of proper decoding support in so many media player apps and hardware players. Really really worth the effort to get the format under control for yourself though. Shouldn't have to jump through hoops like that but it works if you do.

 

[quicksrt]

We will see..but...when you consider the less expensive set that was issued and this sale from deepdiscount... I'm not sure how many people are left as potential buyers...people that buy these kind of items usually frequent forums like this one and SHF...and they would know about the sale...

This album title is a "rite of passage" type album that each generation of rock listeners must have or hear. There are other albums like this. Each time a new audiophile lp reissue comes out, it sells exceptionally well and is coveted. MFSL, DCC, Classic, and so on. There is never a saturation point with these kinds of titles, st least not long term.

In three to five years this deluxe box set (complete) will be desired by bluray fans, surround fans, Tull fans and folks wanting the ultimate Aqualung package. And it might not be as common as it seems to be at the moment. Lots of the sets will be missing the LP or the bluray or DVD out of it.

 

[HDave]

I agree that long term this will be valuable...I actually intended on putting that in my post...

Seen pricing of 169.00 before the Deep Discount deal. I read something a long while back about OOP's and future values and 1 SACD title was expected to be 1k in coming years, Toys in the Attic in 14 years its increased 300% but not yet to 1k. Probably why I own 3 copies 1 new sealed and 2 used NM+.....hmmm no thousand bucks yet ...damn....Ha.. But I didn't get into this for investments, just a good coincidence.
We should see a similar trajectory with other titles like the Aqualung box set.

Surround titles most likely to make our children sell them off, instead of appreciating what they have.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I strictly buy all this pricey music for MY enjoyment. As I'm a bachelor, when I'm no longer around I can see my haughty relatives selling all this surround music/laserdiscs/UHD 4K [and eventually 8K] and huge collection of DVDs/BDs for a quarter each [or FIVE for a BUCK] at a gigundus tag sale. But I suppose it's a helluva lot better than: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfUniuD-jsY

Enjoy it while you can.....we're promised nothing in this life.

 

[ssully]

No argument there!



Limitations of the core dts decode. The full decode nearly nulls with the lossless. This set literally gave you the same masters in both formats to compare. I remember posting some samples for anyone interested to listen to themselves of a full decode vs. the core only decode vs. the lossless from the bluray. Good luck telling the difference between the full dts decode and the bluray! The core only decode though is very perceptible. No argument that it's a truly awful format due to the lack of proper decoding support in so many media player apps and hardware players. Really really worth the effort to get the format under control for yourself though. Shouldn't have to jump through hoops like that but it works if you do.

molehills, mountains....

if comparing the two released versions of Wilson's 5.1 mix, any supposedly audible difference between 'core' and 'full decode' of the new mastering is going to be swamped by the actual mastering differences (EQ, compression).

 

[quicksrt]

My box sets arrived today in good shape. Not a lot of padding no bubble wrap. Just some additional paper stuffed in the box with lots of room for the sets to bounce around in.

Looking at the contents inside it's all beautifully printed. LP looks like a nice pressing too.

No stickers on shrink, was there ever a sticker hyping the contents inside? I thought I recall seeing one.

 

[Simon M]

No argument there!



Limitations of the core dts decode. The full decode nearly nulls with the lossless. This set literally gave you the same masters in both formats to compare. I remember posting some samples for anyone interested to listen to themselves of a full decode vs. the core only decode vs. the lossless from the bluray. Good luck telling the difference between the full dts decode and the bluray! The core only decode though is very perceptible. No argument that it's a truly awful format due to the lack of proper decoding support in so many media player apps and hardware players. Really really worth the effort to get the format under control for yourself though. Shouldn't have to jump through hoops like that but it works if you do.

Hi Jim, excuse my ignorance but how can you tell the difference between a core decode and full decode? Is it something obvious that would be displayed on the receiver?

 

[humprof]

Ditto. (And one corner of the box scuffed up a bit from all that bouncing around.) No stickers.

This is getting far afield from the poll, but here's a question for those of you who have both this deluxe set and the smaller CD/DVD set: is the actual text of the bound book identical in both instances?

My box sets arrived today in good shape. Not a lot of padding no bubble wrap. Just some additional paper stuffed in the box with lots of room for the sets to bounce around in.

Looking at the contents inside it's all beautifully printed. LP looks like a nice pressing too.

No stickers on shrink, was there ever a sticker hyping the contents inside? I thought I recall seeing one.

 

[quicksrt]

The hardbound book is beautiful to behold ain't it. The cloth bound slipcase is also quite nice, but I don't like the way they aged it with light moisture stains.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Ditto. (And one corner of the box scuffed up a bit from all that bouncing around.) No stickers.

This is getting far afield from the poll, but here's a question for those of you who have both this deluxe set and the smaller CD/DVD set: is the actual text of the bound book identical in both instances?

I went thru about half of the book and it appears to be identical....of course the bigger set is nicer because the photo's are larger...in one instance they had to reverse the picture in the smaller book to make it work...check this out...the bottom photo is from the smaller set

 

[Clint Eastwood]

The hardbound book is beautiful to behold ain't it. The cloth bound slipcase is also quite nice, but I don't like the way they aged it with light moisture stains.

Very nice(and sturdy) slipcase but you are right about the faux moisture stains...they got a little carried away with that idea..that's the only negative thing I can say about this set

 

[Albert Dagger]

I'm not following the trend on this one, as I don't believe it's one of the top 10 surround mixes out there.
I gave it 8 (Surround mix: 8, Fidelity: 8; content: 9.5/10).

Some general comments:
First, I own the adapted edition, which contains the surround mixes in a lossy format, that is DTS 96/24. It didn't stop me from enjoying the album but I believe that lossless formats for surround mixes should be the standard nowadays.
Second, this release includes the 1974 quad mix, and that's great! I've enjoyed being able to sit and compare the old quad mix with the new 5.1 by SW.
Third, this release includes a flat transfer of the original mix in hi-res. What a treat!

Specific comments on the remixes by SW:
I like the remixes, both stereo and 5.1. Overall, this is great. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep myself from making comparisons - first between stereo mixes, then between quad mix and 5.1 mix. The old mixes (stereo mix and quad mix) have a certain groove, whereas the new mixes (stereo and 5.1) are quite polite, let's say they sound more "Hi-Fi".

Let me clarify what I mean: for instance, the acoustic guitar and vocals are quite up front in the original mix of the title track (at about 1:00). In the remix, it's all perfect, more buried, with reverb... but it lacks that "live" effect. I'm not saying one is better than the other, just that the two mixes sound quite different. For this album, SW's approach was far from being faithful to the original mixes. If we take another example, such as Up to me, in the quad mix we can hear percussion instruments (bongos?) and effects coming from all channels, and some explosive guitars on the right channels (while drums are stronger on the left channels). The 5.1 is so perfect and polite that at my first listen it didn't give me the same "wow" effect. In most of the tracks, though, I like the quad and 5.1 mixes equally - My God is one of these cases.

 

[quicksrt]

Bought it for $29.00 on that big blow-out sale a little while back!!!

The original quad mix in stunning sound is spectacular. Everything else is gravy.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Bought it for $29.00 on that big blow-out sale a little while back!!!

The original quad mix in stunning sound is spectacular. Everything else is gravy.

Bought it for $29.00 on that big blow-out sale a little while back!!!

The original quad mix in stunning sound is spectacular. Everything else is gravy.

I agree and IMO, still the best sounding of all the JT sets as the lossless BD~A should have been the template for all future Steve Wilson TULL remasters.

I also bought that $29 TULL box set as a back~up.......just in case.

I voted a 10.

 

[Audiowannabee]

Picked up a standalone bluray...great audio
I do actually prefer the quad on this one too

Voted a 10

 

[sjcorne]

I see that I never voted on this one. It gets a 9. Not my favorite of the Tull reissues, but still very nicely done.

I got a used copy of the big box a few years ago, before they reissued it in the book format. I almost wish I had the smaller set, just so it would match all the others.

I was already pretty familiar with the quad mix from having a CD-4 vinyl copy. It's got some nice moments, and it's cool for the alternate takes, but I always thought the WarChild quad mix was much better. This is probably because the WarChild quad was done either at the same time or shortly after the stereo version came out (perhaps it was actually engineered with quad in mind?), while the Aqualung quad mix was a "retrofit" done several years after the stereo release. The title track really doesn't work for me without the telephone call effect on the vocals.

SW's 5.1 mix is awesome and fixes all the issues I had with the quad: The vocals sound much better coming from the center channel (the quad mix has them in all four), the title track has the telephone call effect restored, and overall there's more focus on front/back separation compared to the quad mix, which is more of a left-side/right-side deal with some moments of discrete rear activity.

I'd say the 5.1 is the superior mixing job with one exception: "Locomotive Breath". The quad mix on this track is awesome with the guitar licks blasting from the right side and the flute solo isolated in the rears. Now Wilson's take isn't without its strengths: I particularly like how he handled the intro section with the piano upfront and guitar in the rears (the quad mix just has both the piano and guitar in the rear, with nothing in the front until the full band kicks in), but the guitar licks seem to have been dialed back quite a bit in comparison. My best guess as to what accounts for the difference is that SW's mix is more representative of the original stereo balance and the guitar is given more prominence in the quad. I think the guitar-centric version suits the track better, but that's just my opinion.

"Locomotive Breath" (5.1):


"Locomotive Breath" (4.0):

 

[Goona]

Gave it a solid 10 love this

 

[Awdeeohnut]

At last this album was mixed properly! The original was so thin sounding and had no gain you had to turn it up very loud. SW once again has done an amazing job with this remix. Warm and full of bottom end, great mix!!! Very discrete as well, its an absolute joy to listen to

 

[ProgRules]

Tried to play my blu-ray today and it's dying. For the 5.1 mix it won't play anything before LB; choose play album or any track before and it just jumps to LB. The bonus songs play fine and the quad mix plays. Tried it in my Oppo 103 and Sony UBP X800.

The disc has been well-treated and there's no visible damage. I cleaned it twice w microfiber- first dry then wet. No dice. It's like a certain section of the disc just became inaccessible. Very bummed.

 

[jefe1]

I am worried that bluray is showing itself to be a defective format. All the money spent on music and movies and our collections are becoming unplayable. I have the set of back to the future movies and two of the movies keep freezing with glitches and cant be fast forwarded. I already lost my Ryan Adams bluray unplayable. I'm nervous that as the discs become older more and more will deteriorate like HDDVDs did.
Nobody should feel bad about pirate sites after this.