HiRez Poll John, Elton - DIAMONDS [Blu-Ray Audio (Dolby Atmos)]

[Felix E. Martinez]

Do you two feel that some / many of these mixes are geared more for the headphones crowd rather than those of us with elaborate Atmos systems?

I haven’t listened to mine yet because it’s only 62F in the basement today. I’ve got to add heat down there!

No they are definitely discrete with key instruments in the rears, just for the first part of the collection, it does seem that the ATMOS mix sounds a bit more front heavy compared to the previous 5.1 mixes on the sacds.

I rated it an 8, but am just revisiting the second half of the collection, and the acoustic guitars and background vox in the rears on Sad Songs are bliss. I would bump the rating to 9. Can I do that?

 

[fredblue]

No they are definitely discrete with key instruments in the rears, just for the first part of the collection, it does seem that the ATMOS mix sounds a bit more front heavy compared to the previous 5.1 mixes on the sacds.

I rated it an 8, but am just revisiting the second half of the collection, and the acoustic guitars and background vox in the rears on Sad Songs are bliss. I would bump the rating to 9. Can I do that?

yes, you can now change your vote

 

[GOS]

In my humble opinion, the first 6 tunes are simply astonishing. They are well worth the price of the disc. WOW!!! I've listened to Elton for years and years...all the 5.1 discs. Those first 6 tunes are blowing me away. Fucggg

 

[bktouchstone]

I vacillated between a 9 and a 10 on this one. What pushes me to a 9 is that to my ears there is a subtle but noticeable graininess to the overall sound. Also occasional sibilance on cymbals/hi hats. The SACD sounds “smoother.” What pushes me to a 10 is the song selection is a one stop shop for whenever one needs an Elton fix. The mix to “The Bitch is Back” is tremendous, exciting, and reveals the complex interplay between the various instruments. What a great arrangement. The “post 70s” material has some real standouts, but I especially like “Nikita.” There are also more than a few “skippers” post 70s.

I don’t agree with all the inclusions or exclusions: “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” is the best sounding bad song! The Atmos mix really helps it out a lot, but I still can’t say that I love it. Better to have the Atmos version of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.”

There is a lot of greatness to this career spanning release. I would love to have all of the 70 albums remixed to Atmos.

Going with a 9, though I can see my SACDs getting a lot less play now that I have this.