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.

 

[Bobby Martini]

i'd be a rich b!tch if i had a penny for every conversation about Elton's latest single/album over the last 30 or so years with both casual listeners and hardcore fans alike where they've said "ah it's alright but it's not as good as his old stuff"

I've said it before and I'll say it again.........his output was better when he was on the drugs !

 

[Bobby Martini]

BBC News - Elton John's hits album finally goes to number one - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8kn2lr733o

I'd like to think we all had a hand in this

Bravo Elton

 

[GilWave]

The answer is simple: This is a Blu-ray Audio version of a previously released collection. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Like Bleeding wasn't on that collection. That's why it's not on the Blu-ray.

Fair enough. And it is on the Atmos release of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, so I've got it.

 

[GilWave]

This is not a collection curated for Atmos.

It was first released in 2017 in stereo as in both two and three CD versions. The first two discs are all singles and were hits on at least one chart.

The third disc was a "bonus disc" on the deluxe version with even more hit singles with every one of them having charted at least somewhere. The only true non-singles on the set were the Piano Version of "Skyline Pigeon" (b-side to "Daniel") and "Pinball Wizard", which received as much airplay at the time as if it were a single and charted in several countries based on airplay alone.

Could Funeral/Love Lies have been on the album? Sure. But so could have so many others. And GYBR is already well represented with 4 tracks. Tumbleweed Connection isn't represented at all. Some fairly big hits were left off. "Levon" could have been on here. "Border Song" . "Grow Some Funk Of Your Own" "I Feel Like A Bullet"

We can debate forever which tracks they could or could not have chosen but how well suited any are for Atmos clearly wasn't going to be the case for an album compiled without Atmos in mind at all.

You're right, of course. You are all right.

I will now soak my body in lamp oil and flagellate myself with the power cord of an original Technics SL1200MKII