Please post your thoughts and comments on this new 5.1 surround sound release from Kansas entitled "The Absence of Presence", available in a CD/Blu-Ray release configuration.
HiRez Poll Kansas - THE ABSENCE OF PRESENCE [Blu-Ray Audio]
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Rickk
Member
I voted an 8. Not super discrete but kind of in the Tom Petty Hypnotic Eye type of mix. Lot's of ambiance in the rears but definitely always stuff in them.
Really enjoy the material.
Really enjoy the material.
MarkyM
Active Member
I listened to it again and upped my vote from a 6 to a 7. I has it's moments, but its mostly a missed opportunity with all that's going on in there. I'm really liking it musically though. Great Kansas music despite all of the new faces!
Wow, two 8's, two 7's and a 5 so far. Not boding well. Is that just because of the surround mix? How's the fidelity?
To me it's Kansas in name only. Only 2 of the original 6 members remain, and neither of them write or sing. Still, to be fair the music should be evaluated on its own merits. It's pretty remarkable that the band is still recording after 48 years even if the lineup keeps changing.
To me it's Kansas in name only. Only 2 of the original 6 members remain, and neither of them write or sing. Still, to be fair the music should be evaluated on its own merits. It's pretty remarkable that the band is still recording after 48 years even if the lineup keeps changing.
My copy has arrived. Yeah, for sure a missed opportunity. I can only imagine what Neil could of done with all the layers and tracks. It's far from horrible, far from great. I honestly had hoped it would be similar to Styx 5.1 release. But, it's not really close. They chose some odd things to use in the surrounds. Like, on some songs, I hear cymbal crashes hit right then left. Slightly in the rear. So, there are attempts at moving things around. And, I hesitate to call them crashes. Not sharp at all.
I am certain, that several will attempt to play around with this one. You know, up the rears, lower fronts, etc. It could help, or it could send things way out of balance. I'm not going to knee jerk vote yet. I always split my vote between 3 items. Fidelity, mix, content. I already know content will be a 9 or 10 for me. I think the music is great. Fidelity, can't decide yet. The DR is super strong on the multi-channel.
I am certain, that several will attempt to play around with this one. You know, up the rears, lower fronts, etc. It could help, or it could send things way out of balance. I'm not going to knee jerk vote yet. I always split my vote between 3 items. Fidelity, mix, content. I already know content will be a 9 or 10 for me. I think the music is great. Fidelity, can't decide yet. The DR is super strong on the multi-channel.
So, I've listened to this multiple times today. Low volumn, high volumn, etc. My thoughts....
Content - 9
Fidelity - 8
Mix - 7
I totally love all the songs on this LP. I could consider content a 10, but I dunno. Fidelity is strong. DR is excellent, though at times, it just sounds loud. The mix as is, I would rate it a 6 or so. I went into Audacity and lowered the fronts by 2db and raised the rears by 2db. With that, and the volumn turned up loud...I find this pleasurable. Please, don't listen at lower volumes. Turn it up...loud. You might appreciate it more. I do.
I'm rating an 8, with the adjustments I made. Is that fair? I guess it would be a 7 without adjustments.
Content - 9
Fidelity - 8
Mix - 7
I totally love all the songs on this LP. I could consider content a 10, but I dunno. Fidelity is strong. DR is excellent, though at times, it just sounds loud. The mix as is, I would rate it a 6 or so. I went into Audacity and lowered the fronts by 2db and raised the rears by 2db. With that, and the volumn turned up loud...I find this pleasurable. Please, don't listen at lower volumes. Turn it up...loud. You might appreciate it more. I do.
I'm rating an 8, with the adjustments I made. Is that fair? I guess it would be a 7 without adjustments.
I'm glad you like it now, this morning I didn't know, but now maybe I will get it.So, I've listened to this multiple times today. Low volumn, high volumn, etc. My thoughts....
Content - 9
Fidelity - 8
Mix - 7
I totally love all the songs on this LP. I could consider content a 10, but I dunno. Fidelity is strong. DR is excellent, though at times, it just sounds loud. The mix as is, I would rate it a 6 or so. I went into Audacity and lowered the fronts by 2db and raised the rears by 2db. With that, and the volumn turned up loud...I find this pleasurable. Please, don't listen at lower volumes. Turn it up...loud. You might appreciate it more. I do.
I'm rating an 8, with the adjustments I made. Is that fair? I guess it would be a 7 without adjustments.
Personally, I'd prefer a non-adjusted "actual" vote (because not everyone has the ability or knows how to do that.)So, I've listened to this multiple times today. Low volumn, high volumn, etc. My thoughts....
Content - 9
Fidelity - 8
Mix - 7
I totally love all the songs on this LP. I could consider content a 10, but I dunno. Fidelity is strong. DR is excellent, though at times, it just sounds loud. The mix as is, I would rate it a 6 or so. I went into Audacity and lowered the fronts by 2db and raised the rears by 2db. With that, and the volumn turned up loud...I find this pleasurable. Please, don't listen at lower volumes. Turn it up...loud. You might appreciate it more. I do.
I'm rating an 8, with the adjustments I made. Is that fair? I guess it would be a 7 without adjustments.
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As I said, a 7 without adjusting. I can agree to adjust my vote
I go for an 8.
Content 9, Could have been a 10 if the Blu-ray had some nice extra's.
Fidelity 8, To my ears the album sounds really well but the problem but there's a bit to much going on in the front
And that's why the Mix is 7.
Content 9, Could have been a 10 if the Blu-ray had some nice extra's.
Fidelity 8, To my ears the album sounds really well but the problem but there's a bit to much going on in the front
And that's why the Mix is 7.
Just finished listening to this for the first time, and I"ll say up front I've never been a huge Kansas fan, and others here that like this style of music will probably grade the content higher.
First a little about the graphics and menu.
Here's a screen pic for the graphics / menu played through my oppo with it's display menu on.
I like the graphics overall with movement of little stars and the B&W band members photos changing as it plays. I thought the menu portion was not real clear as to its selection (not enough contrast) and a better way would've been to have a selection grow larger than the rest as one possible example. I didn't even notice until about the third song in that the song playing was slightly highlighted at a bottom row (can you see it?)
The audio bit rate for LPCM was 13.5 mbps and the DTS-HD MA was between 7-8 mbps if anyone cares.
I was able to change the audio format on the fly with my oppo which is good.
Will go over some quick general thoughts I jotted down while listening through each song.
1- Too much front-centric of a mix with too much of the same in all the channels.
2- A little better than the first song, but as I stood between the rears listening at times the rears just seemed to drop out too much to my horror; I guess that's a style of mixing I'm not aware of.
3- Liked the front violin solo. At this time was thinking it could use more mid to low end punch, and would need to really crank it to get the dynamic punch out of it (shouldn't have to do that IMO.)
4- "Propulsion 1". Some nice occasional rear channel shifts.
5- A little more front to rear instrument (off shifting action) on occasion.
6- By this track my head was starting to hurt a little with the volume up. So I decided to grab my SPL meter and it registered at around 80-82 dbs, it was more comfortable at around 72-74 dbs but then lost the punch that a good rock album should have.
7- Heard some interesting Synth. mixed in moving from the fronts to rears. But in general all the instruments are mostly unfocused.
8- About now was thinking what @GOS was, about how much better this would have been if it had a mix like Styx's "The Mission"
9- Some real discrete percussion in the rears on this and even moving from side to side in the rears. At about 4 min. in there's a lot of instruments flying around the horn so to speak (too little too late though.)
Decided to switch to the stereo mix to give that a try (which I almost never do.) It was sounding like a nice dynamic mix with more focus of the parts, probably due to all the compression I'm guessing.
I'll be kind and I'm giving it a 7 (* kinda like at the end of a blind date, give her a peck on the cheek and say - I'll call ya bye!.)
First a little about the graphics and menu.
Here's a screen pic for the graphics / menu played through my oppo with it's display menu on.
I like the graphics overall with movement of little stars and the B&W band members photos changing as it plays. I thought the menu portion was not real clear as to its selection (not enough contrast) and a better way would've been to have a selection grow larger than the rest as one possible example. I didn't even notice until about the third song in that the song playing was slightly highlighted at a bottom row (can you see it?)
The audio bit rate for LPCM was 13.5 mbps and the DTS-HD MA was between 7-8 mbps if anyone cares.
I was able to change the audio format on the fly with my oppo which is good.
Will go over some quick general thoughts I jotted down while listening through each song.
1- Too much front-centric of a mix with too much of the same in all the channels.
2- A little better than the first song, but as I stood between the rears listening at times the rears just seemed to drop out too much to my horror; I guess that's a style of mixing I'm not aware of.
3- Liked the front violin solo. At this time was thinking it could use more mid to low end punch, and would need to really crank it to get the dynamic punch out of it (shouldn't have to do that IMO.)
4- "Propulsion 1". Some nice occasional rear channel shifts.
5- A little more front to rear instrument (off shifting action) on occasion.
6- By this track my head was starting to hurt a little with the volume up. So I decided to grab my SPL meter and it registered at around 80-82 dbs, it was more comfortable at around 72-74 dbs but then lost the punch that a good rock album should have.
7- Heard some interesting Synth. mixed in moving from the fronts to rears. But in general all the instruments are mostly unfocused.
8- About now was thinking what @GOS was, about how much better this would have been if it had a mix like Styx's "The Mission"
9- Some real discrete percussion in the rears on this and even moving from side to side in the rears. At about 4 min. in there's a lot of instruments flying around the horn so to speak (too little too late though.)
Decided to switch to the stereo mix to give that a try (which I almost never do.) It was sounding like a nice dynamic mix with more focus of the parts, probably due to all the compression I'm guessing.
I'll be kind and I'm giving it a 7 (* kinda like at the end of a blind date, give her a peck on the cheek and say - I'll call ya bye!
.)
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himey
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
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New? What other "new" mixes are you making the comparison to?
himey
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2013
- Messages
- 3,796
The Marillion ones, for starters
Crappy mixes isn't a new thing sadly. I haven't listened to the new Marillion yet.
True. The latest Marillion release (Jester's Tear) is very similar to this one. Rears not active enough, very little discreteness. That's the kind of "half-assed" mixing I was referring to. I wouldn't necessarily say they're crappy, as they're great in other respects, like fidelity and clarity. Jester's Tear got the same kind of poll numbers and comments that this one's getting. I'm looking forward to SW's upcoming Gentle Giant release, as I expect he'll do his customary bang-up job. And, should we be so lucky, someday....someday....Animals.
Which GG is he working on? I can't remember...
Life in Surround Review, explaining my vote, rounded up to "8".
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