Listening to in Dolby Atmos Streaming, via Tidal/Apple/Amazon

[AYanguas]

Interesting remark. Some weeks ago, I mentioned something about a potential SW mix and said "...if he really gets it right", and someone made fun of it as if I had said something sacrilegious.

Actually I'm a big fan of him, both as a musician and as a mixing engineer, but I don't consider everything he does to be flawless either. Most of the times I love his mixing decisions, but occasionally it doesn't work for me.

I'm also a fan of him (musician and mixing). I generally like his surround cohesive mixing decisions, but...

I don't like the old SW mixes (5.1 and Atmos) when he used mainly the Center Channel for main vocals. It gets too isolated compared with the more broader stereo on both FL,FR channels.

I also don't like previous SW Atmos mixes that are limited to 7.1.4 channels. Even using some Objects, the Wides locations were barely used.

More recently, maybe at the same time Bruce Soord has evolved from mixing Atmos with the vocals only on sides (difficult to get a stable binaural into the head sound) to the extensive use of Wides together with Front Heights or other channels to give a more "Wide-spherical" surround vocals. Steven Wilson has adopted also a similar technique and I listen more and more SW mixes that use the Wides with Vocals or other sounds, and the vocals are not more Isolated in the Center.

I like how Steven Wilson Atmos mixing is evolving, in line (more or less) with the Bruce Soord mixing evolution.

 

[ssully]

Interesting remark. Some weeks ago, I mentioned something about a potential SW mix and said "...if he really gets it right", and someone made fun of it as if I had said something sacrilegious.

Actually I'm a big fan of him, both as a musician and as a mixing engineer, but I don't consider everything he does to be flawless either. Most of the times I love his mixing decisions, but occasionally it doesn't work for me.

SW's best surround work for me isn't on his Tull, Yes, KC, XTC, GG etc remixes, it's his own The Raven Who Refused To Sing.
His Yes Album is very good too (old and new). The rest of his prog mixes to me are all over the map.
(Petty grievance: as a transcribing bassist I'm miffed that the so-and-so didn't isolate Chris Squire's bass in the center for Tales and Relayer, even though he's done that on some other mixes )

Eliot Scheiner and Greg Penney 's surround mixes have been more consistently satisfying.

Thinking about it, one thing that's really crucial are reverbs. If they aren't 'right', it sours the mix for me.
Penny's "Benny and the Jets", to name a happy example, is perfect.

Also, it's admittedly possible to know an album too well...which sets the 'success' bar very high.

(these are all 5.1 mixes I'm talking about, or Atmos mixes, rendered to 5.2. I don't have a ful Atmos setup)

 

[Thonolan]

I'm also a fan of him (musician and mixing). I generally like his surround cohesive mixing decisions, but...

I don't like the old SW mixes (5.1 and Atmos) when he used mainly the Center Channel for main vocals. It gets too isolated compared with the more broader stereo on both FL,FR channels.

This shows how different our tastes can be sometimes. One of my favorite things about his mixing style is the heavy use of the center channel for lead vocals, to the extent than I'm generally disappointed when other mixers don't do the same. On my system at least, and to my ears, lead vocals always sound clearer and more distinctive when mixed following his classic approach.

I know you're not the only who has expressed a distaste for that mixing style, but for the life of me I have never understood it. It sounds so much better to me when done that way. But then our ears, systems and tastes are all different.

 

[Thonolan]

SW's best surround work for me isn't on his Tull, Yes, KC, XTC, GG etc remixes, it's his own The Raven Who Refused To Sing.
His Yes Album is very good too (old and new). The rest of his prog mixes to me are all over the map.
(Petty grievance: as a transcribing bassist I'm miffed that the so-and-so didn't isolate Chris Squire's bass in the center for Tales and Relayer, even though he's done that on some other mixes )

Eliot Scheiner and Greg Penney 's surround mixes have been more consistently satisfying.

I'll always put Scheiner's 5.1 mixes above SW's in my personal preferences. I love his style and with him I always get the feeling he got it 100% right.