Marillion "Fugazi" (Deluxe Edition out in September 2021!)

[EricKalet]

I've seen people online claiming this is Andy and Avril's best 5.1 mix yet. But folks here claiming there are issues...
Can anyone post wav forms or some such?
Is this a good 5.1 mix or not?!

I don't have wav forms or anything like that but my ears are LOVING this! Add to the sonic quality, it's a very very aggressive surround fully active mix!

 

[4-earredwonder]

I don't have wav forms or anything like that but my ears are LOVING this! Add to the sonic quality, it's a very very aggressive surround fully active mix!

And for under 30 bucks from ImportCD in a beautiful hard bound booklet with real plastic clasps to hold the discs securely .....a veritable bargain, IMO!

 

[sjcorne]

My disappoint with the sound quality of the remixes aside - I've been playing around with the 5.1 mix in my DAW and there's all kinds of cool details you can pick out by isolated specific channels. The center channel in particular is cool to audition solo, as it contains completely dry drums & bass and isolated Fish vocals. During the guitar solo in "Assassing", you can hear the harmonized guitar overdubs punch in-and-out of the rears, as well as Fish saying "feel the blade" pan from left-to-right across the rears. Auditioning the rear channels only in "Punch and Judy" reveals that what I thought was percussion underpinning the main keyboard riff is actually a xylophone(?), plus there's the aforementioned telegraph sound effect panning back-and-forth after the chorus. The group harmony vocals at the end of "Fugazi" can be heard on their own in the rear speakers.

Probably the coolest reveal for me is during the second section of "Incubus" - underneath the lead guitar in the front channels, there's an atmospheric backwards(?) synth part isolated in the rears.

 

[Muppet69]

I know that feeling, its the if I piss him off enough he'll cough up for Prime, and every time you order they tell you sign up for Prime you're missing out. Unfortunately for amazon I don't think I am!

Resistance is useless!

 

[César]

I finally got my copy from Amzon Spain. For 24 euros, the wait was worthy.
On first listen, I'm really surprised about how much different it sounds compared to the original. First of all, it sounds much cleaner and spacier, which all alone it's an improvement. I have had no signs of listening fatigue, but I haven't raised the volume a lot. On the mix, my feelings for once is that it's a bit overdone, with too much emphasis on the rears which shadow Fish's voice, front centered. I'm tempted to lower the rears before raising Fish's lead vocals, but I believe there's something not very well balanced (on my setup and in my humble opinion).
Regarding the fade out on the title track, reading the liner notes it's very clear that the band didn't like this in the original mix and the explains the way it was mixed now.
Despite I love the original album and I think Fish's voice has lost some of his power in this new mix, fidelity is so good now that I doubt I will play again my old CD.
I hope Holidays in Eden will be a better mix, maybe in Atmos?

 

[4-earredwonder]

OK, I'm playing the Marillion FUGAZI BD~A right now in LPCM 5.1 WITH THE CENTER CHANNEL DISENGAGED and without any weird volume adjustments. Fish's vocals are DEAD CENTER and ROBUST, achieving, IMO, a perfect balance between fronts and rears!

TRY IT!

IMO, a successful remix!

 

[perzon57]

I like it as it is with center channel,no problems with volumes to me.A top mix of a record I've never heard before.Sometimes that's a blessing.

 

[César]

OK, I'm playing the Marillion FUGAZI BD~A right now in LPCM 5.1 WITH THE CENTER CHANNEL DISENGAGED and without any weird volume adjustments. Fish's vocals are DEAD CENTER and ROBUST, achieving, IMO, a perfect balance between fronts and rears!

TRY IT!

IMO, a successful remix!

Now that is weird, I would have never thought the vocals will get more prominence after shutting down the center speaker. But there's not only vocals in there but also bass and drums, aren't they impacted? I will give it a try though

 

[edisonbaggins]

Now that is weird, I would have never thought the vocals will get more prominence after shutting down the center speaker. But there's not only vocals in there but also bass and drums, aren't they impacted? I will give it a try though

This has me wondering if the center is out of phase...

 

[César]

This has me wondering if the center is out of phase...

Hate to say it, but maybe it's time to rip and take a look a the waveforms

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Now that is weird, I would have never thought the vocals will get more prominence after shutting down the center speaker. But there's not only vocals in there but also bass and drums, aren't they impacted? I will give it a try though

When Ralphie says he disengaged the center, I believe that's his way of saying hes playing it quad style with the center blended into the mains. He dosent use a center channel.

 

[sjcorne]

Now that is weird, I would have never thought the vocals will get more prominence after shutting down the center speaker. But there's not only vocals in there but also bass and drums, aren't they impacted? I will give it a try though

It has to do with level difference between 'phantom' center and the real center channel - I think it was @rtbluray who originally posted about this ages ago? For the level of the center channel to exactly match the 'phantom' center ( a mono signal suspended between two speakers), one has to add 3 dB of volume. The same goes for the reverse action - if you're folding the center signal into the mains, you're supposed to lower it by 3 dB.

I suspect that Bradfield & Mackintosh did the stereo remix first, then simply panned the vocals to the center speaker without adding the 3 dB boost to account for real vs phantom center. Some of Steven Wilson's 5.1 remixes have this problem as well.

If you tell your AVR to ignore your center speaker, it will likely add the center content to the mains without the 3 dB cut - which essentially doubles the volume and thus restores the intended level of the center-panned elements.

 

[César]

When Ralphie says he disengaged the center, I believe that's his way of saying hes playing it quad style with the center blended into the mains. He dosent use a center channel.

Alright, this makes more sense, but the out of phase center as Mike is suggesting would also explain why vocals sound less prominent than in the stereo original mix. But without making any more experiments a good test would be listening to the new stereo remix. If lead vocals are kind of buried, then it's a mixing decision

 

[LuvMyQuad]

It has to do with level difference between 'phantom' center and the real center channel - I think it was @rtbluray who originally posted about this ages ago? For the level of a mono signal in the center channel to exactly match the 'phantom' center ( a mono signal suspended between two speakers), one has to add 3 dB of volume. The same goes for the reverse action - if you're folding the center signal into the mains, you're supposed to lower it by 3 dB.

All true.

If you tell your AVR to ignore your center speaker, it will likely add the center content to the mains without the 3 dB cut - which essentially doubles the volume and thus restores the intended level of the center-panned elements.

This I'm not sure of. I thought most gear made the -3dB adjustment. But I've never tied to play without the CC.

 

[sjcorne]

This has me wondering if the center is out of phase...

LCR channels on "Assassing" appear to be in-phase.

 

[edisonbaggins]

All true.


This I'm not sure of. I thought most gear made the -3dB adjustment. But I've never tied to play without the CC.

I can easily play 5.1 mixes sans center and without telling my pre/pro I'm doing it. C has its own amp. I can try it!

 

[4-earredwonder]

When Ralphie says he disengaged the center, I believe that's his way of saying hes playing it quad style with the center blended into the mains. He dosent use a center channel.

I do have 2 fully functional 5.1 systems and am currently playing Fugazi in 5.1* and totally agree way too much info in the center channel almost drowning out Fish's vocals.

Wonder if they utilized 5 full range speakers when mixing this into 5.1? Sure sounds like it!

*5 matching Bowers & Wilkins Satellite speakers and matching B&W sub with OPPO 205 player!

 

[Muppet69]

Still waiting for mine. It’s now been “preparing for shipment” for 3 effing days from Amagonnatakemysweettimepostingthisbecaushesgettingfreeshippingandonlywaithedthreemonthszon.ca

Still waiting

 

[edisonbaggins]

Got mine. CD sounds really good.

 

[van1]

Got mine. CD sounds really good.

Cd or did you mean blu ray?
I remember you shared a comment that Avril said this release would have a more aggressive surround mix. A follow up interview would be nice to talk about the mix, how they’ve enjoyed the 5.1 ride and any lessons learned plus future surround plans - Fish has commented that this team will also ‘surroundify’ his solo back catalogue.
Keep up the stellar work with your reviews