DVD/DTS Poll McCartney, Paul & Wings - Venus & Mars [DTS CD]

[marpow]

I paid $60.00 for a new copy. It's worth it as I like the music and will listen again. I have read the poll thread and I must say everybody is correct. In a nut shell it is inconsistent track to track. There are moments of discrete beauty and then, ugh. The 5.1 mix throughout is fun and imaginative and that what counts for me. I am voting 8, and honestly the only fault in this disc is that it is DTS.

 

[par4ken]

I recently made copies of many of my DTS cds to play in the van on the MEX-DV2000, this was one of them. I've had this for years but didn't really play it a whole lot, I felt that this album and the singles from it had been played to death back in the day (although not as much so as "Band on the Run"). Anyway I plopped it into the player and WOW! The surround is excellent as is the sound quality and the material is excellent, especially when you haven't heard it in awhile! I suspect that this traditional type Quad mix sounds best with a more traditional four corner placement as it sounds fantastic in the van better than any other disc I've played so far.
So no less than 10!

 

[fizzywiggs41]

I recently made copies of many of my DTS cds to play in the van on the MEX-DV2000, this was one of them. I've had this for years but didn't really play it a whole lot, I felt that this album and the singles from it had been played to death back in the day (although not as much so as "Band on the Run"). Anyway I plopped it into the player and WOW! The surround is excellent as is the sound quality and the material is excellent, especially when you haven't heard it in awhile! I suspect that this traditional type Quad mix sounds best with a more traditional four corner placement as it sounds fantastic in the van better than any other disc I've played so far.
So no less than 10!

I agree.

And for some reason when I want to listen to Band On The Run , I invariably change my mind and play Venus instead.

Quirky tunes that I like more and more with each listen. I paid big money to get this lost treasure and it puts the Q8 to such shame .

Will give it a 9 !

 

[kap'n krunch]

I agree.

And for some reason when I want to listen to Band On The Run , I invariably change my mind and play Venus instead.

Quirky tunes that I like more and more with each listen. I paid big money to get this lost treasure and it puts the Q8 to such shame .

Will give it a 9 !

I , myself also lean towards V+M...it's my fave...I usually play a great Q8 conversion..I remember paying quite a bit for this, but not too much...

 

[HDave]

Picked up a copy recently on amazon for 40 with shipping, was listed as used very good. New ones available for 65+, I thought I'd take a chance cause really only heard Listen what the Man Says and didn't want to spend another 25 bucks if I didn't need to.
Surprised on receiving it the amazon grade was actually used like new, looks just the shrink wrap off quality from me a grade of NM+ in the small CD jewel case.
If I bought this in the early stage of my collection I might have leaned a bit higher on the poll # but being a seasoned surround listener I think it only had a few good rca dog moments (my dog reacted to certain parts,like me). I like Band on the Run a little more......So mix a 6, sonics a 7, content a 6.... Overall decent addition to the collection but meh a 6





Edit: Grammar

 

[GOS]

Picked up a copy recently on amazon for 40 with shipping, was listed as used very good. New ones available for 65+, I thought I'd take a chance cause really only heard Listen what the Man Says and didn't want to spend another 25 bucks if I didn't need to.
Surprised on receiving it the amazon grade was actually used like new, looks just the shrink wrap off quality from me a grade of NM+ in the small CD jewel case.
If I bought this in the early stage of my collection I might have leaned a bit higher on the poll # but being a seasoned surround listener I think it only had a few good rca dog moments (my dog reacted to certain parts,like me). So I like Band on the Run a little more......So mix a 6, sonics a 7, content a 6.... Overall decent addition to the collection but meh a 6

I agree with your rating. I recently purchased...and to my ears, it sounds a little rough around the edges. A bit harsh I'd say...

 

[quicksrt]

Someone needs to record this into 24/96 files and do major re-EQ on it. Then master it to lossless quad LPCM and maybe have a nicer presentation in quad.

You never hear about folks doing re-EQ jobs on old DTS masters. Only channel re-assignments. But I think some surround content could use fresh EQ by someone who knows what they are doing. Few know what the hell they are doing when it come to EQ. In fact it would be advisable to do it in the analog stage on the way to 24/96 capture.

 

[18.4 f'ing cathedral]

I prefer active surround mixes, one highlight here would be the title track reprise. Rather have the rears a bit too loud than the common issue of safe surround. I admit it's a rough listen when there's metal percussion banging away in a rear channel, though. The compression never bothered me, except for little bass and no kick drum at all (disclaimer, I have a 4-channel setup, potential mixdown problem).
The biggest problem with this title is definitely the songs, several cringe moments and some tracks listenable. "Letting Go" is good & easily the best for me. I'm voting 7 based almost entirely on appreciation of the active mix.

 

[privateuniverse]

A frustrating listen. I've loved this album ever since it was first released. (I first owned it on 8-track!) I love the quirky nature of all the genre hopping from song to song. "Treat Her Gently" is a classic McCartney ballad. "Letting Go" is a killer rocker. "Call Me Back Again" is a stunning torch song. And so on....

The mix is, for the most part, pure 70's quad; sometimes to the extreme. It's fun in a lot of places....but a couple of times it gets pretty wacky and you have to wonder what they were smoking that day in the control room at Abbey Road.

The thing here that keeps this from being a really enjoyable listen is the fidelity. It sounds incredibly muffled throughout most of the disc. I wouldn't be surprised to find that this was (poorly) sourced from a Q8. (I've certainly heard many Q8 conversions that sound more dynamic than this.) The odd thing is that the fidelity seems to improve a bit with the ninth track ("Call Me Back Again") and stays that way for the rest of the disc. However, once that happens, all of a sudden there isn't as much activity in the rear speakers which there had been heavy use of on the earlier tunes. It's very disappointing for me as I really do love this album. Maybe someday Sir Paul can have his old pal Alan Parsons remix it from the multitracks. Until then unfortunately I can't see myself giving this many spins. I would love to hear a decent conversion from a Q8 sometime.

One thing I noticed in the liner notes (that I don't see anyone else having mentioned above) that could certainly add some fuel to the fire:

Post production Analog to Digital conversion, balance and equalization; PETER MEW, ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS.

I imagine one or two people might have a field day with that.

Love the album, but I can't give this disc more than a 6.

 

[Owen Smith]

I have both the DTS CD and a DVD-A/V rip of a Q8, and the Q8 rip sounds much better. The DTS CD sounds muffled as you say. I found the same thing with Band On The Run, again I have the DTS CD and a Q8 rip.

I have some DTS CDs that sound excellent, like Eagles "Hell Freezes Over". So it's not the format, something was done badly with these Wings DTS CDs.

Should add: my Q8 conversions were done by Captain Beyond, qudos to him for great transfers that I couldn't have done myself.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I have both the DTS CD and a DVD-A/V rip of a Q8, and the Q8 rip sounds much better. The DTS CD sounds muffled as you say. I found the same thing with Band On The Run, again I have the DTS CD and a Q8 rip.

I have some DTS CDs that sound excellent, like Eagles "Hell Freezes Over". So it's not the format, something was done badly with these Wings DTS CDs.

Should add: my Q8 conversions were done by Captain Beyond, qudos to him for great transfers that I couldn't have done myself.

I absolutely agree, I’ve always thought these two DTS CDs sound horrid!
They are 5’s.

 

[JonUrban]

I have both the DTS CD and a DVD-A/V rip of a Q8, and the Q8 rip sounds much better. The DTS CD sounds muffled as you say. I found the same thing with Band On The Run, again I have the DTS CD and a Q8 rip.

I have some DTS CDs that sound excellent, like Eagles "Hell Freezes Over". So it's not the format, something was done badly with these Wings DTS CDs.

Should add: my Q8 conversions were done by Captain Beyond, qudos to him for great transfers that I couldn't have done myself.

I agree, especially with "Venus and Mars". A good Q8 rip sounds much better than the DTS CD, and what's up with the channel order? It makes sense that when they did the Q8 they were trying to make both sides the same time, but the DTS CD should have matched the original order of the LP, or at least the original order of the Q8.

 

[ar surround]

I only have experience listening to 2 DTS-CD discs...Seventh Sojourn and Abraxas. The sonics on both were terrible. Not the thread for this, but I have to wonder if any of them sound good. And there are quite a number of Q8 rips out there that sound really nice.

 

[Owen Smith]

I only have experience listening to 2 DTS-CD discs...Seventh Sojourn and Abraxas. The sonics on both were terrible. Not the thread for this, but I have to wonder if any of them sound good. And there are quite a number of Q8 rips out there that sound really nice.

I assure you Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" DTS CD sounds excellent. Unlike the normal album CD, all of the tracks on the DTS CD are recorded live and they sound the best on the DTS CD. The capture of the concert ambience is fantastic.

The difference may be "Hell Freezes Over" was itself a new album at the time the DTS CD came out, as such the DTS mix and live concert tracks should have been done new. Whereas the albums we're discussing sounding bad on DTS CD are legacy titles and who knows what route the original quad took to get onto the DTS CDs.

My own view is DTS CDs and full bit rate DTS on DVD-V is damned close to indistinguishable from lossless. I've done a handful of listening tests on modern(ish) DVD-A/V and I suspect if I hadn't know which was which I wouldn't have been able to tell.

 

[fredblue]

I only have experience listening to 2 DTS-CD discs...Seventh Sojourn and Abraxas. The sonics on both were terrible. Not the thread for this, but I have to wonder if any of them sound good. And there are quite a number of Q8 rips out there that sound really nice.

not wanting to derail proceedings, briefly off the top of my head some DTS CDs i found worthwhile from a surround point of view over the years include..

Edgar Winter Jasmine Nightdreams,
Lyle Lovett Joshua Judges Ruth,
Poco Crazy Eyes,
Stephen Stills Stills,
Ohio Players Fire,
Ohio Players Honey,
Boyz II Men II,
Don Henley The End Of The Innocence,
Vital Information Global Beat,
Alan Parsons On Air,
Midnight Oil Capricornia,
Billie Myers Growing Pains,
Ben Craven Tunisia - Two False Idols,
Olivia Newton-John Back With A Heart,
Open Circle Party,
Alain Mallet Mutt Slang,
Hattler Surround Cuts..

edit: here's a (very) wee QQ thread/slash/piccy reference on some of these dee tee ess cee dee's

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...discs-show-us-your-dts-cds.25596/#post-395395

 

[Hamilton59]

I've always liked this album...I remember buying it as soon as it was released. The follow up to Band On The Run, I couldn't wait to hear it! To me it was a darker, rockier album than his earlier solo albums with a lot of great songs that I still enjoy. As for this release, I think the track order is the only frustrating element to me. I prefer an active surround mix which this version has so I'm going to give it an 8. I'm very glad this disk exists!

 

[mediumwave13]

This DTS issue is extremely frustrating - it took a significant amount of futzing to get this sounding right. Firstly, all but three of the tracks (Medicine Jar, Listen To What The Man Said, Treat Her Gently/Lonely Old People) had their rear channels out of phase. Also all songs except for those three previously mentioned had the rears 2dB too loud (those three only needed a 1dB adjustment).

Also, the scattered tracklisting of this disc is just nuts. I spent some time putting them back into their right order with the appropriate gaps as per the stereo LP. Sounds much better now overall!

 

[artwwweb]

This DTS issue is extremely frustrating - it took a significant amount of futzing to get this sounding right. Firstly, all but three of the tracks (Medicine Jar, Listen To What The Man Said, Treat Her Gently/Lonely Old People) had their rear channels out of phase. Also all songs except for those three previously mentioned had the rears 2dB too loud (those three only needed a 1dB adjustment).

Also, the scattered tracklisting of this disc is just nuts. I spent some time putting them back into their right order with the appropriate gaps as per the stereo LP. Sounds much better now overall!

Thanks for this. I think we have a thread somewhere that lists problems like this. (I can't find it.) Would be worth adding this info to that.

 

[fredblue]

the Rear channels out of phase thing on Venus & Mars is fascinating because its also a phenomenon on Jeff Beck's Blow By Blow Quad, also mixed by Geoff Emerick.. i can't help but wonder if these out of phase Rears were done that way on purpose..

 

[castironshore]

Does anyone know what the decision to use this alternate track order was based on? Possibly an early track listing for the album?