HiRez Poll Medeski Martin and Wood - UNINVISIBLE [DVD-A]

[JonUrban]

Please post your comments, thoughts and observations.......

 

[zabble]

I just love this one---funky, groovy, and discrete as hell!

It's almost like an old quad recording (with a higher resolution and an extra speaker).

 

[Kazaam]

It's an OK disc. In my opinion, it's not great; but I've certainly heard much worse. Out of curiousity, has anyone ever listened to the 6.1 DTS-ES surround mix on this DVD-A? I wonder if it sounds much different than the 5.1 tracks?

 

[MIDIQ]

I just love this one---funky, groovy, and discrete as hell!

It's almost like an old quad recording (with a higher resolution and an extra speaker).

I agree. i gave it a 9.

 

[lorax]

I really enjoy this mix. It is definitely all over the place. I feel like this album in general is very conducive to multichannel. I also recently purchased a rear center, and it does make a difference. I don't have too many other dts-es discs to compare to, but this was one of the reasons that I purchased the additional speaker in the first place. Once my wife heard this disc in the discrete 6.1 mode, she understood why I bought the extra center channel. I would love to hear Combustication (one of their earlier releases), as well as the Combustication remix disc in multichannel as well, as long as I'm being greedy!! If you are at all a fan of their music, by all means pick this up.

 

[solaris]

I've liked MMW since I heard them on John Scofield ~ A Go Go.
I had this CD for a few years and like it ok but did not love it.
Well on DVD-Audio it is really much more fun. I love these extreme mixes.
I really like the "In the room with me" feeling of mixes like this.
Love to be able to listen just to the bass player in his own speaker.
Yea the horns and samples fly about but MM&W are in their own places.
A great improvment over the CD :sun

 

[Charley]

I have two DVD-Audio/DTS-ES discs, both of which are 48/24. One of these is Uninvisible and the other is Legion of Boom by The Crystal Method. As to each disc, my 7.1 speaker system reproduces the 6.1 DTS-ES channels with more aggressive surround but with audio quality comparable to the 5.1 DVD-Audio mix. I don’t know if this would hold true if the recording were 96/24. On Uninvisible, I too find it odd that the percussive tracts are primarily directed to the front and rear right speakers. The song writing on Uninvisible is inventive and I frequently alternate between the 5.1 DVD-Audio mix and the more lively 6.1 DTS-ES mix. However, the 6.1 mix is my clear favorite with Legion of Boom - a great album to listen to when you want the club feel without the cigarette smoke and crowd hassle.

 

[analogdemon]

I have a 6.1 system and have listened to both the DVD-A 5.1 mix and the DTS ES 6.1 mix. Both are great, but the edge definitely goes to the DTS ES 6.1 mix. It just sounds more full. Plus, the sound quality of the DTS is right up there with the DVD-Audio. There are many places where my ear can't hear a difference.

Another beauty of the 6.1 mix is that the rear center channel is actually discrete. A lot of 6.1 movies and some 6.1 DTS discs don't use a discrete 6th channel, instead using encoded information in the front-center channel to "unfold" the rear-center channel. I was pleasantly surprised to see the word "Discrete" light up under the DTS-ES light on my receiver.

 

[CarcPazu]

I gave it a 8. I like the "extreme" mix of it. At first I wasn't sure if I liked to have the drums only on one side, but I got used to it and now I enjoy it a lot. I kick this one when I receive friends over and everyone talk and all sitting everywhere but at the sweet spot, since the mix is weird, everyone gets a piece of it. This one lost 2 points because I don't like their songs as much as Combustication. But bring me Combustication with this sort of mix and I think it would worth a 10.

CarcPazu

 

[Felix E. Martinez]

Groovy disc. I really like it. As if Booker T. & The MG's mated with Martians in surround sound.

 

[Key]

Wow didn't even know about this! I'll have to pick this up since they are my favorite band. Yes I agree Combustication would be nice in 5.1. But that would need a complete overhaul because the mixing is more of an invisible speaker thing then a descrete IMO. But yeah hearing medeski's leslie swirl in 5.1 has got to be a treat.

I've listened to some of there recordings through matrices. By far the most impressive (mix wise) is there last album "End of The World Party (just in case)". It sounds like it was referenced for DPLII or SQ (QS isn't bad either).

 

[timbre4]

GREAT album even better on DVD-A surround! MMW seems to make excellent or merely so-so off-putting albums. You want this one for sure.

 

[DaneelOlivaw]

I gave this title a 9. Fun surround mix, very discrete. Drums are placed roughly at the front/right side of the surround field, mostly on the side though, which was strange at first but after awhile realized it fits with this music. Loooow bass is in pretty much all channels so appropriate speakers, even with bass management used, should be used. Sound itself is very warm/smooth - but still detailed - and hiss is clearly present so I assume this was sourced from an analog master.

 

[Cai Campbell]

I agree that this is a fun, funky and discrete as hell disc! I really like it. I totally didn't know what to expect and this was definitely a pleasant surprise. However, given that the band is a trio (with added guest musicians) the arrangements are very sparse.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to admit that I think the surround mix is a tad too adventurous, especially considering the sparse arrangements. It's still a lot of fun, but the thing wanders around the room too much, seemingly just for the sake of wandering around the room.

I don't want to harsh too much on this point, because generally I really like this sort of thing... but it does seem a little overboard and not always fitting with the music. I think I'd like this disc more if the mix were reeled in a bit and tempered with some cohesion. I want to give it 9 points but I'm scaling it back to 8.

 

[Key]

This is probably the only thing I don't own from these guys. I think I've slept long enough on it going to have to pick up a copy - meaning I would own three copies of this album CD, LP, and DVD-A

 

[neil wilkes]

It's an OK disc. In my opinion, it's not great; but I've certainly heard much worse. Out of curiousity, has anyone ever listened to the 6.1 DTS-ES surround mix on this DVD-A? I wonder if it sounds much different than the 5.1 tracks?

The quality is not even close to as good as the 5.1 lossless for me.
The mix is kinda fun though - it makes a definite change having a true Cs channel as opposed to the much more common Phantom Cs.
Still, 6.1 is a bloody odd format - the only reason I have it right now is because I had to buy my speakers in pairs, and thought "why the hell not" as my amp handles this, and I also have the 3 LOTR films which are also in 6.1ES.
Interestingly, Everclear's "So Much For The Afterglow" also has an ES 6.1 discrete mix too.

I've not played this one enough to vote on it yet - it is definitely jazzy, but I need more time (I only got it last week)

 

[timbre4]

MMW albums are wildly adventurous; some are repeat classics and the rest I have to throw back. I say this as an improvising musician who truly appreciates what they've set out to accomplish.

Uninvisible is one of their better albums IMHO, I just played this the other night and it makes me want Friday Afternoon In The Universe in 5.1.

Relatedly - the Midnight Oil DTS release has a 6.1 mix that is very nice. That is one of their better albums as well.

 

[fzappa]

I held off buying this for a long time, because of one review I read. It said to be careful that the bass in the center speaker might blow it up. I have a lot of MMW on CD and really wanted this, but that worry kept coming back and I'd wait. Well, what the hell, if I can't handle the bass I need a new center. It handles it fine and is very enjoyable. The video is fun too. Could go a 9 on this one.

 

[Ge Someone]

It is discrete for sure. Lesley organ left F+R, drums right F+R ,bass in the middle.
Unfortunately I think the musical ideas were used up somewhere halfway the album.

 

[Key]

I think this wasn't mixed as well as the Stereo imo. It seems like the mixer just tried to emulate a concert where Medeski is on the left, Wood is in the center, and Billy is on the right (or was it the other way around I forget). I found the set it and forget it approach to the mix kind of lacking and very predictable.

I actually did something weird to get this DVD-A to sound much more exciting - to my ears anyway. I set it so that Medeski was up front Lf and Rf and I put Martin on the surrounds Ls and Rs. To me this made more sense with Medeski's leslies and stereo keyboard sounds.

But yeah certain things just bug me about the tone of the instruments - see Nocturnal Transmission and the drum tone on the stereo version compared to the tone on the surround sound version.

I had also been listening to some other albums run through a decoder - Combustication, End of the World Party etc... - prior to hearing the DVD-A and I guess the decoder just sounded more aggressive.

This would not be my first pick to remix in surround sound but still I think it could have been better. It sounds like the mix is a rough mix and not a finished one to me imho.