Pink Floyd - "Animals" 5.1 Surround Sound Mix (Blu-Ray & SACD editions out in September 2022!)

[SeeMoreDigital]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battersea

 

[madship]

A great improvement over previous Pink Floyd blu-ray blank (might as well be SACD) screens while the song played.

 

[marpow]

I thought I would warm myself up on this thread for a proper vote on the voting poll.
This is based on the one time SACD listen. My stand alone BD-A still no arrival and my Deluxe set out early October.
1. Dark Side Of The Moon 2. Wish You Where Here and Animals comes in at 3rd.
I very much liked the Animals SACD starting in stereo and finishing in stereo, nice touch.
About 1/4 of the way in I had a sense of I needed more bass, however there where two spots with mid level LFE and one spot of very strong LFE that I could feel all strongly through the chair.
I thought a little bit too strong in the rears, but that is what "Channel Level Adjust" is for.
I had the expectation that the ANIMAL noises, pigs, sheep and dogs would be a little more in your face, easy to hear for sure, but I had a different fantasy in my mind.
I will listen to the SACD stereo next.
The little SACD booklet is stout and cool pictures.
I ripped the SACD stereo and MCH using the Sonore software and a OPPO.
The DR's for 5.1 are, 10,13,13,13,14. The DR's for stereo are 13,12,13,12,13.
Looking forward to more listens in the additional formats and seeing the onscreen with the Blu Ray.
Also looking forward to a surround listen in the Challenger.

 

[fredblue]

Questions for our UK friends regarding the cover on the album:

Why is it called Battersea? Was there actually an amusement park there? In his movie, Gorgo was kept captive there until his mama rescued him.

yes there was a Funfair in the Park for many years, my Grandad worked there in the 50's & 60's selling candy floss and popcorn. he loved working there. let's just say i'm amazed we didn't all turn out to be midgets..

 

[tarkusnj]

Ripping the audio from the Blu-ray confirmed what I am hearing...no lfe, basically a flat liner so If anyone is hearing bass from subs, it is being pulled out of the other channels. There is virtually NO punch in the lfe channel. But I am probably not the only one who has seen that. Also the material in the CC is very low and the rears are MUCH lower than the fronts. I think this mix needs tweaking to see if it can sound better! Let's go sheep, follow the herd, bring home the bacon and throw the poor dog a bone!
wow...I really hope they don't screw up The Wall like this.

 

[Bill B]

....Looking forward to more listens in the additional formats and seeing the onscreen with the Blu Ray....

I would lower your expectation for the onscreen with the Blu-ray. The menu is average. The onscreen during playback (to which I assume you were referring) is a static picture with some basic color shifts every once in a while. Nothing really just better than a blank screen.

 

[César]

Ripping the audio from the Blu-ray confirmed what I am hearing...no lfe, basically a flat liner so If anyone is hearing bass from subs, it is being pulled out of the other channels. There is virtually NO punch in the lfe channel. But I am probably not the only one who has seen that. Also the material in the CC is very low and the rears are MUCH lower than the fronts. I think this mix needs tweaking to see if it can sound better! Let's go sheep, follow the herd, bring home the bacon and throw the poor dog a bone!
wow...I really hope they don't screw up The Wall like this.

I had to rip the Blu-ray to check what you were saying about the rears. No center channel is ok for me, as long as the fronts create the right phantom image (as they do in this case). No LFE is fine as well, as the fronts and rears are carrying low freq information (this surprised me on my first listen and stressed the need for a couple of good front and rears or the adequate low pass filtering config in your AVR).
About the rears, to see is to believe, and right you are, sir. Indeed they are at a lower volume than the fronts. I would have never said based on my hearing.
I've listened to Animals in 5.1 like 10 times now and have no objections at all with the volume of the rears... so better to trust your ears!
With the bass I've been playing around during the week. I normally don't use the subwoofer as I live in a flat and have large speakers (and I respect my neighbours). Yet I was finding the mix a bit boomy and recalibrated the system a couple of times and ended up with LFE+Main setting with low pass freq at 60 Hz. However, if I leave the room correction on, the algorithm eats up most of the bass and the mix is a bit too shy to my liking.
Disabling the room correction makes it a bit more enjoyable. I normally don't perceive such a difference with and without room correction, but just saying here in case it helps you enjoying more this very fine mix.

 

[~dave~~wave~]

Interview with jolly old Saint Nick, touching on Animals, S.O.S., mono vinyl, etc.

https://www.analogplanet.com/conten...declares-which-pink-floyd-albums-sound-better

 

[humprof]

Interview with jolly old Saint Nick, touching on Animals, S.O.S., mono vinyl, etc.

https://www.analogplanet.com/conten...declares-which-pink-floyd-albums-sound-better

Love the discussion of Nick's drumming on "Dogs." I didn't realize he was such a jazz-head. I mean, I knew about his collaborations with Carla Bley, but Africa/Brass as his go-to vinyl! Mose Allison & Thelonious Monk on a double bill at the Vanguard! Chico Hamilton!

 

[fredblue]

I had to rip the Blu-ray to check what you were saying about the rears. No center channel is ok for me, as long as the fronts create the right phantom image (as they do in this case). No LFE is fine as well, as the fronts and rears are carrying low freq information (this surprised me on my first listen and stressed the need for a couple of good front and rears or the adequate low pass filtering config in your AVR).
About the rears, to see is to believe, and right you are, sir. Indeed they are at a lower volume than the fronts. I would have never said based on my hearing.
I've listened to Animals in 5.1 like 10 times now and have no objections at all with the volume of the rears... so better to trust your ears!
With the bass I've been playing around during the week. I normally don't use the subwoofer as I live in a flat and have large speakers (and I respect my neighbours). Yet I was finding the mix a bit boomy and recalibrated the system a couple of times and ended up with LFE+Main setting with low pass freq at 60 Hz. However, if I leave the room correction on, the algorithm eats up most of the bass and the mix is a bit too shy to my liking.
Disabling the room correction makes it a bit more enjoyable. I normally don't perceive such a difference with and without room correction, but just saying here in case it helps you enjoying more this very fine mix.

we know that no Centre and no LFE is fine in a Surround Music mix, if it wasn't all Quad mixes would be defective. some Quads are still duff regardless of that but for different reasons!

there's certain given scenarios in which problems may arise when playing back 4.0 or 5.0 content in a 5.1 configuration, among which;

1.) Main speakers are incapable of resolving undistorted low bass at regular listening levels and no Subwoofer is used to compensate,

2.) Main speakers can't play low enough and even though a Subwoofer is in use, it has not been suitably located and/or properly crossed over.

it sounds like maybe your room
correction setup's smoothening or flattening out some excited Bass, not necessarily a bad thing but maybe something to look into why and how its doing that. some AVRs allow you to view and/or adjust what their Room EQ's done to a Subwoofer after the setup process is over, which can be useful.

there's also the possibility that the room correction routine isn't compensating for certain phase issues. sometimes flicking the Phase on a Sub is a solution if there's a lack of Bass after running room correction.. and sometimes it opens a can of worms if you suddenly get boomy Bass or even less Bass than before by doing so!

the underuse of the Centre channel in this mix is a red herring imho, so i won't even go there but there's always more to delve into on the subject of Bass in Surround Sound, though this isn't the right place to discuss it all

 

[Sal1950]

First listen now to the bluray and 3 initial thoughts:
- it's bloody awkward getting the disc out of the slipcase isn't it!

I just noticed that the case binding opposite the normal disc removal side has been left open in the middle 1/3 so you can stick your finger in there and push the disc out.
Now I don't have to clean the prints off dang thing with each use like a LP.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

I ripped the SACD stereo and MCH using the Sonore software and a OPPO.
The DR's for 5.1 are, 10,13,13,13,14. The DR's for stereo are 13,12,13,12,13.

Nice one

 

[Marplot]

https://www.amazon.com/Animals-2018...prefix=animals+2018+remix+,popular,103&sr=1-1
$61.24 on Amazon US for the lp/cd/dvd/br version

 

[boxhead]

My god, switching 'on the fly' between the original 1977 & 2018 stereo mixes highlights just how much of a sonic upgrade this is. The 5.1 then brings the whole thing to life. I'd forgotten how insipid the drums sounded on the original.

 

[fredblue]

My god, switching 'on the fly' between the original 1977 & 2018 stereo mixes highlights just how much of a sonic upgrade this is. The 5.1 then brings the whole thing to life. I'd forgotten how insipid the drums sounded on the original.

the biggest revelation for me in this remix so far is in the sound quality. my Brother gave me all his LPs when he gave up on vinyl in the 90's so prior to this his original UK LP was the way i knew this album and the difference in fidelity i find utterly staggering.

 

[fredblue]

Do you have small rear speakers and rely on a subwoofer in the front of the room? Maybe that is why you can't hear the rear speakers? I listened with (only) four full range channels. No center, no sub and I was surprised how much rear sounds there were, including bass, because of the other Pink Floyd mixes from James Guthrie. I gave Animals a 10 and I don't even like his other mixes. I listen to the old quadraphonic versions of those.

it's that ol' devil called "setup" again

now i wonder if the Producers of the 'Animals' Blu-ray chose to put test tones on the disc because they thought so many people have their systems setup properly already.. or was it maybe because they thought they may have system issues or shortcomings..

i feel the latter scenario would be more common, particularly with a more popular title such as this that's bound to end up in the hands of more than just the usual Surround Crowd.

its not always the case but it usually is setup that's at fault when someone criticizes a mix out of nowhere when the majority say they enjoy that mix.

the truth of the matter is people don't like to admit they may have their gear setup wrong or that they may not be fully understanding of how something works. a shame really but i guess its part and parcel of human nature.

i can't and absolutely don't speak for anybody else but fwiw i learned so so much about Quad & 5.1 and how to get the best out of the hobby from people here at QQ by setting my pride (and prejudice!) to one side and being open to being wrong.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

now i wonder if the Producers of the 'Animals' Blu-ray chose to put test tones on the disc because they thought so many people have their systems setup properly already.. or was it maybe because they thought they may have system issues or shortcomings..

I thought there were also test tones on the Amused to Death Blu Ray. I cant recall if they were on the WYWH Blu ray. And I don't own the DSOTM Blu ray.

 

[srbjab]

I utilize bass management in my system (7.4.4 setup) which has all full range speakers and multiple subs arranged around the room. I employ a relatively high crossover point since I prefer bass frequencies to be reproduced by dedicated and quality subwoofers rather than the comparatively weak woofers in my main speakers. I can assure you that at least in my setup, there is more than enough bass in the Animals remix to frequently rattle the room and produce vibrations you can feel as well as hear. In addition, the side/rear channel activity is nearly constant, occasionally aggressive, and very satisfying from a surround perspective.

Since some of the comments indicate pretty radical differences in what people are hearing (weak bass, no center channel or image, little or no surround activity, etc.), I'm guessing that because of the way Guthrie did the mix, it may be more susceptible to system setup, speaker size/configuration, etc. than other surround mixes. Unfortunately that means some folks may have to tweak their system setup to get the most out of this mix.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

I thought there were also test tones on the Amused to Death Blu Ray....

Indeed there was/were. And with a very familiar look about them too: -

Cheers

 

[cdheer]

My US Special Edition came with a $100 bill signed by David Gilmour inside it.
Thanks Dave, you know I'm a huge fan.

Careful! If you spend that money, Roger Waters will call you up and spend 2 hours explaining why he's responsible for that $100 bill.