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

[JediJoker]

I'm afraid I just don't share others' enthusiasm for this new stereo mix. The drums sound totally out-of-period for 1977. With the cymbals revealed better, I can understand why they were originally buried in the mix; they sound awful, like they were recorded without much thought to mic placement. Both the snare and the kick lack the body and oomph they had in the original mix, having been traded for superficial "clarity." The kick, in particular, is far too beater-heavy (though to a much lesser extent than the mutilated kick on Rush's Vapor Trails Remixed). Meanwhile, keyboards sometimes pop out of the texture in a way that detracts from the overall gestalt of the arrangement, and guitar parts aren't blended as seamlessly as in the original mix. Overall, I find the soundstage to be much flatter and shallower, lacking the rather pronounced depth of the original.

All of this can probably be forgiven (perhaps even forgotten) in 5.1, but I'm afraid James Guthrie missed the mark in stereo. If Brian Humphries is still around, I'd be curious to hear his thoughts on the new mix.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I'm afraid I just don't share others' enthusiasm for this new stereo mix. The drums sound totally out-of-period for 1977. With the cymbals revealed better, I can understand why they were originally buried in the mix; they sound awful, like they were recorded without much thought to mic placement. Both the snare and the kick lack the body and oomph they had in the original mix, having been traded for superficial "clarity." The kick, in particular, is far too beater-heavy (though to a much lesser extent than the mutilated kick on Rush's Vapor Trails Remixed). Meanwhile, keyboards sometimes pop out of the texture in a way that detracts from the overall gestalt of the arrangement, and guitar parts aren't blended as seamlessly as in the original mix. Overall, I find the soundstage to be much flatter and shallower, lacking the rather pronounced depth of the original.

All of this can probably be forgiven (perhaps even forgotten) in 5.1, but I'm afraid James Guthrie missed the mark in stereo. If Brian Humphries is still around, I'd be curious to hear his thoughts on the new mix.

 

[fcormier]

I'm afraid I just don't share others' enthusiasm for this new stereo mix. The drums sound totally out-of-period for 1977. With the cymbals revealed better, I can understand why they were originally buried in the mix; they sound awful, like they were recorded without much thought to mic placement. Both the snare and the kick lack the body and oomph they had in the original mix, having been traded for superficial "clarity." The kick, in particular, is far too beater-heavy (though to a much lesser extent than the mutilated kick on Rush's Vapor Trails Remixed). Meanwhile, keyboards sometimes pop out of the texture in a way that detracts from the overall gestalt of the arrangement, and guitar parts aren't blended as seamlessly as in the original mix. Overall, I find the soundstage to be much flatter and shallower, lacking the rather pronounced depth of the original.

All of this can probably be forgiven (perhaps even forgotten) in 5.1, but I'm afraid James Guthrie missed the mark in stereo. If Brian Humphries is still around, I'd be curious to hear his thoughts on the new mix.

Thanks for putting in words what I'm feeling and glad to see I'm not the only one. Like I said in other words in another post, it feels re-recorded like AMLOR.

 

[César]

Lossless in Apple Music, but no surround for now.

 

[rusinurbe]

I'm with Jedi on this there is something off about the sound/mix I can not quite place it but it just does not sound as organic as the original mix.
Thats speaking as someone whom is usually accepting of remix.

Hopefully this means Guthrie has finally nailed the surround mix as this stereo mix sound wrong

 

[LeperLord]

OMFG!!!!!!

Cheers for the heads up on Dogs", being on Apple
Is that the 5.1mix, or the stereo & i am hearing my AVR upmix it?

i can only tell ATMOS on Apple cuz it says ATMOS.i never find any other surround Infos on any LPs there

i am so emotional right now after hearing that

As a teen in troubled times, hoping this won`t be my life.Blown away when i put this on in my room

Extreme physical and emotional abuse at school...........

Then as a full-grown man sitting up all night and days on end with my spouse(now ex) with this on repeat, as she promised she was done with cocaine, " this is the last time I swear.I love you and you are way more important to me."

When the words "Just another sad old man alone & dying of cancer AHA", that was our special connection

Then the last 11 lines tha account for his life experiences and "How he was dragged down by the stone"

Almost too much to endure

 

[Robert van Diggele]

On first hearing this sounds very good. All is more defined compared to the 1977 mix. Vocals en keyboards (in verses and the ambient part) are clearer. Looking forward to the full album and 5.1

 

[LuvMyQuad]

This has to be in the top 10 for most divided opinion of a mix.

 

[NYMo]

I'm not even going to listen to this mix until I have the SACD ( or blu-ray) in my Oppo !

 

[notfer]

Weird. I can't listen to the song in YouTube yet. It says that it premieres on July 22 (today) at 12:00pm.
Is this a Canada thing?

 

[Robert van Diggele]

Weird. I can't listen to the song in YouTube yet. It says that it premieres on July 22 (today) at 12:00pm.
Is this a Canada thing?

When you search on YT Pink Floyd Dogs 2018 Remix you already get a playable version.

 

[fthesoundguy]

This has to be in the top 10 for most divided opinion of a mix.

This is why SW stays as close to the original mix as possible without straying too far when he does a remix. People have only heard this version for 45 years. Any change to that is going to throw people off. This one sounds better than the re-recorded AMLOR, but that’s a whole different can of worms in the first place.

My thought on it not being true to it’s time is, if they had all the tools back in the 70s that we do now, don’t you think they would have used them?

 

[fcormier]

This is why SW stays as close to the original mix as possible without straying too far when he does a remix. People have only heard this version for 45 years. Any change to that is going to throw people off. This one sounds better than the re-recorded AMLOR, but that’s a whole different can of worms in the first place.

My thought on it not being true to it’s time is, if they had all the tools back in the 70s that we do now, don’t you think they would have used them?

SW mentioned in interviews that when he does remixes, the first thing he does before doing the surround mix is matching the new stereo mix to the original mix.

 

[fcormier]

Weird. I can't listen to the song in YouTube yet. It says that it premieres on July 22 (today) at 12:00pm.
Is this a Canada thing?

It worked yesterday. They must have added the "premiere" option later.

 

[harync]

I understand both sides of the debate. On the one hand, I appreciate the clarity the remix brings. On the other hand, some elements sound quite different than they have for the past 45 years. I like Gilmour's guitar sound better on the original and while I appreciate actually hearing the cymbals, there are a few places where the tom-toms were a bit too loud for my taste.

While few people would say the original Animals mix was perfect, it wasn't Abbey Road that had all sorts of things that nobody would ever do even a few years later (e.g., hard-panning).

Fortunately the Blu-ray comes with both the stereo remix and the original stereo mix along with the 5.1.

 

[fthesoundguy]

One of the weird parts in the new mix are the Tom hits from ~1:50 - 2:24. They low end of them really overwhelm and overpower the guitar part in that section. That’s really the only point that made me go “huh, that’s really different”

 

[jimfisheye]

Trying to critique a mix run through the Youtube meat grinder?
Ha ha charade you are!

 

[rontoon]

I just streamed this at 192k via Qobuz. You can take advantage of the free 30-day trial and cancel before they charge you anything. I agree that the sound is pristine but the darkness, grunginess, and original atmosphere have suffered a bit from this. It's not necessarily a bad thing, just different.

 

[harync]

Trying to critique a mix run through the Youtube meat grinder?
Ha ha charade you are!

Cruel, but fair. Actually, Dogs can now be streamed lossless through Apple Music.

 

[bookofsaturdays]

Cruel, but fair. Actually, Dogs can now be streamed lossless through Apple Music.

Hasn’t hit Spotify yet, strangely.