HiRez Poll Pink Floyd - ANIMALS [Blu-Ray Audio/SACD]

[jaypfunk]

The new stereo mix for sure takes the balls off the guitar sound. I'll never listen to the new stereo anyway so I DGAF. It's a bit weak on the 5.1 as well but I can forgive it because the whole thing sounds so great.

 

[SomethingAnything]

Easy 10 for the audio mix and music.

OK so the packaging is light on, but it's still quite nice, yeah? And if this kind of packaging helps publish the blur-ray separately -- not locked in a box or, even worse sin, exclusive to streaming -- then great, keep doing it this way!

And I like the blu-ray authoring and classy visuals. Oh, and how about that pop up pig when you click for the pop up menu during play? I love it!

 

[Owen Smith]

I never noticed the pop up pig. But then I tend not to use pop up menus.

 

[SomethingAnything]

I never noticed the pop up pig. But then I tend not to use pop up menus.

Pop up menus are my thing. Integral part of my complex rating formula.

 

[Matt Wilson]

Don't know how you can't give this a 10. This is what we live for. '70s premier prog in 5.1.

 

[van1]

Arrived in Australia from Germany on Friday and ive been spinning it all weekend. Really enjoying it and clarity brings it up to the level of Dark Side and WYWH. Its still a menacing and dark album because of the subject matter so im not really getting the comments around the old production made it sound ‘dark’.
I picked up 2 copies from Groovesland for A$70, so if anyone in Sydney wants a copy, let me know

 

[James Jay]

Don't know how you can't give this a 10. This is what we live for. '70s premier prog in 5.1.

I gave Animals a 10 also adding 1 point for price and choice but I believe everyone hears music differently. If someone give a score lower than most members I am ok with it as long as their decision was considered fairly.
Ex: how could a member give DSOM a score of 1 if the album is classic and the fidelity is great even if you think the surround is lacking.

 

[Cyber 1]

.



Literally my only complaint--and it's got nothing to do with the sound or the mix--is the lack of the 8-track version of PotW. To be fair, it was never promised and I really wasn't expecting it, but it's very weird to me that there remains an officially-released Pink Floyd song that you simply can't buy in a modern format for any amount of money. The only other one I can think of is the "obscured version" of "Not Now John" that was rushed out after radio stations started making their own badly-censored versions.

I'm not going to jump straight to "contempt for their fans!" but it does seem like a major oversight. Maybe they simply forgot. Or the master is damaged. Or Snowy White wanted a fortune. Or...whatever. In the end it doesn't affect the simple fact that this is a great surround mix.

It was released officially on Snowy's CD Goldtop RPM 154. so one can easily take the CD and burn
this to the rest of the release.

 

[Lensflair]

I am still pretty new to experiencing music in 5.1 surround. I am starting to realize the difference in philosophies between the people mixing and mastering these projects. Steven Wilson, Greg Penny, Elliot Scheiner all have different styles. Which leads me to James Guthrie's mix. Animals was never my favorite Pink Floyd album. Not enough Richard Wright for my liking. Still, I have have listened to this on vinyl and cd dozens of time over the years. The new mix has really improved on the sound quality of the original. Other than the animal sounds, there is nothing gimmicky about Guthrie's mix. While very little seems to be coming from the center speaker, the rears are very active, creating a truly immersive experience. I give the mix a 10, but downgraded my final score to a 9, because of the really crappy packaging. Pink Floyd was always on the cutting edge of how their product was presented. This one is a bust.

 

[~dave~~wave~]

...downgraded my final score to a 9, because of the really crappy packaging. Pink Floyd was always on the cutting edge of how their product was presented. This one is a bust.

This is 100% a case of you get what you pay for.
I'm not here to defend PF, but there is a reasonably-priced deluxe version available.

For every post like this, there are a thousand on this forum of "just give me the blu ray, forget the extra crap, means nothing to me, a big rip-of, I'll never buy this."
Where are all those folks now, giving gratitude, praise and bonus points for this?
Apparently some are in the 70-odd votes of 10.

 

[atrocity]

It was released officially on Snowy's CD Goldtop RPM 154. so one can easily take the CD and burn
this to the rest of the release.

It's a VERY different mix.

 

[Scott M4]

This is 100% a case of you get what you pay for.
I'm not here to defend PF, but there is a reasonably-priced deluxe version available.

For every post like this, there are a thousand on this forum of "just give me the blu ray, forget the extra crap, means nothing to me, a big rip-of, I'll never buy this."
Where are all those folks now, giving gratitude, praise and bonus points for this?
Apparently some are in the 70-odd votes of 10.

Ha! I’ve received my blu ray (from Burning Shed) and am waiting for the right time for a good listen. I’m OK with the cover/packaging. The disc seems to slip out and in safely.

I might gripe a bit about some design choices though. The black print on dark red in the booklet is hard to read. I liked seeing the Side A dog image from the original LP disc over the CD and was disappointed when I slid the disc out and it did not have the original Side B sheep and pig image on it. That image doesn’t appear anywhere in the package. So… small gripes (and I can’t compare it with the big redundant package). The total original cover in the booklet centrefold looks great, however, and I like the band photos.

 

[Titch]

I've just got the SACD from Analogue productions and have listened during the weekend. A 10. For me, Pink Floyd was first and foremost The Dark Side Of The Moon (first heard during music tuition, at the tender age of 6, in Mr. Small's class), then The Wall, which came out during my traumatic puberty. Only much later did I connect with Wish You Were Here and Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. And that has basically been it. Up and until now. Never listened to Animals before. But this is tremendous.

 

[perzon57]

I've just got the SACD from Analogue productions and have listened during the weekend. A 10. For me, Pink Floyd was first and foremost The Dark Side Of The Moon (first heard during music tuition, at the tender age of 6, in Mr. Small's class), then The Wall, which came out during my traumatic puberty. Only much later did I connect with Wish You Were Here and Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. And that has basically been it. Up and until now. Never listened to Animals before. But this is tremendous.

Welcome to the Animals club.

 

[Titch]

Welcome to the Animals club.

My son is going to love this. His favourite Beatles song is Piggies.

 

[marpow]

I voted 10.
I have purchased the 3 versions, stand alone Blu Ray and SACD, the Deluxe Set with LP, Blu Ray and DVD.
My review is of the 5.1 but all stereos sound better than my prior Japanese stereo version. The key to all of this is the 2018 remix, which blows away prior versions.
I ripped all three and Dynamic Range is as follows:
SACD- 10, 13, 13, 13, 14.
Blu Ray-14, 13, 13, 12, 15.
DVD- 13, 13, 13, 12, 14.
Listening back and forth between the 3 after ripped, I think my preference is the SACD.
It has a little less brightness compared to the Blu Ray. My ears are very sensitive to brightness in music, I believe because of the slight tinitis I have.
The lossy DVD, probably is my second choice.
Would I come up with the same preference if I did a blind test? Chances are I might not even be able to tell the difference?
My reason for voting 10 is it (all versions) are very good in the world of surround music and for me I love how track 1 starts in stereo and track 5 ends in stereo, I think that is cool.
I also like that when track 2 starts it's all rears and fades to fronts, and now the listener is listening to the balanced 5.1 per the remix author.
So, when you listen you get like a mini experience of all stereo and surround capabilities within the first 4 minutes.
Of course from a packaging point of you the larger set is the best, because of size, pictures, etc.
Others have commented, and I agree, the BD and DVD have that special song within the menu which is cool unto itself.
Glad I have it and will listen again, probably SACD, but if a freind comes over will be cool to show them the differences, albeit slight.
Keep poll threads pure, no off topic and shipping chatter.

 

[MyCuff]

Okie Dokie then, back on topic... It's a 9 for me. I've always enjoyed this album, but hadn't listened to it in years. Great to revisit it with a fantastic 5.1 mix and improved audio fidelity. Getting it delivered for under $20 was icing on the cake.

 

[etzeppy]

Sorry - Not meant to be harsh. Just saying there is no difference. Understand for collector reasons, etc. But no difference in audio/fidelity

All good. I bought the Blu-ray myself. It was cheaper.

 

[warp2600]

All good. I bought the Blu-ray myself. It was cheaper.

and more easily available. I bought the BD in my local media store on release day.

 

[Clement]

Let me begin by noting that this is a 10 for me, and my emotional attachment to this album impacts my vote. Back in January of 1977, my recently started record collection was growing as fast as my paper route could provide the necessary funds. The year before, i had graduated from AM radio to Chicago’s WXRT. When Animals was released, the DJs gladly played the long cuts. They seemed particularly enamored with “Dogs.” Not having discovered drugs yet myself, i can only surmise (and probably project) what they did with 17 minutes on their hands!

Whenever a cut from the album came on a clock radio i was listening to downstairs, i bolted up to my bedroom and turned on my recently acquired system. It wasn’t long before i had the vinyl in hand and played it whenever i could, which was often. I researched Pink Floyd and purchased nearly all of their albums that preceded Animals. Sure, i love DSotM, and pressed, i would admit that WYWH and Meddle are better albums, but Animals has always held a special place in my pink atom heart mother. Once i discovered drugs about a year later, Animals continued to reveal its gifts as my life drifted into a place of darkness and despair in my junior year of high school.

Fast forward 41 years, and i find QQ after struggling through four-and-a-half years of putative sobriety, multichannel mixes being something that at least marginally replicated what i had experienced listening to music whilst drunk and high. Imagine my joy when i found this thread, started a little over four months before I joined! When i first read it, it was on its eighth page, the last posts predicting a fourth quarter release. Well, the fourth quarter was accurate, but it would be another four years before this beauty finally arrived. I had nearly given up hope!

And what a delicious and essential tease the stereo presentation of the opening track is for those of us who were feeling hopeless! As soon as the acoustic guitar strum from “Pigs On the Wing 1” fades, enter Guthrie’s metamorphosing multichannel magic with “Dogs”: strumming all around and synth swells moving behind me from RL to RR and everything throbbing–a living, breathing thing, the soundstage expanding and contracting as the song builds. Maniacal laughter moving round the horn at the end of Gilmour’s first electric guitar run, the picture on my screen lightening and darkening with the song’s rhythms and hues. And all of it so damn crankable–the music has never sounded so crisp and clean and clear! Lots of lovely Guthrie touches throughout make this as close to the out-of-body experiences i’ve had listening to this album throughout the years.

And all that was just a wonderful precursor to the revelation that is “Pigs (Three Different Ones).” Every time i listen to this disc, i keep turning up the volume as the album progresses, so by the third track, the whole second floor is shaking and quaking along with the song, and i’m shouting: Ha! Ha! Charade you are! Mason’s drums and Gilmour’s piggy bass rock my two flat’s very foundation, and the visuals continue to ebb and flow, darken and glow, enhancing the mood, keeping me glued to the screen, my shouts now a scream: Ha! Ha! Charade you are!

The television comes to life again as Richard Wright kicks off “Sheep,” all blues and bleats. Waters keeps the beat and then his vocals up front morph into synth shrieks in the rear, Gilmour slashing and burning; Mason and Waters driving, bold and brash; Wright’s pastoral fills now an ominous cacophony; the whole band dark and muscular and driving home Waters’s bleak vision. And then it’s back to stereo with “Pigs On the Wing 2,” Waters throwing us a bone of hope, of home, of shelter . . . from pigs on the wing.

So were this release not so important to me, historically, i could still justify my 10 because this standalone blu-ray was a mere $20 (will i ever be able to scrape enough together to afford the atmos mix of DSotM?), has a groovy background music menu loop, and a cool pop-up menu in addition to a mix that makes an album of personal significance come newly alive and thrive after all these many years, helping me once again to face my fears and bringing me joy. Priceless.