Pink Floyd - The Early Years - 1965 > 1972

[rtbluray]

Highly recommended reading, best interview until now focused on Quad mixes in the box:
http://hiresaudiocentral.com/hrac-e...ason-on-the-true-origin-of-live-quad-in-1967/

You all will surely like Nick's comment about The Final Cut remix, will say no more now!

That's Mike Mettler for you! I cannot find anyone more passionate than him when it comes to surround sound in the music journalism community.
Sometimes he can be a little over-enthusiastic when it comes to the subject (look at his 'glowing' reviews of discs like "Pet Sounds" and "1+"…) but I'm still glad we at least have one person that is as passionate about the subject as we are!

 

[privateuniverse]

I got a reply from Warner Brothers customer service. They said they'd send me an Obscured By Clouds CD! Yay!

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

 

[Simon A]

I got a reply from Warner Brothers customer service. They said they'd send me an Obscured By Clouds CD! Yay!

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

Excellent news! I'm glad they're on top of this.

 

[notfer]

At last I got my box today! :banana:
I checked the two Blu rays that have been reported with problems (PFREY6BD and PREFY7BD1) and I'm happy to say that they play without problems in my PS3. I bought the box set at Amazon UK. I also got the extra CD on the box.
The design of the box is "interesting". A lot of material to hear, watch and read on the next weeks. opcorn
Now I'm ripping Meddle at 5.1 as I write this.

 

[JediJoker]

Received my box today in California c/o Amazon.co.uk, undamaged and appearing perfect* in every way. The replacement CD was right on top, which seems a questionable placement, but the disc is fine. Price has gone up since I bought it, but it's still cheaper than I have found from any U.S. retailer, even including shipping.

Now, to get on with ripping that 5.1 mix...

*EDIT: Well, I spoke too soon. The first page of my 1972 OBFUSC/ATION set (heavier weight) is torn. That's not an Amazon or shipping issue, though, but something further up the chain. The rest seem to be fine; 1971 REVERBER/ATION is, ripping the Blu-ray now. I'd love to get just that set replaced... I'll see if I can't make that happen.

 

[Fourplay]

Have not received my box yet from Amazon UK here in Colorado. I am in negotiations with them to get a replacement.

 

[The Bright Side]

JediJoker and notfer, you're in for a treat! Looking forward to your thoughts on the Meddle mix!

 

[kap'n krunch]

Apologies for being lazy, but just to confirm ...the Quad "Echoes" mix is 4.0 and 48/24, right?

Thanks!

 

[César]

Apologies for being lazy, but just to confirm ...the Quad "Echoes" mix is 4.0 and 48/24, right?

Thanks!

That's correct for the DVD-V, it's 96/24 on the bluray

 

[IMachine]

The quad mix of Echoes is not well done.
I prefer the new 5.1 mix so much more.

 

[kap'n krunch]

The quad mix of Echoes is not well done.
I prefer the new 5.1 mix so much more.

I Love it.
Don't get me wrong, Andy outdid himself with the new one....but the original mix was REALLY late 60's-early70's...moving all the time...

And besides , we don't know what the real condition for these tapes was....give it a break, it's 45 years old!

As I usually say, it's GREAT to have TWO different mixes..I especially am a BIG SUCKER for these 70's "bouncing all around you" mixes...

 

[Fourplay]

I Love it. It's GREAT to have TWO different mixes...

I still do not have my box, but through the kindness of a fellow QQer I have been able to put ears on all the surround mixes. I will save a detailed assessment for the poll, but I do LOVE the old quad mix of Echoes for several reasons:

#1 I was dying to hear it, and always would have been until I was able to hear it. Now I know!
#2 The mix has variations in the musical content. Some will call this a criticism - but not me. One of the big things that drew me to this hobby was the occasional variation in content, notably Have A Cigar, the title track of Aqualung, and Reelin' In The Years. And this was when I was listening to quad mixes IN STEREO from the LP!

As a collector, variations in very familiar material are part of the joy of the hobby. It's like finding a rare artifact. This Echoes has some VERY cool variations from the familiar studio track. This is also why I like live versions. They are not generally exact replications of the studio work, and when they try to be that I find them boring.

As for the actual mix, I would agree that the Andy Jackson mix is better. But I am positive I will be revisiting both!

 

[privateuniverse]

As I usually say, it's GREAT to have TWO different mixes..I especially am a BIG SUCKER for these 70's "bouncing all around you" mixes...

And actually, if you count the Pompeii disc, we have THREE different surround mixes of "Echoes"! We went from no surround "Echoes" to three surround "Echoes" overnight! Good times!

 

[jimfisheye]

And actually, if you count the Pompeii disc, we have THREE different surround mixes of "Echoes"! We went from no surround "Echoes" to three surround "Echoes" overnight! Good times!

Echoes quad mix from Pompeii has been around for quite a while. (Since 1974 actually.)

 

[privateuniverse]

Echoes quad mix from Pompeii has been around for quite a while. (Since 1974 actually.)

I was actually referring to Andy Jackson's new 5.1 mix of the Pompeii soundtrack, but you're right about the old quad! That makes FOUR surround versions of "Echoes"! Nobody can complain about not having options where that song's concerned, LOL.

 

[JediJoker]

Is the new 2.0 Meddle a fold down?

Can confirm that it is not a fold-down. Easy to spot via the center "bass solo" section of "One of These Days."

Speaking of "One of These Days," I came up with a bit more of a comprehensive solution to the strange levels. Using Pro Tools' clip gain feature, I applied the same level changes to both the stereo and the 5.1. This also allows for gentle ramps up and down of the volume at these points. I did the following:

• Lowered the initial "knocks" by 1 dB
• Lowered the middle "bass solo" section by 3 dB
• Raised the finale section by 1 dB, with a taper back to 0 dB (unchanged) at the very end after the final guitar note decays (during the wind noise) so as to preserve seamless transition to "A Pillow of Winds" for proper gapless playback

I monitored the true peaks to make sure I never violated 0dBFS (highest was -1.0dBTP, for the stereo version), so there is no clipping. If you decide to do the same, no guarantees; YMMV. PM me if you'd like more details.

 

[César]

Gents, I was going to ask Andy but before that I need to be sure that is not my system that is failing to reproduce accurately the audio.
One of these days in Meddle new mix (either in stereo or in 5.1). Between 2:49 and 2:53 approximately there's some distorted sound on the front right. I thought it was my tweeter but looking at the waveforms in Audacity there's something strange as you can see below. I'm showing only FL (up) and FR (down) from the 5.1. At that moment of the song we've going mainly the bass bouncing around the four speakers and the waveform is basically the same in all four apart from some delay. However, on the FR there's a difference (look at the waveform) that makes my tweeter sound like scratching paper. Would you please check that you can hear the same?
It's not a transcoding issue either as I can hear it clearly in the DTS HD directly playing the m2ts file in my Oppo.

 

[César]

A little more buried in the mix, but the noise is there in the CD and vinyl versions too. Funny I did not notice it until I listened to the 5.1, but now it's something that bugs me a lot

 

[privateuniverse]

Yikes......everything I had to go through to get a complete set. I think my story has more chapters than the Star Wars saga. So, to recap, my original order from Amazon UK didn't even ship until a week after release date even though the site continually said it was in stock. After hassling them, they finally mailed it out. When it arrived, it was not sealed, the cardboard band was broken and there was no bonus Obscured By Clouds disc. I contacted Amazon UK who said it was a limited edition and they would not be able to get any more copies. They said my only option was to return it full a full refund, I could then go buy the item from one of their 3rd party sellers (all of whom were charging at least $100 more.) This wasn't acceptable to me, but they would not offer any other solution. So, knowing about Warner offering to replace the faulty blu-ray discs, I contacted them to see if they could send me an Obscured CD. They said they would. Yay! Problem solved, right?

....and now onto the latest chapters of my little saga.....

A few days later Warner customer service informed me that they were mistaken and could not provide me with my missing CD. Crap! So, as luck would have it, I decided to look at Amazon UK's listing again. Lo and behold, they now stated that they had more copies in stock. I contacted them again and told them my sad tale (although I did not mention that this was my second time contacting them.) This time they were much more helpful. They offered to send a new copy and asked me to return the old one. Today (five days later) the replacement box arrived. I immediately noticed two layers of packaging (from Warner, not Amazon) that were not on my first box. Sitting right on top was my prize, my missing Obscured By Clouds CD! So in total, it took 26 days from release date (and three customer service experiences) to finally have complete set. Since I have already listened to/watched most of the discs from my original set and know they play without issue, I am just going to remove the Obscured CD from the new set and send that set back.

Whew, that took forever...... Glad to have that ordeal over with. Of course, their estimated delivery date for my set of Crowded House reissues was December 1st and I still haven't seen those yet. The saga continues. I am your father, Luke! :yikes

 

[Fourplay]

Yikes......everything I had to go through to get a complete set. I think my story has more chapters than the Star Wars saga. The saga continues. I am your father, Luke! :yikes

So from Colorado, Amazon UK said they shipped mine, but it never arrived, and their own tracking system indicates it never shipped. They have said they shipped a new one, but thus far my doorstep is empty. Except for Alan Parsons, which I did receive today! But here we are, nearly a month after the release and still no Floyd for me.

The only saving grace to the situation is that we have had a family crisis that has kept me out of the sweet spot for most of the last month anyway. Still...