HiRez Poll Porcupine Tree - THE INCIDENT [DVD-A]

[JonUrban]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this surround release from Porcupine Tree!

 

[wanners]

Just got this today, the same day I got CTA Rhino.

Love the mix, lots of discrete stuff in the rears. At times almost reminds me of the way a quad mix might have been done.

I heard the dts mix of this, so It's not the first time i'm hearing it. It seems almost as if sonic quality was not the point of this disc. It has a bit of a raw sound, but I like it alot and the music. I was also born in 67, the year of Sgt Pepper and are you experienced?

Am I mistaken that DTS encoding is improving the point where there's not as much difference as there used to be b/w dvda and dts, even if the dts is not extended to 24/96?

I gave it a 9, deducting one point for sound quality, my feeling is that he could have spent one more day in production, but that is getting really picky.

 

[Chiburb]

I saw PT play the entire album live in Chicago last September and have intentionally not heard a note since. I was waiting for the DVD-A version.
All I can say is wow! I know most of you have home systems, but my only MC capability is in my car. To hear this 5.1 mix kicked to 7.1 is mind-blowing.
I know it's SOP to wait for multiple listens before rating. IMHO, we already know that PT gets better with each listen, hence an immediate and unqualified 10.

 

[georgeshannon]

That's a good one. I can relate to PT getting better with each listen. I'll vote a 10 now and then listen to it until it gets up there. I've been holding off voting because I know PT does creep up on me over time and I don't know when to pull the switch. I like your approach better. Much easier.

 

[MyCuff]

PT is my favorite band, but that makes me if anything a harsher critic than most. I give it a 9 (and If possible I would give it a 9 1/2). The vote is for sound, mix and content. I have listened to the DTS version extensively, and to my ears the DVD-Audio version is not significantly better. Both are really good, certainly a 9+. As for the mix, it is discrete and aggressive, probably a 10. It is not my favorite album by PT, but it has some truly awesome tracks so a 9 there.

Overall truly excellent but for me not a perfect 10. However, anyone who likes multichannel music and does not own this is crazy!

 

[rusinurbe]

This gets better with each listen i love this album and the surround mix seems to set new standards for a surround mix.

The Videos are a nice touch as are the screen shots for each song..

 

[patrick1]

Hello, I gave this a complete 10 at another post. Won't get too wordy here. Cheers to CHIBURB for his patience. I couldn't do that for the life of me. Looking forward to the Chicago and Radio City Music Hall shows. Will probably have extra PT club member tic to Chicago show.Thanks.

 

[Ge Someone]

A nice addition to the Porcupine Tree discography. The nice thing with Steven Wilson is that his surround mixes are almost always spot on.
What I like here is that, while the material is new, there are many moments throughout this album that remind me of their previous efforts. Making use of those strong points is a good thing. Whether you like this kind of music is up to yourself of course, it is diverse enough not to put it in a single category.

Am I mistaken that DTS encoding is improving the point where there's not as much difference as there used to be b/w dvda and dts, even if the dts is not extended to 24/96?

The DTS encoding of this one seems better then that of "Fear of a Blank Planet" (especially than the title track of that one). It is not certain why, the sound of this album is different, a different DTS encoder was used, so who would know. 24/96 has nothing to do with case at hand, as the 5.1 tracks on the DVD-A are 24/48. Though DTS can be quite good, still the lossless MLP beats it here.
BTW the stereo MLP is in 24/96, I don't know why, there appears to be no content above 24kHz.

 

[tlake6659]

An easy 10 from me. I think Steven Wilson is getting better and better with each surround mix he completes. I think that I like the mix even better than Insurgentes which was my previous favorite. I heard the stereo cd mix about 20 times, and the surround mix made me feel like I never heard the album before. An essential purchase to any Tree fan.

 

[daved64]

An easy 10 from me. I think Steven Wilson is getting better and better with each surround mix he completes. I think that I like the mix even better than Insurgentes which was my previous favorite. I heard the stereo cd mix about 20 times, and the surround mix made me feel like I never heard the album before. An essential purchase to any Tree fan.

Only heard some of it last night (Lost got in the way!) but I agree. The mix is incredible. WIll do a more in depth review later.

 

[stereoptic]

Where is the least expensive place to buy this?

 

[MyCuff]

Where is the least expensive place to buy this?

Burning Shed. Still pretty cheap at $12.90 + shipping
http://www.burningshed.com/store/porcupinetree/collection/51/add/1989/

 

[stereoptic]

thanks Mike!

 

[uffeolby]

Burning Shed. Still pretty cheap at $12.90 + shipping
http://www.burningshed.com/store/porcupinetree/collection/51/add/1989/

Pretty cheap is the understatement of the century - this price is a real bargain and I think that most people who are buying this would still do so even if the price was three times higher.

 

[rusinurbe]

Pretty cheap is the understatement of the century - this price is a real bargain and I think that most people who are buying this would still do so even if the price was three times higher.

I should imagine a lot of those who bought this also bought the Chicago Transit Authority album. I know which one represents best value.

 

[daved64]

So I finally completed playing this. Stunning! It is turning into my fave PT release. Musically it's haunting and melodic and their best all around effort. Visually it is disturbing and fascinating. Lasse Hoile is a fucking genius. Mixwise it is amazing and probably SW's best 5.1 PT disc mix.

A big 10!

 

[neil wilkes]

The DTS encoding of this one seems better then that of "Fear of a Blank Planet" (especially than the title track of that one). It is not certain why, the sound of this album is different, a different DTS encoder was used, so who would know. 24/96 has nothing to do with case at hand, as the 5.1 tracks on the DVD-A are 24/48. Though DTS can be quite good, still the lossless MLP beats it here.
BTW the stereo MLP is in 24/96, I don't know why, there appears to be no content above 24kHz.

I can think of a very good reasoin why the DTS encoding is superior.
On FOABP, I used the then latest DTS encoder - the DTS-PSE. On this one, I used the very latest build of the DTS-HD MAS suite in legacy mode.
DTS keep refining their codec and it keeps getting audibly better.
How good the DTS streanm is compared top the lossless will depend on the mix, and the complexity of it. DTS remember uses a fixed bitrate which must inevitably mean variable quality.
MLP is VBR, meaning the bitrate adjusts to the complexities (given the 3 rules of MLP) of the mix & varies the bitrate. I have seen 5.1 at 24/48 MLP as low as 2.5Mb/sec, and a lot higher.

Regarding the 96k sample rate on the stereo version.
There are many reasons for using a 96k sample rate, and not one of them has anything to do with erxtended frequency response that you cannot hear & your speakers almost certainly cannot reproduce even if your amplifier can. The main one is the filtering in the cvonverter design, as a gentle slope LPF introduced anywhere in the reproductionh chain will eliminate the ringing or pre echo effects of aliasing. The filter design is critical here, and sadly it is cheaper to make a converter sound good at 96k rather than 48k.
Another excellent reason for upsampling is when an oversampling process is used. The numbers alone make sense:
For 44.1kHz operation, a 128x oversampling converter operates internally at a whopping 5.6448MHz! Then it is downsamploed to the target rate, at which time the ultrasonic crap gets filtered out. This process can yeild an S/N ratio of as much as 120dB - or close to the operational (as opposed to the theoretical) limit of most gear.

There is an awful lot of information on this subject at www.digido.com - Bob Katz' excellent site - or in his book "Mastering Audio - The Art & The Science".
http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Aud...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270659736&sr=8-1
So as this is not the right place, I will shut up now...sorry.

 

[Frantic]

Well, once again an easy 10.

Wanners posted early on that the mix was a bit raw. I kind of understand that feeling in the upper registers only. Just an edge to it. Could be my equipment but I only notice it on this effort. Now the real experience, at least on my system is in the lower registers. The bass line, the drums etc... are unbelievable. I have never heard this much action coming at me with crisp force. I had to actually look around several times as I thought someone was screwing with me.
Thanks to SW and all of our members that made this happen. Once again, reference material!

 

[UNCDoug]

10

Love the disc. Not as much as FOABP. Or Lightbulb Sun (my introduction to 5.1 Porcupine Tree). But still a great disc. Dynamics are great. Music is great, though Time Flies' opening was a direct ripoff from Dogs by Pink Floyd. Circle Of Manias--demo material right there!

 

[UNCDoug]

10

Love the disc. Not as much as FOABP. Or Lightbulb Sun (my introduction to 5.1 Porcupine Tree). But still a great disc. Dynamics are great. Music is great, though Time Flies' opening was a direct ripoff from Dogs by Pink Floyd. Circle Of Manias--demo material right there!