HiRez Poll Queen - THE GAME [DVD-A]

[fredblue]

front consist 2x12", center 2x8", rear 2x10"
it's not about calibration. i have quite to create enough air pressure in the room,
that everything on the wall and on surfaces starts to rattle.
in direct mode (that's how i use for listening) frequencies aren't adjustable.
turning off of subwoofer doesn't do any diference.

size isn't everything.. maybe you should try slightly smaller speakers!

so many 5.1 things are mixed on nearfield monitors anyway.. Elliot Scheiner still uses Yamaha NS-10's(*) to mix his surround stuff on for example (and he's no sonic slouch!) that a great set of standmounters plus a properly calibrated sub could probably do justice to just about any modern 5.1 music mix. (its with quad stuff you might start running into trouble with smaller speakers, I guess).

I never fear EQ! I embrace it! living in drywallsville, EQ is my friend! I use it to tame unwieldy bass like this old Queen disc!

have you tried this DVD-A IN-Direct-ly..? i.e, EQ-ing it? just once.. its fun!

in all seriousness.. I'd rather go "pure direct" (or whatever its called!) of course.. but I like how well I get on with my neighbours.. and I like my bed (as opposed to a police cell for the night!) so I have to limit it by using the room correction stuff.

it still rocks the joint but my fillings and my fine china don't rattle.. my neighbours nerves don't get rattled either..!! @:

(* actually they're a newer incarnation of the old studio warhorse Yamaha monitors that he uses these days but model number escapes me right now.. either way they're not great big hulking speakers with multiple 12" cones, they're diddy things with little 5 inchers.)

 

[0tto]

size isn't everything.. maybe you should try slightly smaller speakers!

so many 5.1 things are mixed on nearfield monitors anyway.. Elliot Scheiner still uses Yamaha NS-10's(*) to mix his surround stuff on for example (and he's no sonic slouch!) that a great set of standmounters plus a properly calibrated sub could probably do justice to just about any modern 5.1 music mix. (its with quad stuff you might start running into trouble with smaller speakers, I guess).

i used to have pair of those, they are terrible speakers.
as for smaller... already done about 10-11 years ago by replacing pair of Arden with 15"
on present Wharfedale with 12" and won't go further.
it's like with surround sound vs. stereo. once you got addicted, there is no way back
in regard of ES mixes, he's doing just mixes which after go to someone else for postprocessing
of sound. subwoofer can be helpful but cannot replace full range speakers with proper size of woofers.

 

[kap'n krunch]

OK, total derail...
the NS-10's are the most harsh and horrible speakers that I've ever worked with!!!! UGH!!!
But if ES is used to them...meh!!

Sooo, "The Game" is the fist LP I really started disliking Queen...except for a couple ..."Prime Jive" (Thanks Roger!) and "The Game" , it DOES reflect the turmoil that the band was going through...

Material: 5
Mix: 8

Total: 6.5

Now , if they had done "Jazz"...ooooo.....

 

[fredblue]

i used to have pair of those, they are terrible speakers.
as for smaller... already done about 10-11 years ago by replacing pair of Arden with 15"
on present Wharfedale with 12" and won't go further.
it's like with surround sound vs. stereo. once you got addicted, there is no way back
in regard of ES mixes, he's doing just mixes which after go to someone else for postprocessing
of sound. subwoofer can be helpful but cannot replace full range speakers with proper size of woofers.

I never said they were good speakers, just that ES used them to mix on (for whatever reason!?).

I've heard engineers say they like to use crappy bookshelf/monitors as that's the lowest common denominator so if their stuff sounds good on those pieces of **** they'll sound good on anything! @:

I don't get that philosophy myself but hey, if that's ES's (pretzel) logic, it worked, his stuff (mostly) sounds amazing on my ballsy warm old floorstanders that are a million miles away from the signature sound of the NS-10's!

 

[fredblue]

OK, total derail...
the NS-10's are the most harsh and horrible speakers that I've ever worked with!!!! UGH!!!
But if ES is used to them...meh!!

Sooo, "The Game" is the fist LP I really started disliking Queen...except for a couple ..."Prime Jive" (Thanks Roger!) and "The Game" , it DOES reflect the turmoil that the band was going through...

Material: 5
Mix: 8

Total: 6.5

Now , if they had done "Jazz"...ooooo.....

absolutely! crap they may be but even the best in the business get used to crap, I guess!?

Yep, Queen were in meltdown by the time they came to record "The Game".. things got even worse though with "Hot Space"..

..legend has it there was a massive falling out between Freddie & Brian (which was a less regular occurrence, ordinarily the spats would be between Roger & Brian with Freddie often acting as peacemaker) during the sessions for Hot Space and the band did in fact break up (albeit unofficially)...hence the solo projects etc,.

e.g. Freddie was working on solo material (things that ended up on the Mr.Bad Guy album) as early as 1981..

"There Must Be More to Life Than This.
Begun in 1981 as part of the Hot Space sessions.. was also to be recorded by Michael Jackson. A demo version of Jackson singing and Mercury playing the piano exists. The 2012 documentary The Great Pretender features.. a snippet of a duet version, where both Jackson and Mercury share the lead vocals.."

Mr.Bad Guy was a major factor in the hiatus & band woes in the time between "The Game" and HS.. Freddie continually wanted Queen to go in a "poppier"/"dancier" direction, reflecting all the poppy R&B MJ-type music he loved (quite apart from his love of opera, we all know how that panned out with the majestic Montserrat Caballe "Barcelona" set) all something which Brian was particularly opposed to (the R&B stuff not the opera stuff)... the timeframe between "The Works" and "A Kind Of Magic" was as much down to Freddie wanting to do something different from his bandmates, whereas with Roger's solo stuff there was never really the sensation it was a radical departure and would take him away from Queen.. but around '82 there was a real danger of Freddie ditching the band altogether and going solo.. once Mr.Bad Guy tanked he came back to the fold with gusto!

"Jazz" could seriously do with a decent digital mastering (and 5.1 remix!) its never sounded much cop on CD (I don't have the JSACD - yet - but I've not heard good things about it) but the first CD, the 91 Hollywood Records CD, the 94 EMI Digital Master Series and the Japanese Mini LP I have (no idea what mastering but it sounds like a treble-boosted '94 EMI to me) are ALL pretty poor compared to the LP.

 

[fredblue]

Easily one of the nicest box sets I've ever bought..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freddie-Mercury-Solo-10-CD-Region/dp/B00004YTWM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Solo_Collection

Alright there's some juicy stuff that got left off (not least the MJ demos of There Must Be More & the Queen demo of "Love Kills"..) but that's always the way with the big boxes, for me its got more good things going for it than it leaves out!

http://www.queenzone.com/forums/123...r-on-freddie-mercury-the-solo-collection.aspx

http://www.queenvault.com/freddieplus.html

 

[kap'n krunch]

Since I'm not a fan of CDs that were originally available on LP (even early digitally recorded ones-which I've discovered fairly recently), I have had "Jazz" twice on LP...and yes, both with the ...poster (nice!!! ...rumour has it that they rented those bikes and they had to buy them in the end cause the rental company OBVIOUSLY did not want them after knowing what they were used for....)

.iiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIBRAHIIIIIIIIIIIiiiimmmmm.....

 

[fredblue]

Since I'm not a fan of CDs that were originally available on LP (even early digitally recorded ones-which I've discovered fairly recently), I have had "Jazz" twice on LP...and yes, both with the ...poster (nice!!! ...rumour has it that they rented those bikes and they had to buy them in the end cause the rental company OBVIOUSLY did not want them after knowing what they were used for....)

.iiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIBRAHIIIIIIIIIIIiiiimmmmm.....

Haha!! pretty sure it was on the Magic Years documentary I first heard that story about the hired bikes being.. un-returnable (after the Bicycle Race video) I think it may have been Roy Thomas Baker recounting it all then.. but it's been 10 years + since I last watched it so my memory could be off!

"... "Allah, Allah, Allah I will praaaaaaaay for you"

 

[fredblue]

Haha!! pretty sure it was on the Magic Years documentary I first heard that story about the hired bikes being.. un-returnable (after the Bicycle Race video) I think it may have been Roy Thomas Baker recounting it all then.. but it's been 10 years + since I last watched it so my memory could be off!

yep, good to know the little grey cells are still working! it was RTB telling that story of the sullied jazz saddles!

http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/queen/videos/the-magic-years-volume-1.htm

Making Videos

Selection of clips from numerous videos - 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and various others, and interview with Michael Appleton,
Interview with Brian, and 'making of' footage of 'Spread Your Wings' and 'We Will Rock You',
Footage of 'Bicycle Race', and interview with Roy Thomas Baker,
Interview with Freddie and clip of 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love',
Interview with Brian and 'making of' footage of 'Save Me',
Interview with Roger, clip of 'Flash', and interview with Brian,
Interview with John and rehearsal and 'making of' footage of 'I Was Born To Love You',
Clip of 'Radio Ga Ga', interview with Freddie (in Australia, 1985), clip of 'I Want To Break Free', and interview with Mel Smith,
Clip of 'It's A Hard Life', and interviews with Roger and Diana Moseley (costume designer),
Interview with Russel Mulcahy, clips of 'A Kind Of Magic' and 'Princes Of The Universe', and interviews with Roger and Christopher Lambert,
Clip of 'One Vision'.

 

[Bill Houston]

Fun. Pick this up.
Mix/Sonics.: 9
Music: 7

 

[Blrac]

I gave this a 10. There isn't really anything I dislike about this in surround. Upon reading other reviews and that the band was in turmoil at the time...I quit psychoanalyzing things about the music I like when I was about 15 when I discovered what freaks Led Zeppelin were. I loved the music and decided I would only judge on that, and I have pretty much stuck to that. I am not ignorant of what pieces of **** some artists can be. It can be a moral dilemna at times, but for me it is more about the music than the back story (if it doesn't appeal to me) unless it is a good and decent one that you want to rally around. Anyway, sorry for blabbering, but I really enjoy this disc regardless.

 

[blue.monk]

Terrific surround mix and fidelity on this one. The mix is varied, active and engaging with plenty of pleasant surprises. I’ve always felt this to be half a great Queen album - several classics but also plenty of filler. But, for me, the great mix elevates the weaker material making for a much more consistent and pleasing whole than the stereo version. A happy 9.

 

[atlantasteve]

So much more to hear in the surround mix than what I heard in 1980. Did they really record all those sonics back then? This is why I love surround!

 

[edisonbaggins]

What's with the comments of too much LFE? This sounds perfect on my system. Maybe bass mngt has improved in the last several years?
Anyway, 9.49 from Baggy. Total :banana:

 

[Scott65]

my second 5.1 music purchase and a great one, as mentioned previously it is a pity the lyrics did not automatically scroll with the music, but these days we have no lyrics on 5.1 discs anyway...

 

[Franklin]

IIRC on one of the sound options the lyrics do page turn with the music.

 

[himey]

What's with the comments of too much LFE? This sounds perfect on my system. Maybe bass mngt has improved in the last several years?
Anyway, 9.49 from Baggy. Total :banana:

Bass management, we don't need no stinkin' bass management

 

[hipp]

An absolute 10. Just a fine surround mix of marvellous songs. This is what surround is all about.

 

[Spock]

A great surround disc, very happy to have it. It's not my favourite Queen album, but it does include some very good tracks. I give it a strong 9.



Included scans for those who does not have a scanner - or Photoshop

 

[Ninecats]

I gave this another spin today and noticed that I can't pass 48khz on the dvd audio option, I tried a few settings on my Oppo and receiver but no luck reaching 96khz. I do reach 96 choosing the dts option however. Anyone else having this? Not that I lose any sleep over it, just curious.