HiRez Poll Rolling Stones, The - GOATS HEAD SOUP [Blu-Ray Audio (Dolby Atmos)]

[JNL]

An 8 for me as well. After the very dull start the remaining songs deserve 8's and some 9's as far as I'm concerned. There certainly are some really nice, immersive parts. Too bad the first song and a half were mixed in such a flat way. And the glued book, oh well, it has all been said

 

[ar surround]

People have explained their disappointment with this mix, so I tried a couple of things to deal with its shortcomings. All listening was done in Dolby Atmos.

For the songs tagged as too front-centric:

1) To me, the mix at times seems too center-centric and that is driving much of the front-centric impression. On some songs, I lowered the center channel by 1.5 dB and that helped somewhat. On other songs, I kept the center channel at -0- dB.

2) On some songs, I adjusted the front/back balance by 3 dB rearwards.* Doing so helped ease the 'disjointed' feeling of this mix on some songs. On other songs it didn't work because the information from the rear sound stage would suddenly come on too loud depending on the passage. I suppose I could fool with it in Audacity, but that would kill-off the embedded Atmos info.

Perhaps what's most perplexing is that the Atmos mixes on three bonus tracks are excellent. They are very balanced, cohesive, immersive and jump out of the space the way an Atmos mix should. I also like the bonus track songs musically.

So I give this thing a 7, but the bonus tracks save the day and take it up to an 8. (Disclosure: It also helps that I got it at an Amazon blowout for $65.)


*(Note that I use my Marantz AVR as a pre-amp for the seven floor speakers and route those channels through a Parasound P7 pre-amp. So I am able to adjust the front/back balance of the seven floor speakers with the Parasoun without dinking with channel levels in the AVR)

 

[fizzywiggs41]

Well I finally got around to purchasing this....VERY FIRST STONES ALBUM IN SURROUND !

I gave it a nine fwiw. Mainly because I was going from memory as I had this on vinyl.
This was my first Stones album back when..in 73 ?.....finally I felt guilty that I thought this was an underwhelming album , but I was so wrong.

There are some standout blues rock originals contained on this very good album.
I love the way that Nicky Hopkin's piano tends to circle about the quadrant on what is now my favourite song ,track 9 " Can You Hear The Music"

I listen in 5.0 btw .....and I think there are some jems on this album for surround via the Giles Martin/Craig Silvey duo.

Also a wonderful bonus are the 3 tracks mixed in surround ,one with Jimmy Page.

Oh I could nit pick about the package , lack of surround on Dancing ...and not required posters , but I paid after coupons....$115.00 ..so that's just fine by me.

The book is a very interesting read indeed.


Derek aka Fizzy

 

[marpow]

Wow, I posted 4 times on this poll. I like many others, posted on this poll obviously because it is a good album and it is The Stones.
We are passionate about our Stones.
I will keep my vote at 8, but it certainly sounds in Atmos better than it did to me before.
My room was in process before and now been finished for a long time.
Without being too descriptive the hang up I had before and still do is Mick's front stage vocals, like muffled from the rest of the surround.
If you took out Mick's front vocals it would go to a solid 9 for me.
The heights are much better than I remember it from before.
Also when I first listened I was really new to ATMOS and I will admit, it took a bit to allow my brain to decipher all the imaging in the surround bubble of ATMOS. Better at it now.
Still hoping for more Stones in surround, that would be great.

 

[par4ken]

I put off purchasing this because of the high price of the overblown box set. I recently found a sealed copy at a reasonable price. Too bad that it wasn't available as a stand alone disc, in that case I would have purchased it years ago!

Reading many of the comments here I wasn't expecting much from the Atmos version. I listen to everything in 4.0. I would agree with comments about the mix being rather variable. Front oriented much of the time and a bit odd sounding, at times. It does however have its moments when the surround is excellent!

Now the big surprise is the bonus tracks! For me those are worth the price of admission, surround wise and even content wise they are off the charts!!

So what I would rate a 7 or maybe an 8 gets a boost due to the quality of the bonus tracks! I'm voting a 9.

 

[ar surround]

Front oriented much of the time and a bit odd sounding, at times. It does however have its moments when the surround is excellent!

Now the big surprise is the bonus tracks! For me those are worth the price of admission, surround wise and even content wise they are off the charts!!

Yes. Gotta wonder why Giles made the main album front oriented while the bonus tracks are so surround oriented?