HiRez Poll Rush - SIGNALS [DVD-A/BluRay]

[Perp]

This is just flat out awful! And yes, I sat through the entire album, and once is too much. :yikes

 

[halothane]

I've had the box for ages but never had the time to spin the surround disc. I have just spun 2112, Fly By Night and Moving Pictures back to back, and while they aren't the best surround mixes I have heard, I have enjoyed them. Following them with Signals and I am struck how bad they've managed to make such a good album (and I am a massive 1980s Rush fan). I don't have the technical knowledge to articulate what's exactly amiss, but the basic character of the album has been changed by the surround mix and it just feels wrong, whereas the other surround efforts preserve the basic album vibe. I wanted to love this, really.

 

[kap'n krunch]

I've had the box for ages but never had the time to spin the surround disc. I have just spun 2112, Fly By Night and Moving Pictures back to back, and while they aren't the best surround mixes I have heard, I have enjoyed them. Following them with Signals and I am struck how bad they've managed to make such a good album (and I am a massive 1980s Rush fan). I don't have the technical knowledge to articulate what's exactly amiss, but the basic character of the album has been changed by the surround mix and it just feels wrong, whereas the other surround efforts preserve the basic album vibe. I wanted to love this, really.

Maybe it's my setup, but the Signals DVD-A is NOT THAT BAD...it sounds better than FBN!!!

 

[salsdali]

I have to disagree with wanners here. While the Signals 5.1 mix is indeed the least interesting of the three, the mix has more than ambience/reverb in the rears. There are strong discrete elements on songs like Countdown and Losing It (although the mix pushes the violin at the expense of Geddy's vocals) and some of Peart's cymbals end up there as well. Still, as wanners points out, if you are looking for a aggressive mix, this isn't it and I find that a bit disappointing. I think the sound quality is quite good and am going to rate this a 7-8 with a final choice after another listen.

I agree. I'm listening to Countdown right now and there is as much going on in the surrounds as in the leads (and that's a good thing for this song).

Sorry guys, but Signals is a near and dear to my heart album (I basically cut my teeth on this sonically) and I think the boys did a good job with this mix.

I would have prefered more bass and more DR so that's why I gave it an 8 instead of a 10.

I also gave this an 8 almost as much as for the lyrics as the sonics because IMO it's the lyrics which touch my soul on this album.

It's a bit thin sonically (DR), granted, but that also translates ironically into clarity.

I've also upped Alex Lifeson as what I thought was just a average guitarist to one the better ones in the cosmic view of life.

 

[sideshowlol]

It's been interesting to read the posts about Signals in surround here. Having just seen the news on the Rush website that 2015 will see monthly releases of Rush's back catalog in hi-def and 5.1 mixes on Bluray, I'm going to wait until the August release of Signals and see how I feel about it myself. Maybe there will be something better about these forthcoming surround mixes.

When Signals was originally released I remember thinking it was a big contrast to the clarity and sonic delight of MP. I still loved it though. Subdivisions has since become a Rush classic but, at the time, it sounded muddy and rather lifeless compared to what had gone before. I had read the Terry Brown wasn't a fan of Geddy's increasing use of synths in the new songs on Signals, so maybe that had something to do with it. Alex took a little more of a backseat on this album, as he had to compete with the synths. Even so, he put down some stellar guitar parts. To this day, I haven't come across anyone else who could play a lead quite like the one he was inspired to play on Chemistry. It's magic. Alex has never been an average guitarist.

Caress of Steel in 5.1 is coming in Feb so I shall look forward to that very much. What an awesome month it will be: CoS in 5.1, Sanguine Hum's double concept album ‘Now We Have Light’ and then Wilson's "Hand. Cannot. Erase." at the beginning of March. If all goes to plan, I'll also be seeing Wilson play on two occasions during March. Very nice indeed.

 

[rtbluray]

It's been interesting to read the posts about Signals in surround here. Having just seen the news on the Rush website that 2015 will see monthly releases of Rush's back catalog in hi-def and 5.1 mixes on Bluray, I'm going to wait until the August release of Signals and see how I feel about it myself. Maybe there will be something better about these forthcoming surround mixes.

Caress of Steel in 5.1 is coming in Feb so I shall look forward to that very much. What an awesome month it will be: CoS in 5.1, Sanguine Hum's double concept album ‘Now We Have Light’ and then Wilson's "Hand. Cannot. Erase." at the beginning of March. If all goes to plan, I'll also be seeing Wilson play on two occasions during March. Very nice indeed.

Sorry, but I MUST correct the record before things get out of hand.
I don't know where you heard this, but I guarantee you that "Caress of Steel" is NOT being released with a 5.1 surround mix on Blu-Ray next year.
The only RUSH albums getting a 5.1 Blu-Ray release next year are albums that have already been released only on DVD-A ("Fly By Night", "A Farewell to Kings", and "Signals")

 

[sideshowlol]

Thank you, rtbluray. In my overly-excited state, I got the wrong end of the stick re the monthly release schedule. I've been hoping for a surround version of CoS for so long. Oh well.

So it looks like it's just FBN, AFtK and Signals to be released as Blu-ray Pure Audio discs. So, I'm guessing that the mix on the Blu-ray release will be identical to the one being reviewed here?

 

[rtbluray]

Thank you, rtbluray. I got the wrong end of the stick re the monthly release schedule. I've been hoping for a surround version of CoS for so long. So it looks like it's just FBN, AFtK and Signals to be released as Blu-ray Pure Audio discs. So, I'm guessing that the mix on the Blu-ray release will be identical to the one being reviewed here?

Yep, sample for sample, bit for bit. No different than what is presented here.
And that also goes for "Fly By Night" and "A Farewell to Kings" as well.

 

[Ranasakawa]

I'm a 6
It's an average 5.1 mix
Good music but sadly Rush is not good at 5.1 mixes. Their live stuff in 5.1 is woefull.

 

[skherbeck]

This sounds like "Bizarro Signals", or what Signals would sound like if recorded in an alternate, evil universe. What happened here? I was shocked at first listen as the songs sound like alternate versions of the one's I'm used to on the stereo album. The fidelity is poor and sounds heavily compressed... it's tough to sit through the whole album at a decent volume without fatigue. Geddy's vocals are really hot in the mix, to the point of being annoying. There is very little going on in the surrounds... this is basically a stereo mix with cymbals in the surrounds (with a few moments of exception). What a disappointment after listening to A Farewell To Kings, which is fantastic. This gets a 6.

 

[edisonbaggins]

I'll start by giving my rating of 8. Plenty of bass for me and clarity of parts like no other version of the record I've heard.
No, it is not all that discrete. As others have pointed out, Losing It is one of a few notable exceptions.
I agree this sounds like an alternate album sonically. While that is blasphemy to some, I find it intriguing.
I would bet decent money that there are also alternate vocal and guitar phrases ocassionally. My theory is there were multiple takes on tape and the mixing eng used the most interesting or best-sounding.
I don't think any Rush 5.1 to date is a disaster, with S&A bringing up the rear because it's levels are so damned hot.
But neither is any the sonic adventure I've dreamed of.
I'd like to hear SW try 5.1 of any Rush, or Andy Jackson do Quad! Or DKA do some upmixes!

 

[DennisMoore Jr.]

lots of bad press on this one....

I enjoy it very much. Not very discrete but I really like to play it. No problems here.

 

[IanProudfoot]

Probably the weakest 5.1 mix in my collection. I really like the songs, but never liked the sound of the album. Such a disappointment when there's probably a great 5.1 version waiting to be done by a more sympathetic remixer. I wonder if the master tapes really do sound this lifeless?

 

[JediJoker]

Many apologies for the 1-month necrobump. I just got the Blu-ray via Amazon US today. Haven't had a chance to listen yet, but: it's my understanding that the package is supposed to include a download card w/code for the 2015 hi-res Sean Magee stereo master of this title (just like the Fly By Night Blu-ray, which I also received today via Amazon US and did include the card). Mine included no such card/code (the A Farewell To Kings Blu-ray, which I received yesterday, also via Amazon US, was also missing the card). Anyone else have this issue? If so, were you able to resolve it, and how?

 

[Ranasakawa]

Many apologies for the 1-month necrobump. I just got the Blu-ray via Amazon US today. Haven't had a chance to listen yet, but: it's my understanding that the package is supposed to include a download card w/code for the 2015 hi-res Sean Magee stereo master of this title (just like the Fly By Night Blu-ray, which I also received today via Amazon US and did include the card). Mine included no such card/code (the Signals Blu-ray, which I received yesterday, also via Amazon US, was also missing the card). Anyone else have this issue? If so, were you able to resolve it, and how?

Isn't the BluRay disc already a high res version of the album?

I have never heard of a down load card included in these discs.
You could rip the BluRay into flac files using mkv

 

[JediJoker]

Isn't the BluRay disc already a high res version of the album?

I have never heard of a down load card included in these discs.
You could rip the BluRay into flac files using mkv

You're talking apples and oranges, here, as far as the content. The stereo mix included on the disc at 96/24 in PCM is the 2011 Sectors boxset remaster by Andy VanDette, same as was previously released on the DVD-A in the Sector 3 box. The download should be for the new 2015 remaster by Sean Magee. This is what was included with the Fly By Night Blu-ray. I'm listening to it right now as I type this. The downloads were 96/24 WAV files. This should be the case for all of these 2015 Rush Blu-ray audio discs.

 

[kap'n krunch]

My copy of the Signals BD didn't come with a download coupon!!!

 

[rtbluray]

My copy of the Signals BD didn't come with a download coupon!!!

This is what I posted about the download coupons in the "Farewell to Kings" thread:

HFPA are no longer including download codes for discs sold in the US due to a massive increase in publishing costs.
(Their own words for their Facebook page around the time of this Blu-Ray disc's release.)

But since you are in Spain, I'm gonna presume that you didn't order your disc from a US store, so the above statement probably wouldn't help solve your issue.
Maybe HFPA are phasing out the download coupons for their releases. We'll never know for certain just because they can't be bothered to maintain good customer relations and communications anyway...

 

[JediJoker]

My copy of the Signals BD didn't come with a download coupon!!!

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear in my last post: my copy of Signals also did not come with a download card. It was my copy of Fly By Night that did, and it was those files to which I was listening.

 

[fac23]

The album with my favourite QQ Poll results graph

First heard this album in surround (on BD-A) and while not a demo quality mix it's discreet enough for me to enjoy it. I can definitely see how someone who's loved the stereo mix for all these years is a bit thrown by the different character of the surround. Me, I like the songs, the mix, the sound. It's the only Rush album I like, FWIW. Voted a 7 (content 9).