HiRez Poll Tears For Fears - THE HURTING [Blu-Ray Audio (Dolby Atmos)]

[srbjab]

Rated this a 10, which is pretty rare for me. Steven Wilson's Atmos mix is, as many have said, fantastic and the overall sound quality/fidelity is excellent. I'm really loving how many synth and percussive bits are accentuated in the height channels while backing vocals often sound like they are floating right behind my head. I also find this recording to be very crank-able - the louder it gets the better it sounds. Makes me look forward to any new Steven Wilson Atmos mixes even more. I'm really hoping he does the (apparently upcoming) entire King Crimson discography in Atmos.

 

[GOS]

This title (which I've never heard in full until today) may actually make me a TFF fan. My God, what a total sonic knockout. I would never have dreamed this would sound this great, or be this fun to listen to. Or, for that matter, make me sit down and marvel at how great this album is. Especially in Atmos.

This is really one of the very best titles (it's up there I mean) I've ever heard in surround. I'm voting 10

 

[ArTourter]

I really like this one.
One note about the atmos vs 5.1 sound, it looks like the atmos is about 6 to 7 dB quieter than the 5.1. On my system, increasing the volume by that amount on the Atmos seems to make both mixes very close. I think there are still differences between the two but switching between the 2 tracks is not instantaneous with the "pause - change volume - change audio track - play" routine

 

[Malhomme]

I afraid it is a 10 for me also. It is not my favorite TfF by far, but then, 5.1 is stellar and clear as crystal.
I hear people say the 5.1 mix sounds better than the atmos one played on a 5.1 system.
I am not too sure. The loudness is higher on the 5.1 mix, for sure. So it may just be a case of 'producer fader'. Make it louder, it feels like it sounds better.

Oh and that bright screen really is .. hurting.

 

[sjcorne]

I hear dpeople say the 5.1 mix soundede better than the atmos one played on a 5.1 system. I am not too sure. The loudness is higher on the 5.1 mix, for sure. So it may just be a case of 'producer fader'. Make it louder, it feels like it sounds better.

Interesting. I prefer the dedicated DTS-HD 5.1 mix to the Atmos-to-5.1 fold-down because of the spatial positioning decisions, not the level difference (which exists only because major label delivery specs state that Atmos mixes cannot exceed -18 LKFS). All the isolated elements in the side surround speakers get sent to the rear when listening in 5.1, sometimes resulting in a back-heavy presentation.

For instance, in "Change" the main keyboard part is suspended evenly between the front & rear channels in the 5.1 mix ("double stereo") whereas it's isolated in the side speakers in the Atmos mix. When played in 5.1, the side & rear speakers are combined so said keyboard part is sent entirely to the back.

Another example is in "Watch Me Bleed," the 5.1 mix is nicely balanced front-to-rear with the acoustic guitars in the front and electric guitars in the back. In the Atmos mix the acoustics are in the sides and electric in the rears (which I think sounds really cool in 7.1.4), but when folded down to 5.1 both sets of guitars end up in the back with just drums/bass/lead vocal taking up the front.

I'd recommend the Atmos mix only if you have side and/or overhead speakers. The full 12-channel presentation is quite an amazing listening experience.

 

[Malhomme]

Interesting. I prefer the dedicated DTS-HD 5.1 mix to the Atmos-to-5.1 fold-down because of the spatial positioning decisions, n

Interesting ditto. I made a quick listening of a few seconds of each songs to compare very quickly. My comments obviously shows it, as the scarce listening I made of the folded down atmos mix wouldn't allow me to spot space placement changes. I'll defer to your jugement, and stay, since my system is 5.1 only, on the 5.1 mix which is good enough for my amazement.

 

[LB-V]

folded down atmos mix

I'm far from knowing a great deal of the Atmos delivery from a technical perspective, but I was of the understanding that Atmos is delivered on a 5.1 bed, generally speaking, and carried with it the information for an Atmos decoder to place sounds in the specified speakers and subtracts those same sounds from the 5.1 bed. Absent of the Atmos decoder, you just get the 5.1 bed.

If that is correct, what is an Atmos "fold down" to 5.1? Thank you for clarifying / educating in advance....

 

[JediJoker]

I'm far from knowing a great deal of the Atmos delivery from a technical perspective, but I was of the understanding that Atmos is delivered on a 5.1 bed, generally speaking, and carried with it the information for an Atmos decoder to place sounds in the specified speakers and subtracts those same sounds from the 5.1 bed. Absent of the Atmos decoder, you just get the 5.1 bed.

If that is correct, what is an Atmos "fold down" to 5.1? Thank you for clarifying / educating in advance....

Streaming Atmos using the Dolby Digital Plus codec: yes. Lossless Atmos using the Dolby TrueHD codec as found on Blu-ray: no, that uses a 7.1 bed.

 

[LB-V]

, that uses a 7.1 bed.

Thank you! Got it.

 

[Niek]

The frustration of the long wait and the extra vat ebbs away when listening to this excellent surround -10- mix.

 

[rusinurbe]

If I was to be picky it lacks video content to take this past 12 as a vote.
This is how surround mixes should work. Faithfull but expanding on the original sound fields, and a tastefully amount of playfulness.

 

[Perp]

With the exception of having to turn the volume up, up, up, I can’t find anything wrong with this album or mix. It’s always been one of my favorites. I vote a 10.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

A 10- all day long, for me.

Crank this sucker!

 

[4-earredwonder]

The HURTING? No way am I 'hurting' when I listen to TfF and Steve Wilson's ultra brilliant remix. In 5.1 it sounds transcendent!

A 10 from ME!

 

[mandrix]

I thought I commented on this one. Hmmm CRS maybe.
That the sound and the mixing are excellent is a no brainer. I could not add to what others have said. Most excellent.
Unlike many here, I never heard this album until I bought this BD. Leap of faith maybe, fresh off The Tipping Point.
I have to say I get no satisfaction with most of the lyrics, they just don't appeal me. Maybe with time. I get the lyrics: maybe too close to home. IDK.
My rating is a 9.

 

[key_wiz]

I thought I commented on this one. Hmmm CRS maybe.
That the sound and the mixing are excellent is a no brainer. I could not add to what others have said. Most excellent.
Unlike many here, I never heard this album until I bought this BD. Leap of faith maybe, fresh off The Tipping Point.
I have to say I get no satisfaction with most of the lyrics, they just don't appeal me. Maybe with time. I get the lyrics: maybe too close to home. IDK.
My rating is a 9.

The lyrics are dark for sure. And when I first heard this album in 1983, I wasn’t ready for such darkness. It was a first for me. They don’t resonate the same for me now 40 years later except that these are the songs I know so well.

It’s an album of a time and an age for sure. But what a time it was!

 

[key_wiz]

Minor correction: Ross Cullum (not Callum) didn't work on Songs from the Big Chair, David Bascombe took his spot.

Also, the 30th anniversary box erroneously included wrong versions of "Ideas as Opiates" and "We Are Broken" on the second disc. This error was never rectified and the original b-side take of "Ideas as Opiates" has never been on CD at all. I kinda wish they'd included those two tracks as further bonus tracks on the Blu-Ray, but oh well. Can't have everything.

How are they the “wrong” versions? Mislabeled? Duplicates? And which CD has the correct “We Are Broken”?

 

[JulesRules]

How are they the “wrong” versions? Mislabeled? Duplicates? And which CD has the correct “We Are Broken”?

Yes, mislabeled/duplicate:

• "Ideas As Opiates" on the box set is the same as the album version, just running a bit slower and without the segues. The b-side is an entirely different take and was never released on CD (as was "Saxophones As Opiates", but that was a conscious decision):
• "We are Broken" was remixed with much heavier drum reverb and reversed vocals (the same that were also used for the coda of Mothers Talk!) in 1984 or 1985 into "Broken Revisited". Every CD has that mix (sometimes with the intro lopped off, so it's the same length as the original version) except a rare promo called Tears Laid Low. Another fan got a hold of it and I uploaded it here:

 

[ar surround]

Very nice album artistically with an excellent Atmos mix by SW and top notch fidelity. It is a 'period piece' given the electronic programming throughout the album; and the Atmos mix takes advantage of it.

Perhaps what hasn't been said as of yet: I also listened to some of the new stereo instrumental album. This new stereo is an enveloping mix that projects a sound stage so broad and deep that I thought I had somehow hit the wrong button and had selected 5.1. (There is no 5.1 for the new instrumental mix.)

I had given the 5.1 of Songs From The Big Chair a 10 because I was familiar with the original stereo mix of that album and the new 5.1 simply was that much better. I don't know about this one...Perhaps had I been more familiar with The Hurting in stereo I may have given this new release a 10. But I'm going with a 9.

 

[elinter]

10. Nothing more to add to others comments. Stellar!