BluRay Music Video Poll The Beatles - A HARD DAYS NIGHT (CRITERION) - [BluRay]

[oxenholme]

Remember, when we 1st heard this it was on very inferior equipment, and recorded on sub-par recording equipment, most likely in mono? I think your not considering those factors in the decision. For me, I thought it was pretty good overall. With DTS master I guess you expect "more", but it is what it is- a 50 year old recording.

I first saw the film at the cinema back in 1964 when it came out. I cannot remember whether the main songs were different versions to those on the LP. However, looking at John playing harmonica on I Should Have Known Better it appears to match the version appearing on the stereo LP. And, although I know that there are those that do not approve of the sound of the stereo LP, I find it very much to my liking. If, as I think, the multi-tracks are still in existence, I feel a surround mix could and should have been made with a 1964 type of sound balance and not that which to me has a similar character to the recent Mark Linett remixes of many Beach Boys tracks. There were plenty of excellent recordings made back in 1964 and before. AHDN is one of them.

Each to their own. It is not often that I slam anything.

 

[wavelength]

I first saw the film at the cinema back in 1964 when it came out. I cannot remember whether the main songs were different versions to those on the LP.

I also saw the film at the theater when it came out in 1964. The only thing I can remember is the girl 2 rows behind me and 5 seats to the right screaming "George!, George!" throughout the whole movie.

 

[LizardKing]

Does anyone know if the Australian release is the same as the Criterion version?

http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/p-3930-hard-days-night-a-blu-ray.aspx

They have it a for a great price locally here...

 

[cupboy]

The movie is the same but extras and sound options differ. I posted this info somewhere not quite sure where. The UK version is the best one overall. They all have the Criterion mastering of the movie.

http://wogew.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-hard-days-night-in-australia.html

 

[corneredcat]

while i respect everyones opinion..i can't help but not understand such a harsh rating of 2. no matter what expectations there might have been...this release in no way is deserving of such a low score imo. perfect? no. but nearly the opposite of perfect? absolutely not! i feel the same as the majority...thought this was excellent and very well done. the production team should be quite proud of their accomplishment here. i'm happy with their artistic choices...one can nit pick anything...but to go so far in the direction of almost the worst possible thing someone ever laid eyes/ears on just doesn't add up compared with what i see and hear... even tho i don't think it's perfect...very few things are...it's still outstanding. because the voting criteria is stated the way it is i have to give it a 9...great content...great fidelity...*almost* great surround.

 

[alk3997]

I first saw the film at the cinema back in 1964 when it came out. I cannot remember whether the main songs were different versions to those on the LP. However, looking at John playing harmonica on I Should Have Known Better it appears to match the version appearing on the stereo LP. And, although I know that there are those that do not approve of the sound of the stereo LP, I find it very much to my liking. If, as I think, the multi-tracks are still in existence, I feel a surround mix could and should have been made with a 1964 type of sound balance and not that which to me has a similar character to the recent Mark Linett remixes of many Beach Boys tracks. There were plenty of excellent recordings made back in 1964 and before. AHDN is one of them.

Each to their own. It is not often that I slam anything.

The multitracks are indeed still in existence and the same multitracks were used on this 2014 mix as well as the original film mix of 1964. Many of the instruments were locked into a single track of the four track recording. The bass guitar was recorded on the same mono track as the drums, for instance, in many of the songs. So, there are limited changes that can be made without resorting to more modern techniques that some would find objectionable.

The original movie sound used the mono mixes. So, the four tracks could be mix down to a single spot and that is what you heard in the movie theater or a mono record player. For the stereo mix, with the mixing console that was used by EMI at the time, only two of the tracks could be panned. One of the remaining tracks of the multitrack could only use the left channel and the other could only use the right channel. The "pannable" channels were usually mixed in the center or slightly off of center for AHDN and most of the other four-track albums (but not for Rubber Soul). That's the mix you remember.

Of course with a modern surround sound mix, those limitations are gone. So, the sound naturally becomes different even though all of the mixes in 1964 and 2014 were done using the same source multitracks.

The one other thing that is different now is that the Abbey Road echo chamber is gone. So, any reverb has to be created from readings taken of the echo chamber before it was removed. Luckily studio 2 is still the same size and so for She Loves You, ambiance was created by playing She Loves You in studio 2 and recording the reflections. But, if you are looking for authentic analog Abbey Road reverb from 1964, that isn't available anymore.

For me I thought that Giles stayed too close to the original stereo mixes and, if anything, didn't "push the envelop" enough. But, that's a very minor criticism since I really enjoyed the sound quality and the mix of AHDN.

On the other hand, I really thought Magical Mystery Tour didn't come anywhere close to the surround mix it could have been. But, that's for another thread.

 

[corneredcat]

The multitracks are indeed still in existence and the same multitracks were used on this 2014 mix as well as the original film mix of 1964. Many of the instruments were locked into a single track of the four track recording. The bass guitar was recorded on the same mono track as the drums, for instance, in many of the songs. So, there are limited changes that can be made without resorting to more modern techniques that some would find objectionable.

The original movie sound used the mono mixes. So, the four tracks could be mix down to a single spot and that is what you heard in the movie theater or a mono record player. For the stereo mix, with the mixing console that was used by EMI at the time, only two of the tracks could be panned. One of the remaining tracks of the multitrack could only use the left channel and the other could only use the right channel. The "pannable" channels were usually mixed in the center or slightly off of center for AHDN and most of the other four-track albums (but not for Rubber Soul). That's the mix you remember.

Of course with a modern surround sound mix, those limitations are gone. So, the sound naturally becomes different even though all of the mixes in 1964 and 2014 were done using the same source multitracks.

The one other thing that is different now is that the Abbey Road echo chamber is gone. So, any reverb has to be created from readings taken of the echo chamber before it was removed. Luckily studio 2 is still the same size and so for She Loves You, ambiance was created by playing She Loves You in studio 2 and recording the reflections. But, if you are looking for authentic analog Abbey Road reverb from 1964, that isn't available anymore.

For me I thought that Giles stayed too close to the original stereo mixes and, if anything, didn't "push the envelop" enough. But, that's a very minor criticism since I really enjoyed the sound quality and the mix of AHDN.

On the other hand, I really thought Magical Mystery Tour didn't come anywhere close to the surround mix it could have been. But, that's for another thread.

exactly why i gave 9 and not 10...

 

[corneredcat]

GREAT article...explaining technical aspects

http://www.studiodaily.com/2014/08/...?hq_e=el&hq_m=2937111&hq_l=15&hq_v=0bcce9fd1b

 

[ar surround]

Been listening to a lot of The Beatles these last few days in anticipation of Beatles 1+. Other than the title track, I slightly prefer the mixes on the redbook stereo CD to those in the movie, but Giles Martin made it clear that he created the movie mixes with a specific result in mind. (Also, the bass guitar coming from the left channel would have been a really odd in the movie had it been mixed like the stereo CD.) I only wish that the clave in And I Love Her was a bit more distinct like it is on the CD. Regardless, I gave the BluRay a 9. (10 for the stereo CD and 10 for the mono-box CD within the limitations of the redbook format.)

[Changed vote to an 8 after a few more listens without the video running]