Thin Lizzy "1976" (SDE exclusive Blu-Ray with surround mixes of "Jailbreak" and Johnny the Fox")

[fredblue]

OK, how are you liking the sound & mixes?

fwiw i can only listen to disc-based Atmos mixes in a 7.1 config at the moment Mister P., no Heights on the blu-ray rig

for the most part it feels faithful to the original just spruced up, perhaps a bit too faithful at times where i would've liked some widening of the soundstage.. definitely some more Surround activity than the last set ot mixes but it's still generally fairly front-centric.. every now and again i hoped for a bit more oomph even, maybe but largely ok ..

some of the mixes are suitably huge, room-filling, kick-ass affairs ("Warriors" = fantastic!), other tracks feel shrunken down from their originally already pretty narrow Stereo and like there's the odd missing part (drum fills seem diminished somehow in "Romeo And The Lonely Girl"?).

musically it's all utterly fabulous of course, so i'll probably score it very highly in the QQ Poll

oh and it needs cranking to really come alive! ️

 

[Bobby Martini]

OK, how are you liking the sound & mixes?

I've only listened to a few tracks (very quickly) personally so far. It's not the best mix I've ever heard from a discrete, spatial point of view.

Put it this way - it's no Human's Lib....but it's certainly not Hormonally Yours either. I need to listen properly when I have more time but if I were to score it right now I'd give it a 6/7 out of 10 ......maybe....

 

[beerking]

fwiw i can only listen to disc-based Atmos mixes in a 7.1 config at the moment Mister P., no Heights on the blu-ray rig

for the most part it feels faithful to the original just spruced up, perhaps a bit too faithful at times where i would've liked some widening of the soundstage.. definitely some more Surround activity than the last set ot mixes but it's still generally fairly front-centric.. every now and again i hoped for a bit more oomph even, maybe but largely ok ..

some of the mixes are suitably huge, room-filling, kick-ass affairs ("Warriors" = fantastic!), other tracks feel shrunken down from their originally already pretty narrow Stereo and like there's the odd missing part (drum fills seem diminished somehow in "Romeo And The Lonely Girl"?).

musically it's all utterly fabulous of course, so i'll probably score it very highly in the QQ Poll

oh and it needs cranking to really come alive! ️

Shame no Atmos heights Adam

 

[mutant_matt]

I received my disc this afternoon by Royal Mail. My initial brief listening impression is very positive. Note, I've only listened to the ATMOS mix but on a 5.1 system (I will listen to the 5.1 next and see if I can spot any difference between the "folded down" ATMOS vs the "native" 5.1 mixes).

What I WILL say is that the re-mix is a god-send in the sense that most Lizzy studio recordings are IMO, "thin" and horrible! (for some reason, this didn't seem to be the case with Live and Dangerous, which is by far a country mile my favorite TL album (in all of content, performance and sound recording/mix quality terms!!!)).

This recording now sounds decent, with decent dynamic range, decent bass/guitar kick/reach and no longer "thin", like all previous releases of most TL recordings. It is worth the price of entry IMO for THIS alone!

I presume that the new stereo mix will be my main "go to" version from now on, whenever I'm not sat in my main listening room (my lounge with the 5.1 (all floorstanders) system )

The 5.1/ATMOS mix is nice, doesn't blow me away, isn't very discrete, nor "adventurous", but not bad. It's nicely balanced, but with most instruments in the rears, minus the bass, which weirdly, is "weak" in the front stereo pair, and bolstered by also being in the centre (not seen this done before, that I can recall!). The predominance for the surrounds is added guitars (mainly), but also a bit of drums (mainly cymbals), and a bit of vocals. The twin-guitar sound of TL lends itself well to this kind of arrangement.

I'd call the surround, mostly, "atmospheric", rather than particularly discrete (apart from the sirens in the rears in Jailbreak, which is a nice touch and the only properly discrete moment on the album, that I noticed.. ).

Now, if they could only give the same treatment to Live and Dangerous (not that it particularly needs it) and more importantly, Black Rose (which I LOVE, but is crying out for a decent mix/mastering), that would be GREAT!!!

Happy here, more listening to do

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Shame no Atmos heights Adam

Out of interest... How many Atmos Blu-ray disc releases do you have that offer front left and right heights?

 

[beerking]

Out of interest... How many Atmos Blu-ray disc releases do you have that offer front left and right heights?

Ooh a technical question....which may be above my pay grade
I don't recall that ever being an Atmos option...
It's all or nothing.
Notwithstanding, I understand there are folk who are space limited in what Atmos set up they can use.
Mine's been 7.1.4 since 2018. Heights front and rear.

 

[madscot]

Listening to Jailbreak on a 5.2.2 system
First thoughts are it’s better than Vagabonds but still not great, too front centric, occasional backing vocals from the heights but also some double stereo which is shameful.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have listened straight after the new Nightwish which is brilliant, listening to that I felt completely surrounded by music

 

[beerking]

Listening to Jailbreak on a 5.2.2 system
First thoughts are it’s better than Vagabonds but still not great, too front centric, occasional backing vocals from the heights but also some double stereo which is shameful.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have listened straight after the new Nightwish which is brilliant, listening to that I felt completely surrounded by music

Nightwish Yesterwynde is superb

On my first listen I thought oh no we got double stereo going on in some of the tracks.
I have now listened quite a few times and the mix is growing on me....7.1.4 system.
Is it anywhere near a Steve Wilson mix, nope.
But I feel he has tried to produce a better mix this time.
I wonder who test plays it? If it is?
The fidelity and guitar emphasis, I really like.

 

[fredblue]

Shame no Atmos heights Adam

it's the way i'm setup atm unfortunately, 7.2.4 for Atmos streaming stuff and upto 7.1 only for any discs. i'll get around to upgrading the Receiver etc eventually.. although i'd rather upgrade to a bigger flat first tbh, i think it's my living room that's holding back the listening experience now!

 

[madscot]

On my 2nd listen now, Phil Lynott’s voice is coming out of every speaker at parts, I don’t like that, I expect discrete stuff coming out of the rears and heights, there is discrete stuff but not often enough, these are two brilliant albums so don’t regret buying this but wont be showing off my system with it

 

[Bobby Martini]

On my 2nd listen now, Phil Lynott’s voice is coming out of every speaker at parts, I don’t like that, I expect discreet stuff coming out of the rears and heights, there is discreet stuff but not often enough, these are two brilliant albums so don’t regret buying this but wont be showing off my system with it

I noticed that too. Missed opportunity not making a more discrete mix. I expect that sort of mixing on old DVDs from 20 years ago, not a brand new atmos disc. Still great albums none the less and definitely the best they've have ever sounded.

 

[Dynamic Editor]

Poll thread now open!
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...hnny-the-fox-blu-ray-audio-dolby-atmos.36617/