WHO’S NEXT/LIFEHOUSE Box set coming in September 2023 (STEVEN WILSON DOLBY ATMOS & 5.1 MIXES CONFIRMED!!)

[oxenholme]

The 5.1 sounds fabulous. I'm well pleased with it.

 

[himey]

Bummer! The bonus tracks are in stereo/5.1/Atmos on the BD.

Tidal Atmos bonus tracks? I haven't been home to check them out?

 

[edisonbaggins]

Tidal Atmos bonus tracks? I haven't been home to check them out?

Can't vouch for Tidal. Haven't had a subscription in a very long time.

 

[sjcorne]

Speaking of which, it gets really dull and repetitive after seeing them the first couple times. I wish they would at least use different photos for each song, there must be thousands of photos available from that era and I’m sure there’s space on the disc.

Yeah, the Blu-Ray authoring is pretty lazy - the repetitive slideshow is probably the least of its sins, I'm more annoyed about the loud menu music and difficult-to-see text.

 

[JonUrban]

Well I had quite a surprise today! I was out in the yard doing fall-yard stuff (fun is) and the US Mail truck came up the driveway, I was like 'WTF'? They brought out a large flat box that was heavy. It was "Who's Next"!!! Packed wonderfully as described earlier in a box inside a box inside with custom Styrofoam panels.

Totally shocked they would deliver this on a Sunday. Anyway, first step is on to rip it and check out the 5.1 on the PC. Since my ears are not worthy, there's no rush for me to get to the Atmos - maybe tonight!!

 

[JonUrban]

For those interested in wav file views (I know, many are not), here's a look at the DTS Master Audio 5.1 audio from "Won't Get Fooled Again". You can see it's a classic SW Mix with the vocals isolated in the center (and I know many don't like that either), but there is thankfully no loudness or brickwalls involved here, as you would expect from an SW mix.

 

[JonUrban]

Here's "Behind Blue Eyes" - again, it looks very quiet and clean, you can see the background vocals in the rears. How great is that?

 

[shakti]

I actually got mine yesterday after all, didn’t expect it before tomorrow. Box is beautiful, the book is really top notch. Will take time to dig through all of this.

I’ve only had one round with the 5.1 of the album itself. Now, my setup is actually 5.0, and is calibrated for that. Maybe it’s my setup, but I must admit I was a little underwhelmed on first listen. It sounds too much like glorified stereo for my liking. There is some added clarity, synth is often in the rear as well as backing vocals, but…it sounded kind of thin? I expected much, much more bass. Maybe I’m spoilt by vintage quad mixes, but this was a bit neither here nor there. Not as discrete and aggressive as a vintage quad mix, yet the airier feel kind of thinned out the punch. That was my initial impression anyway.

I did notice it was very crankable. I had the volume set where I typically have it, but this could be cranked a fair bit more. Maybe adjusting the surrounds might also help.

 

[sjcorne]

Maybe it’s my setup, but I must admit I was a little underwhelmed on first listen. It sounds too much like glorified stereo for my liking.

I wonder if you might prefer the Atmos fold-down? I did notice that the 5.1 mix makes frequent use of the 'phantom sides' (FL & RL, FR & RR) usually for rhythm guitar parts - like the acoustics in "Love Ain't For Keeping" - whereas many of those same elements are almost 100% isolated in the side speakers the Atmos mix. If you were to play the TrueHD 7.1/Atmos stream back on a 5.1 system, I imagine those parts might appear more forcefully panned to the back speakers.

I suppose you could call these side-wall pans in the 5.1 mix 'big stereo', but to me it's an effective compromise given the limited nature of the material - those guitar parts still sound connected to the rhythm section in the front, but having them pushed out further towards the back adds a bit of extra dimensionality. On a number of the bonus tracks, there are enough instruments in play to fill out all the 'phantom' positions (front center, rear center, left center, right center') and the traditional four corners.

 

[madship]

View attachment 96331

And your shrink-wrap is in tact. Mine arrived today from Amazon, with their typical slip shod packing, Lickily the only damage was torn shrink wrap and one scuffed corner.

 

[madship]

They all lost. Water from film canisters instead.

Hard to believe Moon would be bladder shy and need surrogate piss.

 

[ar surround]

And your shrink-wrap is in tact. Mine arrived today from Amazon, with their typical slip shod packing, Lickily the only damage was torn shrink wrap and one scuffed corner.

Negotiate a refund for the scuffed corner?

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

Has anyone received their Rarewaves order yet?

...asking for a friend.

 

[Bill B]

Has anyone received their Rarewaves order yet?

...asking for a friend.

No. Mine hasn’t even made it to the USPS tracking system yet.

 

[ar surround]

Amazon has finally started shipping to us swill who are not Prime members.

 

[AYanguas]

I'm Amazon Prime member. My order has been shipped today.

 

[privateuniverse]

Amazon has finally started shipping to us swill who are not Prime members.

I'm Amazon Prime member. My order has been shipped today.

I guess you never know what to expect with Amazon. The copy I ordered for myself I bought from Bull Moose. But as the Moose was only allowing one per customer and I wanted to send one to my brother as a gift, I ordered his copy from Amazon. I didn't place the order until a few days before release date. I am not a prime member and I did not pay for any expedited shipping, but they shipped it on release date and he had it the following day.

 

[François]

So, who has read the Life House graphic novel? It’s quite bonkers! (I’m not sure I like it)

 

[jefe1]

No. Mine hasn’t even made it to the USPS tracking system yet.

Same here.
Hoping there is movement this week

Addendum
I have a USPS tracking number but it appears package has not been handed off.

 

[The Hoople]

Man the extra tracks on Blu-ray are amazing. Join Together and Relay especially.

I much prefer the Atmos mix to the 5.1 from what I’ve listened to. And prefer the original stereo mix to the new Wilson mix but maybe that’s because I’ve been listening to the former for 50 years.