HiRez Poll Wilson, Steven - THE RAVEN THAT REFUSED TO SING [Blu-Ray Audio]

[patrick1]

Hey All. Thanks for the substantial clarification(s). My system can "handle" playback of both the DTS-MA and the 96/24. The bass in "Luminol" is where it is the most problematic for me. I try to playback at a peak of 75db, for my neighbors sake (which is plenty loud enough in the sweet spot!). Thanks.

 

[LizardKing]

Same here. Maybe we could coax Jon into listing a few steps on how to extract the music from a blu-ray.

I've created this thread on the topic...

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...ng-a-DVD-A-from-a-Blu-ray&p=173516#post173516

I'll add in more detail when I have time...

 

[patrick1]

And on top of the above.....................now I'm kinda aggravated that, again, there is an issue with a surround release. Not that I would've known about the surmised low end "problem" with the TRTRTS Blu-Ray DTS-MA (if that's the right word), but now it seems to have been best, after the fact, to purchase the CD/DVD limited version.

Whatever.

Still a fan of DTS-MA, and would probably no doubt opt for the Blu-Ray version for any/all future surround releases. From whoever. Thanks.

 

[Ge Someone]

again, there is an issue with a surround release. Not that I would've known about the surmised low end "problem" with the TRTRTS Blu-Ray DTS-MA

Let's not overreact What happened here did happen before and goes most often unnoticed (I'm pretty sure Elton John's GYBR DVD-A had the same and I think another one of the early Elton's too, can't check this quickly). If your sub includes a lowpass filter all can be well.

 

[paligap]

Pardon my ignorance, but how, exactly, would this problem manifest itself? Put another way, how would it sound "bad?" I have to admit I haven't noticed it, but then, I'm not a/b-ing anything.

 

[JonUrban]

Same here. Maybe we could coax Jon into listing a few steps on how to extract the music from a blu-ray.

George and all. One word "AudioMuxer" along with AnyDVD, for your own use from your own disc, of course.

 

[georgeshannon]

Thanks Jon. Yes, AnyDVD was the key. Lizardking was very helpful with some details in a separate thread about this. My copy of Raven is on the way (I tried Amazon this time) and from what I've read recently about the bass frequencies, I thought I'd make a DVDA from the Blu-Ray and adjust the sound if necessary.

 

[timbre4]

Still falling, can't vote or comment yet.

 

[kvsawilson]

After listening to this one for a couple of weeks now, I just wanted to chime in and say: What a great album! Not even talking about the surround mix (for a second), I would say this is my favorite one that SW has been involved with as a writer/performer. I first heard of PT when the In Absentia DVDA came out and loved that and Deadwing. I was even more impressed with the earlier albums Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun when they got their surround releases. But since Deadwing I haven't been as wild about the newer music from PT or the other solo SW releases. Enjoyable enough but none of them have wowed me. But I am loving this one.

I thought SW topped himself with the KC Larks Tongue surround mix and this one is just as impressive. The sound quality and mix are as good as it gets on this one and makes this a definite 10 for me. I try not to give 10's to everything but this is a great sounding mix, the fidelity is top notch and I love the music.

K

 

[grill]

Kvsawilson, I second that. A no-brainer, Grammy winner big fat 10 from me.

 

[peterzach]

I know others in music biz have commented as well on the Alan Parsons involvement and in knowing of Sw's love of classic albums PF-Dark Side etc well SW has outdone his own previous works and I think this album may very well go down as one of the classics of all time. The songs are very well thought out in structure,pace,tone etc and musically is one of those albums you can just drift away into that special musical nirvana, this is a very,very good album. My own first musical journey was DSOTM many years ago and listening to that album on head phones was a real treasure, well listening to this in 5.1 gives that same joy of hearing every musical note to perfection and looking forward to the next listening experience.
Rated this a 10 as it deserves top rating for sure.
Thankyou SW for this musical gift to all of us.

peter

 

[Time Lord]

This album has exceeded all my expectations, after more than 2 weeks I just keep wanting to listen to it again. There are no flat spots, each of the 6 songs is a crafted masterpiece standing proudly. How Steven Wilson has through his incredibly busy and productive schedule found the time to compose these new songs of such a high standard, I am worried he may not be getting enough sleep. Holy Drinker and Watchmaker stand out as prog rock masterpieces, as good as anything in that genre I have ever heard. Throughout the album his musical influences of Pink Floyd, ELP, Yes and King Crimson are adoringly addressed without in any way leaving the listener feeling that it is a rip off, more a musical nod of approval during a transition of an unique and original piece. Perhaps these songs complement his voice better but I am sure these are the best vocals he has done on an album. The surround mix is completely immersive, completely satisfying and bringing the beauty of the music past the ears and into the soul. There aren't any vertigo inducing effects in the surround mix, it honestly doesn't need them. The quality of the musicianship from Steven and the band is quite extraordinary. The collective chemistry they have is amazing. Perhaps working with Alan Parsons has been critical to the creative process and the final result was a peak in the Himalayas rather than the Alps. To Steven Wilson composer, vocalist, multi-instumentalist, music producer, surround engineer, visionary and kindred soul to many music lovers....thankyou for such a beautiful album....I have run out of superlatives

 

[baphomet]

This album has exceeded all my expectations, after more than 2 weeks I just keep wanting to listen to it again. There are no flat spots, each of the 6 songs is a crafted masterpiece standing proudly. How Steven Wilson has through his incredibly busy and productive schedule found the time to compose these new songs of such a high standard, I am worried he may not be getting enough sleep. Holy Drinker and Watchmaker stand out as prog rock masterpieces, as good as anything in that genre I have ever heard. Throughout the album his musical influences of Pink Floyd, ELP, Yes and King Crimson are adoringly addressed without in any way leaving the listener feeling that it is a rip off, more a musical nod of approval during a transition of an unique and original piece. Perhaps these songs complement his voice better but I am sure these are the best vocals he has done on an album. The surround mix is completely immersive, completely satisfying and bringing the beauty of the music past the ears and into the soul. There aren't any vertigo inducing effects in the surround mix, it honestly doesn't need them. The quality of the musicianship from Steven and the band is quite extraordinary. The collective chemistry they have is amazing. Perhaps working with Alan Parsons has been critical to the creative process and the final result was a peak in the Himalayas rather than the Alps. To Steven Wilson composer, vocalist, multi-instumentalist, music producer, surround engineer, visionary and kindred soul to many music lovers....thankyou for such a beautiful album....I have run out of superlatives

Very well put....and couldn't agree more!

 

[grill]

My wife who dislikes prog rock including SW's and PT's works told me that she really liked lots of moments on the album.

 

[capsid]

I love the title track, I always listen to that one first.

 

[grill]

Btw, anyone needing help in watching the raven video with DTS-HD MA surround audio PM me.

 

[warp2600]

I have no BRD playback capability (only SACD and DVD-A) so I bought the CD/DVD-V set and listen to the 96/24 stereo PCM and the DTS 96/24 surround tracks. So I will not make a vote but I wanted to say that I was blown away by this album on first listen. I have been a fan of SW's surround mixes he did for KC, ELP and JT etc. and decided that it was time to try out one of his own releases. When I saw the video journal of the Raven's recording sessions late last year (especially the one about The Watchmaker), I knew I had to get this one when released. Unfortunately SW dropped DVD-A for high res surround so I got the DVD-V. (An upgrade to BR is a no-go for me because I would need to upgrade my TV set to HDTV with HDMI input as well in order to access the menu options and that would be too expensive right now). The DTS 96/24 is very good but when you play the high res stereo tracks, you can hear the difference in resolution. And BTW the Sound and Vision review prefers the 96/24 LPCM surround tracks to DTS-MA and not DTS 96/24 as someone here wrongly mentioned.

 

[JonUrban]

Nice comments, Time Lord. This is quite a remarkable recording. When you get right down to it, most of us could probably write a song, you know, C-F-G, throw in an Am and Em for the bridge and we're done! But really, listening to this album makes you appreciate SW's music talent, I mean, how do you write something like this? It's almost classical to a point. Very complex yet brilliant and musical, non linear at times, but together. It's hard to describe, but maybe because I'm older I can appreciate the complexity of the songs more, which are more like pieces than tunes. To have this in surround is just about perfection.

If he does not win the surround grammy for this album, there is no justice anywhere. Heck, he should win the grammy for the album too!

 

[Robert van Diggele]

(An upgrade to BR is a no-go for me because I would need to upgrade my TV set to HDTV with HDMI input as well in order to access the menu options and that would be too expensive right now).

hi, the Oppo 8x and 9x models have component output. When your TV supports this, it might be an option to get a second hand Oppo for BD playback.

 

[warp2600]

hi, the Oppo 8x and 9x models have component output. When your TV supports this, it might be an option to get a second hand Oppo for BD playback.

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately I found only one advertised on the net in my home country and it was the high end 95EU with a price tag higher than that of a brand new 93EU model
It seems that I will have to look into this matter closely as I browsed the SW catalog last night and Grace for Drowning is also on BRD rather than DVD-A. But I managed to order Insurgentes on DVD-A.

And now excuse me, it is Sunday morning and I am craving The Raven. Gotta have my daily dose