True. However, not all titles require an Atmos upgrade. I think this particular one probably does, as well as maybe Oranges and Lemons, but the other XTC titles would not because I think 5.1 is sufficient. 5.1 is sufficient for most music, frankly.
Steven Wilson XTC’s Skylarking to be released in Dolby Atmos (Blu-Ray out September 27!)
- Thread starter rtbluray
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I just see what I guess is a place holder, because it says "Currently Unavailable"
Skylarking Atmos Edition Mixed By Steven Wilson
Import, Extra Tracks
XTC (Artist) Format: Audio CDEditorial Reviews
Skylarking is the second of XTC's albums to be mixed in Dolby Atmos by Steven Wilson, following last year's highly acclaimed mix for The Big Express. For many music fans, this is the XTC classic album, the one there is always most demand for. The album has been mixed for Dolby Atmos Immersive Audio from the original multi-track studio master tapes by Steven Wilson & is fully approved by XTC. CD: features the 2016 album mix & bonus album track mixes by Steven Wilson. Blu-ray: Full album & additional tracks mixed in Dolby Atmos + instrumental versions. Skylarking: XTC's most commercially successful album was, for many years, also it's most mythical with tales of "lost" multi-track tapes (sadly true of other XTC albums but not this one), a song originally dropped from the album only to be replaced when it inadvertently became a hit single in the USA, a perfect match, on paper, between the ideal Britpop band a decade before the term was invented & an Anglophile super-producer that turned rather imperfect in personality terms but still resulted in a classic album. The Blu-ray also includes the 2016 mixes in DTS-HD MA 5. 1 Surround, 24/96 Hi-Res Stereo plus instrumental versions - all mixed by Steven Wilson. All region Blu-ray
Having only gotten into XTC last year, I appreciate that they waited about 6 months after I finished getting all the earlier 5.1 versions before starting over again with Atmos editions. Pre-order placed. Fingers crossed for Oranges & Lemons to come sooner rather than later.
Yes... or his recent solo albums.
shedsoundsmedia
Member
oooh ! I had a feeling this was coming when Wilson said he presented "Season Cycle" at an Atmos event. My thoughts !
I would be very interested to hear what he'd come up with even for those less-layered earlier albums. In fact, I just listened back to the 5.1 mix of Black Sea and there's so much potential there for a great Atmos experience. I'm just spitballing here...
- Respectable Street - the main guitar parts are positioned between the front and rear speakers in 5.1, but they could be panned discretely to the side surrounds in Atmos (this seems to have become a trademark feature of SW's Atmos mixes, done particularly well in the recent Yes Fragile release I think)
- Generals and Majors - there's a double-tracked lead vocal and additional backing vocals sharing the rear speakers. In Atmos, these could be separated so the doubled vocal remains in the rear and the extra group vocals go up in the height speakers.
- Living Through Another Cuba - Do I even need to speculate on the possibilities for this one? I think there are at least four tracks of background vocals, each placed in a different corner in the 5.1 mix, plus all the crazy percussion towards the end.
- Love At First Sight - Colin's telephone-eq'd "what they want is" in center could be good moved up to the front heights, plus the spring-y echo on the word "sight".
- Rocket From A Bottle - the 5.1 mix has piano, an additional guitar part, and Andy's backing vocals in the rear speakers. These elements could be spread out further in Atmos - maybe piano in sides, leave the guitar in rear, and then have the harmony vocals in the heights?
- No Language In Our Lungs - like Respectable Street, the main guitars are placed between the fronts and rears in 5.1. Plus, the spoken voices in the rear after the bridge could be great in the heights (sort of like what was done for Wake Up on The Big Express).
- Towers of London - The anvil sounds could be fun coming from above, and the guitar solo in the center speaker could be lifted out towards the front heights.
- Paper and Iron - Rhythm guitars currently in front could go to sides, then move the metallic percussion up to the height speakers.
- Burning with Optimism's Flames - The guitar part that alternates between the back corners during the chorus could be fun in the sides or heights?
- Sgt. Rock - The 'hey hey rock rock' backing vocals could be good in the heights, plus the rhythm guitars in front could again be moved to sides. There's also some kind of percussion currently in the rears (I think it's a rattleslap?) that could be relocated elsewhere, and you'd still have the double-tracked lead vocals during the verses and Colin's harmony during the chorus to populate the rears.
I hope Wilson remembered to use "polarity corrected" tracks. (A microphone used during the original sessions was inadvertently out of phase. A corrected CD version was issued.) I'm pretty sure the corrected version was used for the 5.1 blu-ray.
shedsoundsmedia
Member
I’m gonna guess the Atmos mix is using the same transfer / stems as the 5.1
JediJoker
Audio Engineer/Enthusiast
Not sure where you got "a microphone" from. The contested "issue" was that the original stereo mix was laid down to tape with its absolute polarity reversed, such that sound waves that should start with compression instead start with rarefaction and vice-versa. The audibility of absolute polarity is questionable. There are a number of self-reported blind ABX tests with reliable results, but the sample size and methodology make them statistically insignificant. Andy Partridge has always claimed that Skylarking sounded "wrong" somehow, and blamed it on supposed sabotage by producer/engineer Todd Rundgren, with whom he did not get along during the album sessions (to put it mildly). When it was discovered many years later that the polarity was reversed, Partridge finally had something concrete to point to. New CD and vinyl editions using the original mix were issued with corrected polarity and artwork more closely aligned with Andy's original concept. If you want to test for yourself to see if the reversed polarity "ruined" the album, take any mastering of the original mix, flip the polarity, and compare it to the un-flipped version. Can you hear a difference?
This polarity issue only pertains to the original stereo mix as a whole. Steven Wilson's new mixes—stereo, 5.1, and Atmos—are not affected, as the original multitracks were recorded with correct polarity.
This doesn't make sense. I'm not privy to the details about exactly what was wired incorrectly in the studio, but I am certain it doesn't amount to the entire mix's polarity being incorrect. The "correct" polarity of a sound is relative to the polarity of other sounds. Flipping the polarity of the entirety of the mix would not make any difference to that.
JediJoker
Audio Engineer/Enthusiast
It has to do with absolute polarity. Is the sound wave supposed to compress or rarefact first? In visual terms, is the waveform supposed to go positive (above the zero-crossing line) or negative (below the zero-crossing line) first? In physical terms, a mic placed above a drumhead ("top") will pick up rarefaction first, while one placed below a drumhead ("bottom") will pick up compression first. In the real world, most sounds hit our eardrums as compression first. Our auditory system acts as a half-wave rectifier, and rarefaction is ignored. As such, there are those who claim and demonstrate an ability to hear a difference in absolute polarity, but this is a poorly studied phenomenon and not supported by statistically significant data.
I definitely do not think that's the case.
Via this article:
This is not the sort of thing that becomes an issue due to the polarity of the left and right channels together being a particular way, but the relative polarity of elements compared to one another.
JediJoker
Audio Engineer/Enthusiast
Then how can one "correct" a polarity issue in mastering, as was done for the "Corrected Polarity" edition? That would only be possible if the issue were with absolute polarity of the mix as a whole. Polarity/phase problems with individual tracks could only be corrected with a remix, which the aforementioned edition was explicitly not.
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Maybe we could all agree that Andy Partridge, genius musician he may be, is neither scientist nor sound engineer, and may be a little fuzzy on details & terminology all these decades later?
And the terms remix and remaster get used here and elsewhere loosely, often incorrectly?
This is all ancient history and IMO, it is more a classic feud between two genius creators than anything else. Todd vehemently disagrees with Andy's assertion that there is a polarity problem with the master he turned over to Virgin Records. Giving Andy the benefit of the doubt, if anything did go awry, it most likely happened when the album was hurriedly remastered to put "Dear God" back on it. Todd was not involved in that. If you are familiar with Andy's side of the story, here is Todd's...
I have both versions of the album so I tried what Jedi was suggesting. Using Sound Forge I mixed the original version on top of the re-issued version. I was surprised to hear nearly everything canceled out except for a voice repeating over and over throughout, "I hate Todd. I hate Todd, I hate Todd".
Bluedemon25
Active Member
Dear Todd.....
And here's the placeholder for Amazon US. (Nothing yet on ImportCDs or DD.)
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