Steven Wilson XTC - The Big Express (Steven Wilson Surround mixes coming in September!)

[Scott65]

I just got my copy and playing the 5.1 DTSMA mix. Really enjoying it until I got to track 6, "An Everyday Story In A Small Town". Both rear speakers have several pops in them (like a record would pop). Several occur in the intro and more throughout the song. At first I thought I was blowing a left rear speaker and then check the right rear and it was doing the same thing in the same places in the song. It's not happening in the fronts or center speakers. Checked the disc - Looks clean. My next fear was my OPPO 203 was having a problem, so switched the disc to my OPPO 93 but the pops were still there. (Glad to know the players aren't failing.)
Then I switched to the Atmos mix to see if the problem was also there (I only have a 7.3 system but know it down mixes Atmos to 5.1), but the mix is different from the DTSMA mix in the rear channels and the pops are not there.

Anyone else hearing this or do I have a defective copy?

I've got an Oppo 203 and no pops on mine.

 

[Wagonmaster_91]

Update: The 'pops' - three of them in the first 15 seconds of the song - are only happening when using the HDMI output. I have my OPPO connected to both an HDMI input and 7.1 analog input on my amp. (I did this because of the ongoing debate about which way gives better sound. Never noticed any difference - until now.) When playing the song via the HDMI input, I hear the 'pops' but when playing through the analog input - no 'pops'. Never had this happen before with a disc.

My first thought was 'bad HDMI cable', but then remembered that the OPPO 93 (connected to a third input via HDMI only) also reproduces the 'pops'.

I'm going to have to do some more sleuthing to figure out whats going on, but I'm very happy that I have found a way to play the disc without flaws. I agree with other reviewers that this is not my favorite XTC album (and definitely not the first album I would recommend to someone who is not familiar with the band), but it is one of the best surround mixes I have ever heard. (And I have heard a lot!)

 

[JediJoker]

Can we get English Settlement and Mummer now, please?

Do you know where the multitrack tapes are? Until they're found, it's not gonna happen.

 

[shakti]

I know they have been missing, but so were the tapes for The Big Express. For English Settlement I believe it was just a few songs missing the multitracks. Not sure about Mummer. In any case we can still hope and this latest release tells us nothing is impossible.

Back to topic - let’s keep this thread for discussion of The Big Express.

 

[ted_b]

I’d take an English Settlement in any form, frankly. Just put the missing tracks in stereo and give me everything else!

I’ve gone back to TBE almost daily since it arrived. As I posted earlier, a wonderful mix that allows this complex recording to breathe and make sense.

 

[marpow]

I received my Big Express copy on Friday and ripped the Blu Ray yesterday.
Easy rip, and sounds great, for what little I listened.
2 surround mixes:
2023 mix, ATMOS and 5.1 DTS HD-MSTR.
4 stereo mixes:
2001 mix
2023 mix
Instrumental
Demos/Alternates

 

[JediJoker]

2001 mix

2001 *remaster of the original mix.

 

[marpow]

2001 *remaster of the original mix.

Yes, I assumed you would have known that?
Being we are on the subject of the 2001 remix of the 1984 original.
It sounds like shit compared to the other stereo mixes on the Blu Ray in question.
It is really compressed and has DR #'s as low as 6's & 7's.

The cool thing is they actually let us hear how crappy it sounds for actual comparison.

 

[JediJoker]

...2001 remix...

Again, not a remix, just a remaster of the original 1984 stereo mix.