HiRez Poll Young, Neil - HARVEST [DVD-A]

[CPR]

No way a 10; come on; if that's a 10, what's Love, Gaucho, Brothers in Arms, DSOTM, GYBR, etc.?
Mix is decent; dynamic range is NOT great; music is fab
BTW: On the Beach, is DVD/A, but NOT 5.1; hi rez stereo 192; why go to all that trouble, & not include 5.1?
Weird

 

[LizardKing]

No way a 10; come on; if that's a 10, what's Love, Gaucho, Brothers in Arms, DSOTM, GYBR, etc.?
Mix is decent; dynamic range is NOT great; music is fab
BTW: On the Beach, is DVD/A, but NOT 5.1; hi rez stereo 192; why go to all that trouble, & not include 5.1?
Weird

FYI - the On the Beach DVD-A is 176.4 kHz stereo not 192.... You don't see too many of those... The other one I can think of is the Jonatha Brooke - Steady Pull where the stereo is 176.4 kHz also...

 

[par4ken]

No problem with the placement of Neil's voice, just at times it's mixed a bit thin. It sounds like some artificial reverberation was added to the voice in places to increase the spaciousness, I suspect that is what most critics object to. Still I'll take multi-channel Neil recordings anyway that I can get them! I Would love to see a remix of "After the Gold Rush". I haven't been able to digitally copy this disc (or many other Warner DVD-A's) to my hard disc, limiting it's usefulness.

 

[Fourplay]

Hey All,

Am listening now. This is a pleasing disc musically, and a discrete mix. I have now listened to parts facing forward, backward and sideways. Each method is a different experience. I will be looking for a corrected version as I do not have the capability to make one for myself. Having said that, I give the disc an 8. The sonics are great - even though there is alot of headroom I prefer this to brick-walling. The music is classic and very enjoyable to me. But the capper is that even though this mix is controversial, it is very discrete and there is enough there to make an excellent "corrected version." Other titles (such as many Silverline titles) are beyond help. So I knock points off for needing work, but give some credit for the material being there and of high quality such that the best version CAN be made. Even as is I am enjoying the mix. Think of this as a "surround kit" for you do-it-yourselfers!

Ken

 

[conttador]

I don't have a problem with the center channel. I have a 7.1 system so the rears are actually at my side with nothing coming from the rears. The most comparable experience IMHO is that of being in a coffee shop. This is the wonderful thing about music...

I've played in small venues and it so much easier to control the tone of an instrument because you don't need use all the headroom you would in a larger venue. This sounds great with the volume at about 35%.Brothers in Arms ang Gaucho are great too but this recording not only sounds intimate but feels intimate if that makes any sense!

 

[Bill Houston]

Big NY fan. Certainly admire NY for his continue championing of hi-rez digital music.

Mix/Sonics.: 8
Music: 8.5

 

[Quad Linda]

Although I can't speak for you guys, my first potato chip wasn't all that memorable...

...to first lay...ED

 

[Perp]

That's what you get for not having Jay's, my first potato chip.

 

[EMB]

Hmm...I've never tried that one....

ED

 

[Q-Eight]

Finally got my hands on this one. Admittedly, I'm not a big Neil Young fan. Casual observer would best describe. As the disc comes, the track layout is nutzo. Idgits.
Re-arranged tracks and I still don't really like the mix. It's not a well thought-out mix. Even the best track, 'Heart of Gold', the mix doesn't even mirror the stereo cut with drums in both lefts. No, I would certainly want to remix this one with much more discrete placement and really spread the music around. You'll find more separation on the stereo cuts. Music is great, mix is poor. I'll give it a 5.

 

[rusinurbe]

Finally got my hands on this one. Admittedly, I'm not a big Neil Young fan. Casual observer would best describe. As the disc comes, the track layout is nutzo. Idgits.
Re-arranged tracks and I still don't really like the mix. It's not a well thought-out mix. Even the best track, 'Heart of Gold', the mix doesn't even mirror the stereo cut with drums in both lefts. No, I would certainly want to remix this one with much more discrete placement and really spread the music around. You'll find more separation on the stereo cuts. Music is great, mix is poor. I'll give it a 5.

Could have done with more Barn,

Maybe he did not have enough out buildings to mix this properly !!!

Should have called on Steven W or Elliott S

 

[Q-Eight]

Should have called on Steven W or Elliott S

Agreed!!

I'd be thinking drums across the fronts, Neil center, bass center, accoustic and/or lead guitars FL or FR. In the rears have the pedal steel, the piano and additional vocals. Maybe some nice studio sound piped to the back to flesh out the mix. Steve or Elliot would get that.

 

[ifthenwhy]

Why would I like to hear a total mix, of what is arguably one of the greatest albums of the last 60 years, behind me? This curious choice just ruins the 5.1 experience. Shame, because it could have been phenomenal.

Yuck!

2 out of 10

 

[steelydave]

Did you read the rest of this thread?

 

[ifthenwhy]

"Did you read the rest of this thread?"

Indeed I did. But no, besides making slight level adjustments, I'm not willing to switch the Front and Rear speakers to accommodate what I feel is a ridiculous aesthetic choice made in the mix stage. I don't have to do that for Beck's Sea Change, or Wilson's mix of Close To The Edge and I shouldn't have to for Harvest.

I appreciate that others like it. I think it's garbage.

In my estimation, a 5.1 mix, in the wrong hands, can utterly destroy a great work of art. See Pet Sounds for further proof.

Harvest deserves better!

Cheers!

 

[steelydave]

That's the whole point, it wasn't a decision made in the mix stage. It was an error in authoring the DVD-Audio that transposed the front left with rear left, and front right with rear right channels on 6 of the tracks (1-4 and 6 & 7). It's obvious that this is the case from the waveforms posted above, or have a listen to the centre channel and then to one of the rear channels on the incorrect tracks - they share common information. If you swap the fronts and rears all that 'behind you' business corrects itself. This isn't a mix of the quality of Sea Change, but when you fix the authoring problem at least the mix makes logical sense, ie. vocals and guitars are arrayed across the front of the soundstage, not in some weird triangular pattern.

 

[ifthenwhy]

"It was an error in authoring the DVD-Audio '

I missed that and I stand corrected! I actually feel a little better knowing this wasn't some wonky idea. (IE HOW COULD THEY!)
But what a maddeningly sad authoring mistake!!

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[Quad Linda]

Actually, Jays is a fabricated name. It was originally Mrs. Japp's, named for Leonard Japp, who founded the company here in Chicago. After Pearl Harbor, they decided to change the name to Jay's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jays_Foods

That's what you get for not having Jay's, my first potato chip.


View attachment 12396

 

[Perp]

Actually, Jays is a fabricated name. It was originally Mrs. Japp's, named for Leonard Japp, who founded the company here in Chicago. After Pearl Harbor, they decided to change the name to Jay's.

Sorry, I don't go that far back but I'm sure glad they changed the name, for obvious reasons.

 

[joelee]

Listened again to this over the weekend. The lead guitar on Words sounds distorted, almost like there's a short in the speakers.