Beatles Abbey Road in 5.1, Dolby Atmos and new stereo

[ted_b]

Mark the calendar for Sep 27!! 

 

https://abbeyroad.thebeatles.com/

[wgscott]

Just to save others the trouble:

 

Quote

Abbey Road’s Super Deluxe box set presents 40 tracks – including “The Long One” Trial Edit & Mix for the album’s epic Side 2 medley – on three CDs (stereo) and one Blu-ray disc (Dolby Atmos, 96kHz/24 bit high resolution stereo, and 96 kHz/24 bit DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1). The four discs are housed in a slip-sleeved 12” by 12” 100-page hardbound book with McCartney’s foreword; Martin’s introduction; insightful, in-depth chapters written by Beatles historian, author, and radio producer Kevin Howlett covering the months preceding The Beatles’ Abbey Road sessions, track-by-track details and session notes, the cover art and photo shoot, and the album’s reception upon its release; plus an essay by music journalist and author David Hepworth looking at the album’s influence through 50 years. The gorgeous book is illustrated with rare and previously unpublished photographs, including many taken by Linda McCartney; never before published images of handwritten lyrics, sketches, and a George Martin score; Beatles correspondence, recording sheets, and tape boxes; and reproduced original print ads. The Super Deluxe digital audio collection presents all 40 tracks for download purchase and streaming in standard and MFiT formats, as well as in high resolution audio (96kHz/24 bit) for download.

 

[firedog]

1 hour ago, ted_b said:

Mark the calendar for Sep 27!! 

 

https://abbeyroad.thebeatles.com/

They will get my money again. But The original and the digital releases sound really good. I wonder what this will sound like? Hopefully not too much added volume compression. 

Does this mean Revolver or Rubber Soul for Christmas? 

[firedog]

Amazed I can't see it on Amazon yet. Geographical?

 

oops, as soon as I wrote that it came online:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VLMMG28/?tag=ilovethatsong-20&ie=UTF8&linkCode=as2&ascsubtag=c7b56f62ea3c3cc3cee52f09a63f48f2

[TubeLover]

11 hours ago, firedog said:

They will get my money again. But The original and the digital releases sound really good. I wonder what this will sound like? Hopefully not too much added volume compression. 

Does this mean Revolver or Rubber Soul for Christmas? 

They will get my money too. The challenge here will be not double spending. I really want the cd boxed set to ensure I have the blu-ray, and the book. If the digital hi-res sound quality is really good, that means paying out for both

 

JC

[firedog]

Wow, just saw at the Hoffman forum that amazon.ca mistakenly priced the full set at about $28 US for a few hours till they realized their mistake. Missed it. 

[ShawnC]

2 hours ago, firedog said:

Wow, just saw at the Hoffman forum that amazon.ca mistakenly priced the full set at about $28 US for a few hours till they realized their mistake. Missed it. 

A few years ago HDTracks made the same mistake.  It was 3:00 a.m. on a Friday, there Email came through, went to the website to check out the metal category that was advertised and all the albums there were for $1.27.  I bought 11 of them. Four of the bands I never heard of. An hour later the price was corrected. 

[TubeLover]

13 hours ago, firedog said:

Wow, just saw at the Hoffman forum that amazon.ca mistakenly priced the full set at about $28 US for a few hours till they realized their mistake. Missed it. 

I saw that in the Hoffman Forum too, and then realized that I literally missed that $28.00 price by less than half an hour. Which, unfortunately, sums up a great deal of my life.

 

JC

[firedog]

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/abbey-road-50th-anniversary-edition-first-listen

 

first listen to digital and atmos. Don't be alarmed - he starts off describing how terrible it sounded, apparently they had some problem with the setup in the demonstration. Afterwards he heard the atmos version properly played back, and said it sounded fine, similar to an original British pressing, and not too altered. 

[firedog]

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/abbey-road-50th-anniversary-edition-heard-real-stereo-system

Michael Fremer heard the CD version....and really liked it! Said it sounds better than any version other than his original, very early UK pressing of the LP. 
Said no big changes, just better ability to hear detail that wasn't always clear in the original, and better bass and drums definition. Says it doesn't sound like it has added volume compression - or at least not much. 
If Fremer liked the sound of the CD-it must be good. 

[ted_b]

I hope, with the addition of Atmos, that they prioritized standard 5.1 and didn’t do some hinky downmixing from Atmos work

[TubeLover]

11 hours ago, ted_b said:

I hope, with the addition of Atmos, that they prioritized standard 5.1 and didn’t do some hinky downmixing from Atmos work

+1

 

JC

[TubeLover]

Update from Mr. Fremer, who finally got the chance to hear it properly:

 

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/abbey-road-50th-anniversary-edition-heard-real-stereo-system

 

JC

[ted_b]

 Another snippet.

[firedog]

44 minutes ago, ted_b said:

 Another snippet.

I get that it is just another snippet on video, but I'm definitely sensing more "thump" to the bass. Doesn't sound volume crushed either. 

[firedog]

So 3 days to go (at least to hear it via streaming services).  Reviews are starting to come out - Michael Fremer and Steve Gutenberg. Both liked it; Fremer liked it more. 
Fremer, of course, seems to prefer his early British vinyl version, but he did say there are aspects of the remix he prefers. 

[TubeLover]

As Firedog prefaced, here is the full Fremer review. Too much discussion about vinyl, specifically, but it's clearly to be expected. If not the king, he is at least vinyl nobility. He does make one tiny mention of the cd's:

 

 "When I first played the CD version in the deluxe box there was more top than on the record, but not the kind I like, and more crunch but of the “sizzle” variety."
 

 

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/abbey-road-50th-anniversary-remix-full-review-part-2

 

JC

[firedog]

Err. It's after midnight in the US and morning in Europe 27 September.
I'm seeing the album available for download, but no streaming (yet?). Are they purposely not allowing streaming to pump up sales for a few days? I hope not. The people who want to buy it (especially the hi-res) are going to do so whether there is streaming or not.

Just thought I'd be able to listen to it already.....

[zyberguran]

I am listening for the last hour thru TIDAL. With or without MQA. 

In Sweden, though.

[firedog]

45 minutes ago, zyberguran said:

I am listening for the last hour thru TIDAL. With or without MQA. 

In Sweden, though.

Good to know. Hoping that means it will be available for me through Qobuz later today. 

[firedog]

It just showed up on Qobuz and Spotify.
Listening to the hi-res 3 disc version now. Initial reaction: sounds fantastic!
 

Clear, easy to hear instruments and detail. Bass and drums more prominent- but that's how they should have been anyway (no cheap record players to worry about now). I'm definitely easily hearing little details that weren't as apparent before, even on the 24/44.1 version. 

 

Just a couple of interesting details: the bit of strings at the end of "Something" - sounds great. The placement of the cymbals in "I Want You" - really good. 
Seems like Giles and team have done a great job. 
 

Still has that nice warm sound.
Can't wait to hear the rest....

[botrytis]

On 8/21/2019 at 12:22 PM, firedog said:

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/abbey-road-50th-anniversary-edition-heard-real-stereo-system

Michael Fremer heard the CD version....and really liked it! Said it sounds better than any version other than his original, very early UK pressing of the LP. 
Said no big changes, just better ability to hear detail that wasn't always clear in the original, and better bass and drums definition. Says it doesn't sound like it has added volume compression - or at least not much. 
If Fremer liked the sound of the CD-it must be good. 

 

Wait, you trust Fremer? This is the guy that uses a scratched record as some of his listening standards. He also thought MQA was the best thing that ever happened to digital audio.....

[ted_b]

11 minutes ago, botrytis said:

 

Wait, you trust Fremer? This is the guy that uses a scratched record as some of his listening standards. He also thought MQA was the best thing that ever happened to digital audio.....

When his was one of the only reviews/previews available, what choice did we have??

[jcn3]

listening to the 2019 remastered 24/96 version via qobuz -- sounds really, really good.

 

not sure i can peel myself away to compare to the 2009 version . . . 

 

edit:

i think @firedog described the sound accurately.  2019 version sounds very natural, great articulation between instruments, great texture of sounds -- sounds like a well-recorded contemporary album, not something 50 years old.  as was mentioned above, it is a little hotter on the high end -- definitely a bit more sizzle.

[firedog]

I've listened to it about 3 times now. I actually like the cymbal sound - I think it sounds more like the real thing than previous versions. 

As far as negatives: like most good digital remasters of tape, it adds space between the instruments, a blacker background, and makes it easier to hear detail. But: it also loses a little of that "denseness" that analog has so that it sounds a bit less "together". Not enough to be distracting or bothersome, but it's noticeable. I think it leads to a subjective perception of a little less power or "thrust" on some of the sections, especially in the medley on side two. 

I'll have to play with converting it to DSD or running it through my "Abbey Road Vinyl" software simulator just to see how it sounds. Maybe a bit more like tape, hopefully without losing the detail, etc. 
 

But don't get me wrong, I really like it.