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Topic: Discovery Deluxe, An Ultimate Edition< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Thea Cochrane Offline




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Posted: Feb. 01 2016, 18:42

I liked the remastered album a lot (Discovery is one of my favourites generally), and I've wanted the b-side/bonus tracks on proper CD for ages (In The Pool sounds crap as a low bitrate MP3).

I'm a little underwhelmed with the 1984 Suite though. It's fun hearing different elements of the mix at the fore because it sheds some light on all the stuff going on in those songs… but, and I should point out that I'm not listening in 5.1 so I might be missing something,  the remixes sound unfinished to me with some of the energy and finesse from the 80s mix missing. One of the only things I really liked and was an improvement on the original was the acoustic guitar on Etude. I'd also hoped the tracks might be integrated more with each other, and I share in the disappointment at The Royal Mile not being a new track at all.

I will emphasise, I want to try to hear it in 5.1 at some point in case it all becomes clear at that point, but the mixes on the CD are in stereo so they really ought to work in stereo. I'm really hoping that in 5.1 the kick drum in the track Discovery re-appears, because removing that seemed like an odd choice.

It's actually made me a little worried about Mike's new project which I'd been almost bouncing in my chair with excitement about when I saw pictures of some of the instruments he was using and read that it seems to be two long-form instrumentals. I'm hoping he might hire a pro studio to do the mixing in, and take a few days over it.
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dazzler Offline




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Posted: Feb. 02 2016, 17:58

I like the remaster with the bonus tracks.

But I agree I can spot some sound quality differencies
between the original album and some of the bonustracks.

Are they really remastered or just glued together from previous CD releases?

The 1984 Suite is a bit disappointing.
The only really exciting track on it is The Lake.
Some nice things are happening there, but most of the other tracks
have just very subtle changes to the original versions.

And Zombies (Mike seems to be very pleased with that one in the liner notes) is just awful.
It makes me wonder how he has totally lost the connection with the listeners in the years.

I hope Universal will not forget to include Pictures in the Dark, Legend, The Trap,
Shine, The Path, When the Night's on Fire and Music from the Video Wall on the Islands deluxe edition.
It sounds like too much bonustracks (if you consider the 12" remixes of all the singles involved) for one CD.
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Thea Cochrane Offline




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Posted: Feb. 03 2016, 18:55

Quote (dazzler @ Feb. 02 2016, 22:58)
I hope Universal will not forget to include Pictures in the Dark, Legend, The Trap,
Shine, The Path, When the Night's on Fire and Music from the Video Wall on the Islands deluxe edition.
It sounds like too much bonustracks (if you consider the 12" remixes of all the singles involved) for one CD.

The obvious thing to do with Islands really would be to have a bonus DVD of The Wind Chimes (which was already included in full on the Elements DVD) seeing as every track on Islands has a video - plus Shine and Pictures in the Dark.
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dobyblue Offline




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Posted: June 22 2016, 13:50

Quote (spark @ Feb. 01 2016, 11:30)
The 5.1 mix is underwelming !!!!
1984 Suite is such a waste of time
re my earlier post on Olivers Discovery post

I have to agree, the 5.1 mix is very underwhelming. In fact I've felt that way about most of the 5.1 mixes, figured maybe getting them lossless would help and it certainly does aid with fidelity (comparing the 5.1 flacs of TB from Bowers & Wilkins with the paltry Dolby Digital 448 Kbps on the DVD-V) but it's just not a very exciting mix.

I get that if they had to pay someone else to do them we likely wouldn't get them, but my fave surround presentation to date is still the original quad 4.0 mix of Tubular Bells on the SACD.

Would love to have heard what someone like Steven Wilson would have done with "The Lake".
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DOLOMITE Offline




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Posted: Aug. 28 2016, 07:03

OK, help needed!  I love Discovery but am confused by this release (seems I'm not alone in that)

I am trying to work out if it's worth me buying given that:

-I only really want an improved version of the original album
The b-sides/curios I either have or don't want (tried on SPotify first thankfully!;)

-maybe most importantly I listen to music mostly in the car so no benefit to 5.1 version which I'll then listen to in stereo. (Rip CD to 320 mp3 and listen direct from USB drive on Alpine head unit)

So help me out here will the sound of the original album on this new version actually be better than that on the 2000 HDCD version I currently have?
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Chrissy Offline




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Posted: Aug. 31 2016, 17:46

Very little difference in sound quality.

Save your money unless you want the 1984 Suite. But if you have already got these tracks then your not getting much new.
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pauken Offline




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Posted: Nov. 15 2019, 06:35

I recently loaded up the 1984 Suite 5.1 mix tracks in to Cubase to have a poke around. What I found is that the LFE bass track contains a lot of bass that isn't present in the other channels and it doesn't seem to have been included in the stereo downmix that you get on CD.

So, I made a new stereo downmix with the LFE track restored and at an appropriate level and the difference is quite significant I think.

Whereas before everything sounded a bit thin and harsh, the restored bass content really seems to have filled everything out. The Lake in particular sounds really much better and you can hear the kick in Discovery again :)

If anyone wants to have a listen, I can get you a link to the FLACs, let me know.

I actually applied the same reasoning to the Crises and Five Miles Out 5.1 tracks and made new downmixes of those too but the difference is much less pronounced there.
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oldfield_fan Offline




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Posted: Nov. 15 2019, 10:59

Yes, I want to hear it. Please share the link.
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nightspore Offline




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Posted: Nov. 15 2019, 17:33

Mike is well known for his sense of humour... Discovery Dulux would likely have a large old English sheepdog on its cover  :D

"You know you'll never... get to Crufts!"  :laugh:
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larstangmark Offline




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Posted: Jan. 09 2021, 04:21

I listened to the 1984 suit the other day, and I must say I'm not convinced that the tracks are re-mixed in the conventional sense. If Mike had done a new mix from the multitracks, then I'm sure it the difference would be greater compared to the album as we know it.
I suspect that Mike used some kind of plug-in that manages to re-position certain elements in the stereo field (some sounds bounce between the speakers).
As for the title track, I think he used a drum replacement software for that one.

But I have a question:

I never owned the Tricks of the Light maxi single, so I never heard the instrumental version of that track to begin with. That awful bell sound that plays the vocal melody, was that added in time for the deluxe edition, or did the original sound like that? It sounds sloppy and un-produced in a way that nothing else from the Discovery session does.


--------------
"There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste"
Mark E Smith
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pauken Offline




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Posted: Jan. 09 2021, 19:51

I think they are remixed because certainly some of the effects have been removed and/or changed and I spent some time faffing with the 5.1 version to fix the lack of bass and you can hear the differences there for sure.

That's a problem with the normal stereo version you get, it seems to be just a downmix of the 5.1 and it was rendered without any of the LFE (Low Freq) channel so there's a bunch of bass missing. You notice it in Discovery, the kick drum has all but disappeared. So, I made a new stereo mix from the 5.1 tracks and mixed the LFE in properly and it sounds much better :D

The horrible clanging bell thing in the instrumental version of Trick of the Light has been there since the 80s as it's on the 12" vinyl single too. I suspect it was a vocal guide track so they could hear how the melody goes. It's pretty awful on its own :/
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First_Excursion Offline




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Posted: Jan. 11 2021, 07:48

Quote (larstangmark @ Jan. 09 2021, 04:21)
That awful bell sound that plays the vocal melody, was that added in time for the deluxe edition, or did the original sound like that?

I recall it sounding like that in the 80s.
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Milamber Offline




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Posted: Mar. 22 2021, 00:08

Quote (pauken @ Nov. 15 2019, 22:35)
I recently loaded up the 1984 Suite 5.1 mix tracks in to Cubase to have a poke around. What I found is that the LFE bass track contains a lot of bass that isn't present in the other channels and it doesn't seem to have been included in the stereo downmix that you get on CD.

So, I made a new stereo downmix with the LFE track restored and at an appropriate level and the difference is quite significant I think.

Whereas before everything sounded a bit thin and harsh, the restored bass content really seems to have filled everything out. The Lake in particular sounds really much better and you can hear the kick in Discovery again :)

If anyone wants to have a listen, I can get you a link to the FLACs, let me know.

I actually applied the same reasoning to the Crises and Five Miles Out 5.1 tracks and made new downmixes of those too but the difference is much less pronounced there.

That was my main complaint with the stereo mix, Sounds awful.
Discovery was the track I most noticed it's absence on as well.
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Thea Cochrane Offline




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Posted: Mar. 22 2021, 07:21

That sounds like a problem in quality checking or QA or whatever they call it.

I know at one point as an assistant it was my job to listen/ watch a concert six times with different audio options each time (PAL stereo, PAL Dolby surround, PAL DTS surround, then all of those again for NTSC) and I'd have definitely been in trouble if I had missed that there wasn't any bass on the stereo mix because we knew that's how most people would probably be listening.
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tarquincat Offline




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Posted: Mar. 23 2021, 06:22

Quote (pauken @ Nov. 15 2019, 06:35)
I recently loaded up the 1984 Suite 5.1 mix tracks in to Cubase to have a poke around. What I found is that the LFE bass track contains a lot of bass that isn't present in the other channels and it doesn't seem to have been included in the stereo downmix that you get on CD.

So, I made a new stereo downmix with the LFE track restored and at an appropriate level and the difference is quite significant I think.

Whereas before everything sounded a bit thin and harsh, the restored bass content really seems to have filled everything out. The Lake in particular sounds really much better and you can hear the kick in Discovery again :)

If anyone wants to have a listen, I can get you a link to the FLACs, let me know.

I actually applied the same reasoning to the Crises and Five Miles Out 5.1 tracks and made new downmixes of those too but the difference is much less pronounced there.

How do you play downloaded 5.1 mixes in simple terms ?
Or is it not possible in simple terms ?

I have a 5.1 system for the dvd mixes
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pauken Offline




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Posted: Mar. 28 2021, 13:20

What I have is a USB sound card that has the 6 output channels and plug them in to the front/rear/centre/sub inputs on my surround amplifier.

My amp is old but more recent ones have HDMI inputs which I think if you connect to your laptop directly then show up as a sound device you can configure as having a 5.1 layout. Not sure about that bit though, I haven't got one to try it out on.
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