The Soft Bulletin 5.1 - Flaming Lips

[moverton]

Just got the new DVD-Audio version of the Soft Bulletin.
Good news
The stereo dvd-audio is incredible. "Sleeping On The Roof" has always imaged incredibly well on my system but this version is superb.

Bad News
The 5.1 version is distracting. Some of the lead vocals are actually all in the rear which is too much in my opiinion.

Seems exactly the same as the Yoshimi DVD-audio. I always listen to the stereo version. The 5.1 drives me nuts.

Still well worth it for the dvd-audio /stereo. Haven't tried the extras yet.

 

[Rob Babcock]

I love the MC version of Yoshimi. I never, ever, ever listen to it in stereo.

 

[sts9fan]

the Soft Bulletin is most likely my favorite album ever! I can't wait to hear this DVD-A release,

 

[moverton]

I love the MC version of Yoshimi. I never, ever, ever listen to it in stereo.

Maybe just personal taste. Also, what do you have for rear and center channel speakers? My fronts are Totems but the rears are smaller energy's. They are good but not well matched (result of slow aquisition piece by piece).

Also, just as a note, for better or worse, the Soft Bulliten MC is very different from the stereo. For example, some places the vocal is put through completely different effects (distorted). It's almost a different album in many places. Yoshimi was more of just a different mix. I do need to give it some more listens before a final judgement.

 

[Rob Babcock]

I use voice matched Monitor Audio speakers all around.

 

[Bluesmobile]

We should all get together and play ZAIREEKA in our cars in a parking lot.

 

[Rob Babcock]

It never fails! My local BB didn't have it on release day, so I ordered it online. But now today BB finally got it in! I almost bought it, but I just got an email from J&R that mine shipped today...

 

[Rob Babcock]

Well, while I loved the MC version of Yoshimi, I must concur with Moverton that the DVD-A 5.1 mix of The Soft Bulletin is a mixed bag at best. Some of the multichannel mixes are very engaging and effective, but several are distracting at best, and at worst completely ruin the tempo and pace of the songs. In a couple instances, competing sounds panned around actually obscure details that were readily audible in the stereo mix.

Worst of all, my least favorite mixes were of my most favorite songs. I especially dislike the MC mixing of What Is The Light?, A Spoonful Weighs A Ton, and most sadly, my favorite song, Feeling Yourself Disintegrate.

Overall I'm glad I bought it, and I like probably 2/3 of it very well, but I don't think they did as good a job as they did with Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

One caveat, though: I bought the 5.1 CH version of Yoshi before I'd ever heard the CD. So the surround mix is the real mix of those songs in my mind. Maybe it's just hard to accept a surround mix of The Soft Bulletin because I've listening to the 2CH a hundred times.