still life re mixed

[Zephyros]

^It already happens from 5:01-5:04 in the left headphone, then again from 5:08-5:11, then very briefly at 5:25 as you described, but again very much noticeable and for a longer period from 5:30-5:42. At 5:42 you really hear the right headphone volume swell back to a normal level. There's more dropouts but those are the most noticeable parts as far as I can tell.
You probably noticed the 5:25 bit because it is short and abrupt, while the others are more gradual and spread over larger time periods.

The volume of the ride sways a lot all back and forth from 5:42 until it the break @5:56

 

[leprecon]

My copy of it says 2003 too. And there's indeed some dropouts. When it occur it's almost like a punch in the.... ear when it happens. You know. Very disturbing especially hearing those from headphones.

 

[Risquit]

Nobody's mentioned "White Cluster". We will be able to hear Opeth's wildest solos in all their glory now without straining.

 

[Tubbs]

Ok, so I think I found one. Though I can't be sure.

At around 5:25 during The Moor, for about 5-10 seconds, it seems as if the volume goes down a bit on my right headphone. It took me about 10 times straight of listening to that part until I was sure.

Honestly, if THATS what everyone's crying about, they're overreacting.

Also, I think it's impossible to hear that without headphones.

Seriously, what equipment do you have? I can hear it with and without headphones.

(alright, I do have a surround system, which is the only reason I can probably hear it without headphones, but regardless...)

 

[Lothlorien]

i demand to see artwork.

 

[KjeXXXer]

I dreamt that I saw it. It was pish.
However: What I saw in the dream might not correspond with the actual artwork, so don't quote me on that.

 

[Lothlorien]

I dreamt that I saw it. It was pish.
However: What I saw in the dream might not correspond with the actual artwork, so don't quote me on that.

que?

 

[KjeXXXer]

Nothin lol

 

[chrisdoig24k]

Yeah, when the right headphone comes back, that's pretty noticeable. I didn't notice the ones at 5.01 and 5.08, when it changes to that slightly chaotic riff it masks it I think.

 

[Sinten]

you guys need better audio equipment if you didn't notice the moor dropouts after more than one listen
(or stop listening to shitty bitrate torrented opeth and buy the albums)

 

[bens0n]

Listening to the moor @ 320kbit, ripped directly from my CD, I have a set of THX certified speakers, definitely not noticing 'dropouts'..

only thing I notice is the fact that its not very crisp and its a little noisy.

 

[bens0n]

For my own surround mixes I'll typically keep drum overheads and toms in the front stereo channels, the snare, kick, and possible one of the rack toms in the center channel, and lastly room mics in the rear channels. That covers a basic surround drum mix for an example, and if you ask me, it sounds fantastic; not only does a surround mix allow much more clarity due to separation, it offers the ability to bring the listener right into the recording space and add three dimensional special effects and accents.

Anyway, a 5.1 mix doesn't always mean better, it has to be in the right hands and it can easily be mis used, If you go back to when stereo was being introduced, you can find some really horrible mixes due to very distasteful panning.

so what does that 5.1 mix do on a 2.1 / 4.2 system?

where do those extra channels go? do they go away? do they get rounded into other sections? if so, does that sound muggy?

 

[Frosties]

Seriously, what equipment do you have? I can hear it with and without headphones.

I have two Mission760i speakers , a NAD 302 stereo amplifier and I play cd's out of my DVD. Granted, they're about 10-15 years old, but they still sound as good as they day they were bought.

EDIT: How do you play it now in a 5.1 system? The album is meant to be stereo, isn't it? Or do you just have 3 in front and two behind in stead of on left and one right?

 

[Tubbs]

I have two Mission760i speakers , a NAD 302 stereo amplifier and I play cd's out of my DVD. Granted, they're about 10-15 years old, but they still sound as good as they day they were bought.

EDIT: How do you play it now in a 5.1 system? The album is meant to be stereo, isn't it? Or do you just have 3 in front and two behind in stead of on left and one right?

Try playing it through a computer with a good sound card and without equalization, and maybe it will become clearer. Stereos or dvd players tend to augment/diminish the sound iirc.

Anyway, the surround system just pans all of the audio like in a normal 2.1 setup. (the two left speakers play the left material, the two right speakers play the right, the center plays the center, pretty simple)

 

[KjeXXXer]

you guys need better audio equipment if you didn't notice the moor dropouts after more than one listen

Yeah, I should really go out of my way to ruin my experience of a great song.

 

[Tubbs]

You're ruining your experience by not hearing it the way it was made.

 

[Cyrosis]

so what does that 5.1 mix do on a 2.1 / 4.2 system?

where do those extra channels go? do they go away? do they get rounded into other sections? if so, does that sound muggy?

In the same song in a stereo mix, all of the same audio is typically in the front two stereo channels, (of course not always, some might choose to drop some stuff from the song entirely) typically things like the room ambiance or other special fx wont be as loud because they are much more intrusive when they are on the same channels. One of the huge perks of the 5.1 mix is these can be boosted to much louder levels, a lot of detail can be heard without overshadowing the front two channels where most of the action is happening; and when you think about that, it in turn keeps the stuff that is still in the front stereo channels separated and yet again another level of clarity is added. This isn't even touching on the perceivable dynamic range increase from removing overlapping frequencies and a wider stereo spread, since mono sounds will now truly be mono, freeing the front stereo channels to be used for things that are actually panned left and right.

Enough of my rambling anyway.

:edit: Ah, I mis read that question in the first place, a 5.1 mix on a stereo speaker setup, typically it will all be pushed into stereo, a lot of DVD movies are defaulted to dolby 5.1 and most people at home are sitting in front of a stereo tv setup, so it works out alright.

 

[FUBAR]

Hmm so would it be worth buying if I only have an imac dvd player? and not the entire 5.1 set up.

 

[Ermz]

so what does that 5.1 mix do on a 2.1 / 4.2 system?

where do those extra channels go? do they go away? do they get rounded into other sections? if so, does that sound muggy?

There are special downmix algorithms designed to mix down to stereo with as little loss due to phase cancellation as possible, along with keeping dry sound/ambiance ratios in check.

I'm personally not thrilled by the 5.1 format. It takes too much effort to implement correctly. Most of the people I know don't even know how to optimally position a stereo speaker system.. god forbid you give them 5 speakers and a subwoofer. The album will never be heard like the mixer intended it to, mainly due to consumer ignorance... and that's fine, the format itself is too cumbersome.

 

[leprecon]

I have a stereo amplifier and a DVD-player. So when listening to Porcupine Tree's - Stupid Dream DVD-A, it sounds right (It's possible to choose 2.0 or DTS). But Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos DVD sounds wrong. It looses some channels or so. There's no possibility to change form like in Stupid Dream case. So.... let's hope that upcoming release of Still Life is the same way!