Still life S.E

[{-sapob-}]

Who has it?
What do you think of the remastering and 5.1 mix?
High and Low points.

I have it, and i think its good, but they probably could have not released it.
Throughout the whole thing Mikes vox are a bit choppy, and I really hate the sound of the snare on that version of face of melinda. Infact i just dont like the album version of that song in the first place.

i think the high point of it is that you get to see it in a very different light, and I also like the introduction inside the sleeve.

I also like how everything is molded better so you can hear a lot more.
I guess im going back on what i originally said about the worthyness of the re-release.

 

[Vega Skater]

I think it's interesting, and aspects such as the drums on Godhead's Lament slay. But all in all, I love the atmosphere of the original release, and treat the SE as an easter egg.

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

the cd in the special edition is no different from the original mastering of still life, other than the obvious compression and boost that was done. anything else that you're hearing is a placebo, as it was not remixed. thus anything other than compression and volume raise, and POSSIBLE re-eqing of the final mix... was not done. I don't remember if they re-eq'd the final mix or not, but compression+boost is a standard in remasters nowadays.

the 5.1 mix, on the other hand, was done amazingly; although once again it's a 5.0 mix as there's no dedicated sub channel iirc.

 

[Iki-ilkkuja]

Yeah, the drums sound a bit better, but otherwise, it's just as good as it's been this far. I love the additional artwork.

 

[Ninfix]

I've only heard the SE edition, it's the only one I got. Everything about the sound is wonderful, I have no complaints... Is there something that sounds better on the original release?

 

[pyr0rrzzz]

Is there something that sounds better on the original release?

 

[Alteredmindeath]

its worth it for the live dvd alone .

 

[mexicola]

its worth it for the live dvd alone .

Even if you have the Roundhouse Tapes?

The S.E is the only version I have and it sounds good. But I think the songs are overrated though. Haven't heard the 5.1

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

its worth it for the live dvd alone .

still life se only has a clip of face of melinda, which is from the roundhouse tapes dvd.


again, let me stress that there is no difference mix-wise between the SE CD and the original CD. compression, boost, and possible re-eqing of the master tracks is all that was done. anything that you're hearing, like a better mix - is a placebo effect. the cd was only remastered. the 5.1 mix was remixed and remastered from the original master instrument tracks.

and personally, I prefer the original master, as the new remastered CD is too hot imo.

 

[To rid you disease]

imo:
new cover > old cover

and that makes it worth buying.

 

[mexicola]

It looks good up on the shelf.

 

[Harmonica1310]

Still Life is an excellent album, nuff said.

Do love the 5.1 mix and the introduction by Mikael on the new inner sleeve.

Besides it has the wonderful Serenity Painted Death which is just awesome

 

[wut wut]

the 5.1 mix, on the other hand, was done amazingly; although once again it's a 5.0 mix as there's no dedicated sub channel iirc.

I'm seriously starting to wonder what Jens Bogren has against true 5.1 audio.

I think Opeth should let him do the stereo mix of the next album, but have a better 5.1 person do that version.

 

[Cyrosis]

I'm seriously starting to wonder what Jens Bogren has against true 5.1 audio.

I think Opeth should let him do the stereo mix of the next album, but have a better 5.1 person do that version.

Well, I've explained this before, but I'll give it another go.

The LFE (.1) channel is not supposed to be used as a subwoofer channel, the subwoofer will be controlled by your receiver, PC, or whatever your source is, based on the crossover frequency you setup, or the speakers internal crossover. The LFE exists as more headroom for extremly loud bass, that would otherwise be unable to fit into the other dedicated surround or stereo channels. Since all 5 channels are supposed to be mixed in full range, when requiring moments of extreme bass, you may have no headroom to add it, so the .1 is a completly dedicated channel that exists to give the engineer an unshared channel for the moments that require it.

All of this is relevant, because music generally has absolutely no need to have an LFE channel, because it doesn't contain near enough bass content to constitute using it. With that said, a lot of DVD-A releases end up using it to maintain a decent RMS volume, while keeping the heavy limiting and compression that you would find on typical CD releases, to a minimum. Movies of course make much more use of the LFE, since they already have a very wide dynamic range, and therefor often have a fairly quiet RMS volume, without the LFE, the RMS would be pushed even lower, which would just be a bit too quiet.

As for the Still Life 5.1, I think its alright, but I find the drums to be far too compressed, and unnatural, it appears he brought triggers into the mix quite heavily. Also, the reverb on some moments of guitar just sounded so much better in the original, though the reverb on most of the CD was terrible. Overall, I think he may have overcompensated for the CD's shortcomings, and come up with an almost exact opposite, forgetting it did have a few elements that would be better left untouched.