The Beatles: Abbey Road 50th SDE inc. Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos - 09.27.19

[Dubstar]

I've so far seen only two reviews of the deluxe edition, but neither reviewer has a Dolby Atmos set up - oh the wait til tomorrow !!!

[Max Solo]

I’ve listened to the bluray twice now and to me it sounds mighty fine

I only have a 5.1 Samsung soundbar. But it does what it needs to do.

Very happy with the blu. Now I need to crack the extra tracks on the CDs.

[Jpapp25]

I had ordered this tonight on Amazon and then ended up cancelling. Fingers crossed they'll release a stand-alone version at some point.

In the interim I was going to just grab the high quality digital album from either HDTracks or ProStudioMasters. Does anyone know if the versions of the album on HDTracks or ProStrudioMasters would be the Atmos version? Or would these just be high-quality audio files without targeted speakers?

Links if interested:
ProStudioMasters6

HDTracks

[The Great Escape]

What are the chances this falls in price around BF ? I do want to get the Super Deluxe edition but the price is a little steep right now. It's my favorite Beatle album.

[GaragePoet]

which mix is on the bluray? original, new or both?

[PissedOffPeoN]

Listening to atmos now and WOW first time hearing the Beatles in atmos is soo amazing the separation of all the instruments and vocals in all the speakers makes it meld so well. Gonna pop it in my oppo 203 after my Panasonic 203 atmos mix for more information on bit rates .

[Max Solo]

Originally Posted by GaragePoet

which mix is on the bluray? original, new or both?

New

[BuckNaked2k]

A number of people on an audiophile thread are reporting issues with the Blu-ray playback, particularly in Oppos.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

I've so far seen only two reviews of the deluxe edition, but neither reviewer has a Dolby Atmos set up - oh the wait til tomorrow !!!

Spent some time with it last night and today, the Atmos track is freaking amazing. Wowza! I'm absolutely thrilled with this one, everything about it is bang on the money and as far as my preferences for surround mixing of studio material go, this delivers on all counts.

I'm surprised to see Emily Lazar on the mastering credit for the 5.1 and Atmos mixes as she's become as synonymous with the loudness wars as Vlado Meller, and she definitely used pretty heavy levels of dynamic range compression on the Coldplay 5.1 mix of their last long player, but this one doesn't suffer from it and is on par with The Beatles for dynamic range.

It's superb, it truly is. Love has definitely been replaced as far as surround showcase Beatles material, no question about it.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by GaragePoet

which mix is on the bluray? original, new or both?

2019 unlimited stereo mix, 2019 5.1 mix (dts-ma) and 2019 Dolby Atmos mix; all 24/96 resolution.

Originally Posted by Jpapp25

I had ordered this tonight on Amazon and then ended up cancelling. Fingers crossed they'll release a stand-alone version at some point.

In the interim I was going to just grab the high quality digital album from either HDTracks or ProStudioMasters. Does anyone know if the versions of the album on HDTracks or ProStrudioMasters would be the Atmos version? Or would these just be high-quality audio files without targeted speakers?

Links if interested:
ProStudioMasters6

HDTracks

It's quite peculiar, but the 24/96 versions that appear on PSM and HDTracks are all the limited versions, featuring the mastering that ended up on the CD (albeit dithered to CD quality).

The Blu-ray for Abbey Road contains the unlimited 24/96 2019 stereo mix that, similar to The White Album, represents the vinyl cutting master. So the 2019 stereo mix on the Blu-ray is a little more dynamic than the versions being offered for download. None are victims of the loudness wars, but worth mentioning.

24-bit digital download - DR9 - http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/167259
24-bit vinyl cutting master on Blu-ray Audio Disc 4 from the SDE - DR11 - http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/167257

[Dubstar]

Dolby is downright cruel - I saw a Facebook comment / video from Dolby where Giles is talking about the mixing of Sgt. Pepper in Atmos, basically don't release it to the masses but continue to dangle this like a carrot in front of a rabbit ?? Well at least we have 'Abbey Road' released as such - gonna have to wait to give this a full listen til Monday morning.

[Jpapp25]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

2019 unlimited stereo mix, 2019 5.1 mix (dts-ma) and 2019 Dolby Atmos mix; all 24/96 resolution.
It's quite peculiar, but the 24/96 versions that appear on PSM and HDTracks are all the limited versions, featuring the mastering that ended up on the CD (albeit dithered to CD quality).

The Blu-ray for Abbey Road contains the unlimited 24/96 2019 stereo mix that, similar to The White Album, represents the vinyl cutting master. So the 2019 stereo mix on the Blu-ray is a little more dynamic than the versions being offered for download. None are victims of the loudness wars, but worth mentioning.

24-bit digital download - DR9 - http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/167259
24-bit vinyl cutting master on Blu-ray Audio Disc 4 from the SDE - DR11 - http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/167257

Thanks for that information dobyblue! I'm hopeful Dolby's new partnership with Amazon will allow purchase/download of the digital files but they haven't released much info on it yet outside of offering an Echo Smart speaker which is Dolby Atmos compatible.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

Dolby is downright cruel - I saw a Facebook comment / video from Dolby where Giles is talking about the mixing of Sgt. Pepper in Atmos, basically don't release it to the masses but continue to dangle this like a carrot in front of a rabbit ?? Well at least we have 'Abbey Road' released as such - gonna have to wait to give this a full listen til Monday morning.

Also if you recall we were in a conversation about whether or not Peppers was folded into 5.1 from Atmos and thus whether the Atmos would be a noticeably different experience or not, turns out according to Sound on Sound that they DID do the 5.1 first, and then two weeks later went and worked on the Atmos mix. Frustrating! Here's hoping they someday release a standalone Blu-ray of Peppers Atmos.

[bradenklune]

The, "Something," video is a nice Easter egg, but I wish they'd included the new promo video for, 'Here Comes The Sun," as well.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by BuckNaked2k

A number of people on an audiophile thread are reporting issues with the Blu-ray playback, particularly in Oppos.

what type of issues? I'm half way through the album and listening to it via my Oppo / Onkyo receiver - the mix is just magnificent

[BuckNaked2k]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

what type of issues? I'm half way through the album and listening to it via my Oppo / Onkyo receiver - the mix is just magnificent

Primarily audio dropouts. My copy just arrived, so I'm going to be playing it soon.

[GaragePoet]

haven't had a chance to listen to the BD yet but the CD sounds remarkably close to the original mix. am i trippin' or can no one else really tell a difference?

[wheelhousetunes]

I think the blu-ray sounds incredible, but why didn't they include all the Sessions tracks on it?

They obviously are available (via HD Tracks) and they were included on the BD of the last two box sets...

Seems like a cash grab, which sucks to think.

[larrythefatcat]

Originally Posted by wheelhousetunes

I think the blu-ray sounds incredible, but why didn't they include all the Sessions tracks on it?

They obviously are available (via HD Tracks) and they were included on the BD of the last two box sets...

Seems like a cash grab, which sucks to think.

You might be misremembering because the Sgt. Pepper's Blu-ray has some video content (documentary, videos for A Day in the Life, Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane) and HD/5.1 mixes of Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane, while the White Album Blu-ray also has the Mono mixes, but I can't find anywhere on those discs that could possibly contain the session recordings found on the CDs or HD Tracks.

Granted, the Abbey Road Blu-ray is less than half the size of both the other discs, so they definitely could have fit them on in this case!

[BuckNaked2k]

My copy played fine on two Blu-ray players, PCM and HD-MA 5.1 (no Atmos here).


Easter Egg:

[Show spoiler]Highlight Something, right arrow to see a video