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May 24th, 2007 · Posted by Skuds in Music · 3 Comments · Music

My newly-remastered SACD of A Trick of the Tail arrived today.  Bad timing really as the UAF meeting did not give me much time to appreciate it.  I don't think I will really be able to give it a good listen until tomorrow afternoon when Jayne is running people up to the hospital, leaving me free to whack the volume up.

I had worried that £13 was a lot to pay for a new copy of a CD which I already have both on CD and vinyl, just to get it in 5.1 surround sound, but even on a quick hearing it does seem to be worth it.

For a start, I did not appreciate that it comes with a second disc containing the whole album on DVD in a choice of DTS or Dolby Digital sound (so I have a choice of 3 different surround mixes) and some extras including:

  • Videos for three tracks on the album
  • Interviews with Collins, Rutherford, Hackett and Banks about the making of the album. 
  • 40 minutes of Genesis playing live in 1976

The concert footage was interesting and annoying in equal parts.  Annoying because the director kept showing arty film instead of the band at several points, and started with footage of the crew setting up through half the first song (I know what I like).  Despite that, it was great to see the band playing at that point just before they moved up from large theatres to stadiums.

It also answered a question which was nagging away at me for nearly 20 years, namely why Phil Collins got such a large round of applause for a tambourine solo on Seconds Out.  (I'm not saying – buy the album, or borrow it off me if you know me!)

The concert actually only featured two tracks from TOTT – Entangled and Los Endos – the rest being  Know What I Like, Fly on a Windshield, Carpet Crawlers, Cinema Show and Supper's Ready (only the second half).

The verdict on the SACD album itself will have to wait until I hear Los Endos at a proper volume tomorrow. 

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3 Comments so far ↓

  • tyger

    You going to have to help me here… Now maybe I’m taking too much notice of old Hi-Fi mags, but does 5.1-channel music sound any good? I mean, the imaging etc?

    I assume the producers put a lot of thought into how the music is channelled, but when I go see someone live the music “appears” in front of me. Nothing from behind the sofa or over my left shoulder – but from the front. When all my fellow Hi-Fi geeks were buying 5.1 (and 7.1+) for movies and SACD etc., I stuck to my 2-channel Musical Fidelity amp and a pair of Sonus Fabers (I’m not a big watcher of DVDs). Am I missing something?

    Maybe if I had a dedicated music room I’d be more inclined to get a processor…

  • tyger

    I suppose Genesis and the Floyd would benifit from the additional channels, thinking about it.

  • Skuds

    Obviously I think it sounds good, or I wouldn’t be buying it. Admittedly I got the amp for movies, but when I replaced the DVD I did it with the intention of using it for music too so got one which could handle all the formats and then got a DVD-A and SACD just to see if it was worthwhile.

    I think it works well for the right material. Pink Floyd and Genesis work well, as does Tubular Bells and electronic music.

    I don’t think it would add a lot to straight forward rock bands. For example, if there was an Arctic Monkeys SACD I wouldn’t bother.

    Having said that, live recordings are different if they are done properly. You say that when you see a band live the music appears in front of you. True for a pub band or acoustic, but for larger concerts the music comes from wherever they put the speakers – which can be high above or all around.

    Some bands, Pink Floyd being a good example, do put out a surround mix in concert and some sounds really do come from over your shoulder! Even with a ‘normal’ band the sound you hear is affected by the venue so you are hearing the sound from the front, but also echoes of it bouncing off the walls behind.

    A decent live 5.1 mix will replicate that ambience or soundstage. A bad one will just put sounds on the rear speakers for the sake of it.

    The irony is that if you have a really good 5.1 mix it will be subtle and unintrusive so you hardly notice the rear speakers.

    These new Genesis releases might sound better in 5.1 than in stereo. They have been re-mastered for 5.1 and it could be that when they are mixed down to stereo the results are not as good as if it had been mastered for stereo.