what are our thoughts on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" (March 1973)?

[amicusterrae]

As to the artists, I have no idea except if they had let Roger Waters get involved, we would have had to wait like
6 years as we did with the 5.1 of Animals.

Amen. It's amazing they managed to produce what they did together given how bad the relationship between Gilmor and Waters seems to be these days.

 

[amicusterrae]

If there's Atmos, I doubt we'll ever see that. For a number of reasons, multiple format stocking has always been hated by most everyone involved. With the point of Atmos being able to downsize to 7.1.4, 5.1.4, etc very well, for now I believe the streamers are happy to get away with just 2, stereo and Atmos.
JMHO

Makes sense. I wondered because there is at least some precedent, with Momentary Lapse of Reason and Division Bell on Apple Music in 3/2. Sound great that way or upmixed with heights in Dolby Surround. Definitely more use of sides though in both than in this new DSOTM Atmos mix. Oh well. What I really want to hear is the Echoes multichannel mix.

 

[amicusterrae]

Reason I haven't spun through it is I don't want to do it until I can really do it: sit down and take in the whole thing as foreground listening in one sitting. I also haven't compared it to the other two versions of the studio album I have on hand (5.1 SACD, Mo-Fi stereo CD - that's really a lot of copies of an album that's...good but not exactly Ten or OK Computer in my book, or even my favorite from the band.) But it sounded good as background music on earbuds...

Ok, you share which one is your PF fav now
Love Ten, too, and that's a fun Atmos mix. You got my hopes up on Radiohead being available in Atmos, but checking got me listening in the home theater room, so thanks!

 

[Axo1989]

Perhaps ironically, I haven't had a chance to listen to it in real Atmos yet. (I did take a spin in Spatial Audio over AirPods Pro2 as background music while working today.) I do love that Apple sent a notification last night that it was out. Nice little Ramadan present from Apple. ...

Streaming from Apple Music to AirPods Max is as far as I can go, technically. Having bagged the content a bit upthread (I'm not in that demographic cohort) I thought I'd better listen. This version is nicely produced and the stereo image (the Atmos binaural version) is very good for headphones. It's pretty simple in terms of the individual sonic elements—that was the 70s—but they are well rendered and well placed on the soundstage.

 

[Jean.Francois]

Hello,

After the unpacking of the 50th anniversary box (youtube), here is the comparison of the 2023 versions: vinyl, CD, DVD stereo (24 bits 48 kHz) and 5.1, Bluray Stereo (24 bits 192 kHz), 5.1 (24 bits 96 kHz) and Dolby Atmos. With in addition the Qobuz Hi-Res version (24 bits 192 kHz) and the Tidal Dolby Atmos version which does not seem to be available today.



The box is really beautiful with a very successful combination of box, but not practical to access the vinyls, because you have to open everything.
The great novelty is the Dolby Atmos track available on the bluray, it is a track encoded in Dolby Digital TrueHD, so without loss, with a bitrate that can exceed 8000kbits/s, compared to atmos in Dolby Digital Plus which is in 768 kbits/s. We find here a bandwidth up to 24 kHz in coherence with the 48 kHz sampling frequency. In listening, we find a real spatial extension of the 5.1 version with a better immersion while keeping the spirit of the album. This is the great plus of this box.



Spatialization of the Dolby Atmos Blu-ray

The high resolution stereo version is closer to the original version unlike the version released in 2011 which had an accentuation of the highs as shown in the spectra below, so we have a sound balance that certainly makes it the best high resolution digital version of the album.


Blu-ray 2023 (white) vs Blu-ray 2011 (blue)

Finally, the vinyl, given the price of the box, we can be demanding and expect a superb pressing, and no, we have a bandwidth that collapses above 17 kHz as shown in the red area of the graph below which compares the vinyl of the box with the original Japanese vinyl (EOP-80778) , it is disappointing, especially since the vinyl of the Wembley concert does not have this problem. Apart from this technical defect, the listening is not up to the standard compared to the other versions, it lacks openness and remains inferior to the other editions.

Vinyl 2023 (white) vs japanese vinyl (blue)

You can find the samples of all the supports (30 versions: Vinyl, vinyl SQ, CD, DVD, BD, Streamind, stereo, 4.0, 5.1, Atmos) with all the measures here.

Enjoy listening.

 

[JaccoW]

Eh it's alright. It's just pleasant generic background music to me.

I've tried several times to sit down for this album and while it's nice and mellow the atmospheric rock has been done to death afterwards. Maybe even better by others.

But then again I'm from a much younger generation so to me it was just one of many rock songs from the 70's. I have a SACD rip of it and while it is very well-recorded, whenever I try listening to it it just doesn't grab me.

 

[bluefuzz]

But then again I'm from a much younger generation

I grew up with it and feel much the same. I've skinned my quota of spliffs on the cover of DSOTM but even with narcotic help I've always thought it massively overrated. Punk happened for a reason and DSOTM was a major contributing factor ... ;-)

 

[Klonatans]

DSOTM is a plague of hi-fi shows.

 

[voodooless]

DSOTM is a plague of hi-fi shows.

Don't go to Hi-Fi shows

 

[Sal1950]

DSOTM is a plague of hi-fi shows.

Don't go to Hi-Fi shows

Or bring your own music.
Complaining about what gets played at shows because a large percent of folks want to hear it for evaluation, is like complaining about to a top 40 radio station for playing a top 40 song too much.

 

[Klonatans]

Or bring your own music.
Complaining about what gets played at shows because a large percent of folks want to hear it for evaluation, is like complaining about to a top 40 radio station for playing a top 40 song too much.

I have brought some nicely mastered records in a USB stick to the British Hi-Fi show in Old Windsor and then Ascot several times and managed to play them. Enjoy your DSOTM, Brothers In Arms and Hotel California!

 

[Boris Badinov]

Wow...just wow! I've read thru this thread and thought I hadn't listened to the Meddle album in about 25 yrs. Just looked it up on Amazon Music and listening now. Great!

 

[jhaider]

Ok, you share which one is your PF fav now

Wish You Were Here.

You got my hopes up on Radiohead being available in Atmos, but checking got me listening in the home theater room, so thanks!

Alas, no. I can’t think of many bands more suited to going immersive than Radiohead, though. Maybe when they get to the second wave of the reissue train…

 

[Mnyb]

Liked it very much as a teen don't listen to it as often now , lost interest in pf over the years

 

[Sal1950]

I have brought some nicely mastered records in a USB stick to the British Hi-Fi show in Old Windsor and then Ascot several times and managed to play them.

As have I in the past, never had a room refuse to play what I brought.
Thankfully many displays now offer streaming and can play just about anything you can imagine.

Enjoy your DSOTM, Brothers In Arms and Hotel California!

I will, specially PF and DS, who's recordings offer some of the best SQ to be found in rock.
Witness the excitement over the recent release of DSOTM in Atmos!
What can be bad about that?

 

[Ron Party]

DSOTM is no different than pieces in any art medium. Some people will like it, love it, respect it, analyze it, criticize it, detest it, ignore it, etc. No one is forced to do any of these things. If it suits you for whatever reason(s), great! If not, there are plenty of other choices.

In the world of prog, it is revered by many if not most. Visit progarchives.com. Polling would currently suggest it places 6th all time in the genre; 76% of the 4,600+ ratings are 5 stars, with an overall 4.61 rating. Evidently quite a few progheads really really hold this album dearly.

 

[No one you know]

Eh it's alright. It's just pleasant generic background music to me.

I've tried several times to sit down for this album and while it's nice and mellow the atmospheric rock has been done to death afterwards. Maybe even better by others.

But then again I'm from a much younger generation so to me it was just one of many rock songs from the 70's. I have a SACD rip of it and while it is very well-recorded, whenever I try listening to it it just doesn't grab me.

I was 10 when it was released and PF did not really impact me until 5-6 years later when I was playing guitar in bands with older musicians.
I think that some DSOTM is truly genius but I get kind of bored with the “self indulged” stuff that runs for minutes at a time. Buts that’s just me I guess. I actually sat down this past weekend and played the Apple Music Spatial version on my ATMOS system at work. Great mix and spatial content but I kept hitting “next track” - some of it just grates on me.

 

[Klonatans]

I will, specially PF and DS, who's recordings offer some of the best SQ to be found in rock.
Witness the excitement over the recent release of DSOTM in Atmos!
What can be bad about that?

Yes, a landmark record, their opus magnum, but there is something stale I don't like about this record, probably the unquestionable greatness, the predictable solemnity, that surrounds DSOTM and hangs heavy in the air, leaving no room for joy of new musical discoveries.

As to SQ there are plenty of other rock records that sound equally good or better than DSOTM and Brothers In Arms.

 

[notsodeadlizard]

Pink Floyd's remastering ranges from gruesome to nightmarish.
To understand this, you do not need to measure anything.
It is audible.
But if you take an amplifier from the time of the first attack of objectivism (1970s, some meager distortions according to the passport and a hard transistor sound like from a zinc bucket) and speakers from about those times, then it is quite possible to listen. Admittedly, it gets boring with time.
Pink Floyd should be listened to very rarely and according to the mood (I can’t say what mood it's about, it’s just that there is a mood to listen to Pink Floyd).

 

[Sal1950]

Yes, a landmark record, their opus magnum, but there is something stale I don't like about this record, probably the unquestionable greatness, the predictable solemnity, that surrounds DSOTM and hangs heavy in the air, leaving no room for joy of new musical discoveries.

That sounds mainly like a personal problem to me, nothing at all to do with PF.
As to DSOTM being their "opus magnum" again simply a matter of opinion.
There are a number of their other albums that get more play around here.
Mostly it sounds like you making cheap shots at the band to show what you believe is
your superior

Pink Floyd's remastering ranges from gruesome to nightmarish.

LOL. Everyone is entitled to an opinion.'
But when your opinion differs so wildly from most of the expert reviewers in the industry, maybe it's time you question either your credentials or your motives.
taste.