Richard Chycki Update on Moving Pictures 5.1 - Initial Reviews

Rush Moving Pictures
Rush Sound Engineer Richard Chycki just updated his blog with some initial reviews of the 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Moving Pictures:
So I guess the review pre-release copies of Rush?s Blu-Ray Moving Pictures 5.1 remix/remaster are making the rounds. It?s so exciting to get feedback from people enjoying something that I had so much fun working on. With permission, I?m sharing pieces of a recent email here from a guy that listens to A LOT of 5.1:

... "First impressions: W-O-W. It?s going to be really, really HARD to ever listen to this album "only" in stereo ever again! THIS is what surround was built for, so to speak ... Living inside it and loving it! ... Everyone needs to know how GREAT this 5.1 mix is!"

... "One of my favorite albums of all time is now better than ever. I look forward to listening to it again and again and getting more out of it each time I do ... Each song has its own individual sense of space ... It's such a rewarding listening experience." - Mike Mettler - Editor-in-Chief, Sound & Vision Magazine.
Rich also indicates that the filming of the April 15th show in Cleveland "...is well underway, almost on autopilot..."

Pre-Ordering links for Moving Pictures 5.1 via Amazon are below:
Moving Pictures 5.1 - CD/DVD

Moving Pictures 5.1 - CD/BD
Thanks to Ed from RushIsABand for passing along the news.

Comments

  1. It's about time Rush start releasing their CDs into DVD 5.1 format. I expect an audio quality boost as well to DVD-Audio quality format.

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  2. For those of you out there who have read my posts on this topic over the past several years, you'll know I have always strongly advocated that Rush (among others) release new work in 5.1. I've listened to quite a few albums from other artists which have been remastered in 5.1, and the results are always the same: WTF. None of them sound even remotely plausible. No one I know enjoys them because we intuitively (or subconsciously---take your pick) know that that's not the way that music was intentionally recorded. Ambience is one thing---to use 5.1 discreet channels to simulate the particular and usually unique space the recording was made in, perhaps---but to have instruments change location on the fly from one channel to the next, instead of in front of you where the musicians would logically be positioned, never seems to work satisfactorily (in my experience) with past recordings, and ends up only as disorienting, ruining the the original intended effect of the artist: to become part a living, breathing participant of the music.

    Maybe these reissues will prove me wrong (I sincerely hope they really and truly do).

    But I doubt it.

    To quote a brilliant engineer I know: "Sometimes you have to tell engineers that just because they can do a thing, doesn't mean they should do a thing."

    I would be infinitely more excited if Rush were to announce that whatever they call their next album will be specifically engineered for 5.1.

    (climbing down from my soap box now)

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  3. Very well-said Mr.Satyre. Modern releases intended for 5.1, such as Iron Maiden's Dance of the Dead was very good in 5.1, particularly the song Paschendale based on the WWI battle of Ypres. I can't describe how exciting it was to hear mortars fired far from behind and land about 20 feet in front of you. In that release, there's 6 band-members, the 4 guitarists sharing the L and R front channels, the singer using only the center channel. The drummer was allowed the subwoofer and all 3 front channels. Rear channels were devoted to keyboards. Still, it was not always the case, but it was an excellent mix and very well worth listening to.

    Back in 1971, Jethro Tull released the quintessential Aqualung in quadrophonic. Only recently has it been re-released in 4.0 surround, and it's very good.

    It all depends on the sound engineer(s), whether they "get it" or are just playing around like kids with a new toy. Rush certainly has an input in the mixing of just about everything they do. I particularly like Geddy's mixing concepts. It sounds great in the album Different Stages.

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  4. OK...I'm going to take the less critical approach and just ask for 5.1 treatment to the following albums in the following order:

    Moving Pictures (already #1 on the list and in process)
    Hemispheres
    2112
    A Farewell to Kings
    Fly By Night
    Signals
    and...
    Grace Under Pressure

    I feel a little shallow, but the heart wants what the heart wants...thick, rich, sonically improved RUSH!

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  5. I'd really love to know the technical details behind the BD and CD versions of this remaster. Is it full 192kHz/24-bit? What is the codec? Are there multiple encodings included on the BD, or only one (only one would be a tragedy considering that even in full uncompressed losseless 192/24 5.1, there would be still tons of wasted space on a single-layer 25GB disc) (it would also be f'in awesome if you could jump back and forth on the fly to listen to 44.1kHz/16-bit and then 96/24, or 192/24, multi and two-channel versions). Of course any BD player can downconvert if you go through the laborious process of stopping playback and resetting the output to analog, optical or coax digital, so being able to do it by merely switching audio tracks would be ideal; most BD players do not allow simultaneous output on all their connectons.

    Of course, that makes me question why they are bothering with a CD release at all? If a DVD and a BD can contain 2-channel 44/16 mixes---and I don't know if anyone who has a CD player who also does not have at least a DVD player---then what's the point of a DVD/CD combo or a BD/CD combo?

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  6. I think I'll reach out to Richard Chycki to see if he might elaborate of some of your questions...

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  7. Here's what Rich had to say about MP5.1:

    Hi John,



    Great job running the fan site. I think the news is out re: formats. To be honest, I wasn't sure what the record company's intentions were re: release formats and codecs. The label doesnt share that info with me often. I can tell you I sent uncompressed discrete full bandwidth 24 bit masters out to mastering and I do know that the original stereo masters were re-transferred at very high resolution for the re-master. I'm excited myself to see this all put together.



    Vapor Trails will be a fun project to complete. There's a bunch of work to be done but I'm sure the fans' patience will be worth it.



    Thanks so much for reaching out



    Rich Chycki

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  8. Thanks for the tidbits! Hopefully the label will do the right thing!

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  9. Since MP is hot right now, I recorded my version of Witch Hunt all by myself (with a little keyboard help from Derek Miller in the middle bits). Check it out on YouTube if you want, I'd like your input-ed-ness. ;p

    Select 1080p, please, if your internet can handle it, thanks:

    YouTube Link

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  10. Nicely done! Love the slide-show approach too...!

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  11. I was curious about your Rush cover of Witch Hunt but it seems you deleted it. How can I found you there, under which username ?

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  12. Amazon is now saying the release date has been delayed anywhere between May 9 and May 13.

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  13. hope they remaster all their albums again in 5.1 and release them as a boxset, i would buy it for sure

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  14. Gonna have to finally get off my ass and put in my rear-channel speakers... *groan*

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