🎄 Holidays! THE OFFICIAL REVIEW: [Album] "CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT" SP-4726

[Jack A.]

It would be absolutely perfect, if not for the choir singing the opening of the second verse, instead of Karen. To add insult to injury, they sing "all is calm and bright", instead of "shepherds quake at the sight”.

I’ve thought the same thing about “Do You Hear What I Hear,” which is one of my favorites. I would say it’s perfect, but there’s the whole messed up call and response thing in the first verse. Plus, in the third verse, Karen sings “Do you hear what I hear?” instead of “Do you know what I know?”

 

[newvillefan]

I’ve thought the same thing about “Do You Hear What I Hear,” which is one of my favorites. I would say it’s perfect, but there’s the whole messed up call and response thing in the first verse. Plus, in the third verse, Karen sings “Do you hear what I hear?” instead of “Do you know what I know?”

The only thing that’s ever bothered me about this track is Richard’s wispy vocal, made all the more incongruous once Karen comes in, and as you say the call that doesn’t match the response. Karen’s lead is flawless for a demo vocal.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Maybe I missed this but I noticed on the official instagram account, Richard provides a sample of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and says it’s a new 2023 mix. He says it was Karen’s favorite out of all the sessions. Since the album has not been remastered, where can I buy this new mix?

 

[Matthew S]

Look at what’s happening with Brenda Lee right now, at #1. With some good promotion could this happen to a Carpenters Christmas tune or album?

 

[GDBY2LV]

Maybe I missed this but I noticed on the official instagram account, Richard provides a sample of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and says it’s a new 2023 mix. He says it was Karen’s favorite out of all the sessions. Since the album has not been remastered, where can I buy this new mix?

It’s available for download on iTunes in the USA. It’s a Dolby Atmos version on the Christmas Portrait Special Edition. You have to play it on a Dolby Atmos system or Apple Earbuds to hear the new mix probably. It’s very nice.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

It’s available for download on iTunes in the USA. It’s a Dolby Atmos version on the Christmas Portrait Special Edition. You have to play it on a Dolby Atmos system or Apple Earbuds to hear the new mix probably. It’s very nice.

It is only for Apple Music subscribers?

 

[GDBY2LV]

If have an account you can buy/purchase anything on there. 1 song or whole albums. I do subscribe, so I can download anything on there and listen to it at no extra charge. I just can’t download it to my library where I can record it to a disc. Only what I rip from my cd library or I actually buy from them can be record on a blank cd playlist. It’s the only tune that Richard had released in DA so far. The rest of the album says Lossless format.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I guess I don’t understand. So if I download it from iTunes and I don’t have Dolby Atmos, will I get the new mix version or will I just be getting the same version I already own on CD?

 

[GDBY2LV]

You will get the new mix version. To hear it properly you need a DA enabled device like their earbuds or home amplifier with it built in. I only have earbuds I bought last year. My receiver and blue tooth speakers do not have DA built in. I can play it on them, but it doesn’t sound any different.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I went to both iTunes Store and Apple Music store and both are showing Christmas Portrait SE and Christmas Collection with this track but neither say it’s a 2023 mix. I don’t pay for Apple Music subscription. I’m also not going to download it from iTunes it it doesn’t specifically say it’s a 2023 mix.

Why are they limiting the public in hearing this when many don’t have the Dolby Atmos processing equipment to hear it?

Why not notate it on the track that it’s a 2023 mix so not to confuse it from the original.

It reminds me of the SACD of The Singles 69-81. You could only listen to the CD in stereo but to hear it in true SACD surround you have to have the right equipment that could decode the new mix. Sounds like Dolby Atmos is just another play of this same processing.

 

[GDBY2LV]

If you download it, you can see the picture of K&R go from blank looking in this photo, to in color. Santa’s paintbrush moves too. I thought the red hat moved from Richard’s head to Santa’s originally, but I’m probably wrong about that fact.

 

[newvillefan]

If you download it, you can see the picture of K&R go from blank looking in this photo, to in color. Santa’s paintbrush moves too.

That’s hardly something the vast majority of the general buying public is going to know the difference between though. I’ve said it before but it just seems pointless to me to release this one track when there’s no album to support it.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

So there using the animated gif that Universal sent to us in an email years ago?

 

[Jack A.]

If you download it, you can see the picture of K&R go from blank looking in this photo, to in color. Santa’s paintbrush moves too.

Speaking of that painting...anyone else notice the "reference picture" at the bottom of the canvas depicts K&R standing on opposite sides as in the painting?

 

[Nemily]

Why are they limiting the public in hearing this when many don’t have the Dolby Atmos processing equipment to hear it?

It reminds me of the SACD of The Singles 69-81. You could only listen to the CD in stereo but to hear it in true SACD surround you have to have the right equipment that could decode the new mix. Sounds like Dolby Atmos is just another play of this same processing.

The mix itself, is still brand new even without the DA experience and when I listen to it on my streamers, through bookshelf speakers (which I cannot cast in Dolby Atmos format), even at a 16 bitrate it sounds amazing. One app, Amazon Music, has the option to listen to the song in DA and then without DA just through the phone by itself, and the difference is dramatic. Not all of the platforms are on board yet. I believe just Amazon, Tidal and Apple so far.

Spatial sound was once limited to a surround system but all that is changing. Currently, there are new soundbars with upfiring speakers and a few wireless speakers that can create a 3D experience without 5-7 speaker systems and of course the Air Pod Pro and Max through IOS are compatible.

Dolby Atmos is an immersive experience, meaning before that we have stereo. The new spatial technologies decode a track on spatial format, for example music that is powered by Dolby Atmos, maps audio objects into a 3D space (hence spatial), then places these objects based on your environment i.e. speaker position, room size, etc.

When I first heard Richards’ new release in DA on Amazon Music and hear Karen’s vocal track brought out in front of everything else, it sounds like a fresh new recording. Occasionally I listen to songs in Dolby Atmos with a 3D speaker and when I heard the new version through that speaker, it sounded modernistic.

You make a good point about the SACD. DA could fade out for the reasons you mention simply not being widely accessible, or it may end up being the new frontier.

 

[Nemily]

If you download it, you can see the picture of K&R go from blank looking in this photo, to in color. Santa’s paintbrush moves too. I thought the red hat moved from Richard’s head to Santa’s originally, but I’m probably wrong about that fact.

Thank you for pointing this out @GDBY2LV !!

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

The mix itself, is still brand new even without the DA experience and when I listen to it on my streamers, through bookshelf speakers (which I cannot cast in Dolby Atmos format), even at a 16 bitrate it sounds amazing. One app, Amazon Music, has the option to listen to the song in DA and then without DA just through the phone by itself, and the difference is dramatic. Not all of the platforms are on board yet. I believe just Amazon, Tidal and Apple so far.

Spatial sound was once limited to a surround system but all that is changing. Currently, there are new soundbars with upfiring speakers and a few wireless speakers that can create a 3D experience without 5-7 speaker systems and of course the Air Pod Pro and Max through IOS are compatible.

Dolby Atmos is an immersive experience, meaning before that we have stereo. The new spatial technologies decode a track on spatial format, for example music that is powered by Dolby Atmos, maps audio objects into a 3D space (hence spatial), then places these objects based on your environment i.e. speaker position, room size, etc.

When I first heard Richards’ new release in DA on Amazon Music and hear Karen’s vocal track brought out in front of everything else, it sounds like a fresh new recording. Occasionally I listen to songs in Dolby Atmos with a 3D speaker and when I heard the new version through that speaker, it sounded modernistic.

You make a good point about the SACD. DA could fade out for the reasons you mention simply not being widely accessible, or it may end up being the new frontier.

I noticed the the new AirPod Pros have Spatial Sound but they don’t actually say they use the DA processing. So those APros will let you hear the new mix in DA? I still have my 1st gen AirPods .

That’s what I wondered if the song would still sound different even without the DA processing.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Speaking of that painting...anyone else notice the "reference picture" at the bottom of the canvas depicts K&R standing on opposite sides as in the painting?

It’s always been like that. But yeah if Santa was an artist why didn’t he paint it as he saw it, maybe Christmas magic.

 

[Nemily]

I noticed the the new AirPod Pros have Spatial Sound but they don’t actually say they use the DA processing. So those APros will let you hear the new mix in DA? I still have my 1st gen AirPods .

That’s what I wondered if the song would still sound different even without the DA processing.

Im in the same boat. We all are actually for a couple of reasons. The air pods should really have an asterisk next to it for being Dolby Atmos compatible. To play Dolby Atmos, the more modern device the better. I have a 3rd generation air pod but am lacking in an upgraded phone (which I need to do).

Apple says if you can see the badge, you have the ability to hear it in Dolby Atmos . To me, iPods will sound good but are still in reality two channels. You can play the DA or hi-res on an air pod however the limited capabilities of the built in iphone DAC will likely shorten the bitrate to 16 and ignore the rest of audio file depending on your device (s) . You need an external DAC to fully appreciate it

Also, the sound is only going to be as good as the mix . On my 3rd generation i just listened to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, then Happy Holidays Andy William, both with the Dolby Atmos badge and then Winter Wonderland, Johnny Mathis in lossless. All different.

 

[GDBY2LV]

I bought the latest generation AirPods Pro’s last December and they play the song in DA.

 

[Nemily]

The 3rd generation does too in spite of my phones’ DAC. If I had to describe Dolby Atmos using an Air Pod only it would be that the center channel is always in the center, meaning if I turn my head to the right the center channel is in my left ear and vice versa.

 

[Harry]

Having lived through the quad era, with releases on Q-sound, little surround buttons on boomboxes, the 5.1 surround sound era (and its later ?upgrades?) of movies and some albums, SACDs, DTS albums, I'm just about done with these things. I view them as gimmicky and can't really get into the whole philosophy of sound surrounding me. It was fun for awhile with some movies when I set up surround speakers. But I can understand the attraction and if it makes you happy, then go for it.

Meanwhile, I'll be enjoying my original stereo recordings with my two good ears in either headphones or on speakers. To me, CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT sounds just fine, especially on the German original mix CD.

So lump me in with the Luddites on this one.

 

[CraigGA]

The streaming version of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas sounds great in the new Dolby Atmos listening back with the same. But I agree, when made for Stereo it generally sounds better listening back in Stereo.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Here is a dumb question since I don’t know much about DA. So when the whole album gets remastered on CD will the CD contain the processing for DA? Or is this a digital download feature only?

Which leads to ask another…if it’s a digital download feature only when the album gets released next year will the digital download of the entire album get DA treatment?

 

[Nemily]

So when the whole album gets remastered on CD will the CD contain the processing for DA? Or is this a digital download feature only?

Which leads to ask another…if it’s a digital download feature only when the album gets released next year will the digital download of the entire album get DA treatment?

Dolby Atmos happens when a project file is submitted by an artist to Dolby (this is a long process for each track), and if accepted by Dolby, the track is converted to Atmos format. Once Dolby can confirm it is using Dolby Atmos on the track, the track(s) get the DA Badge. Richard would have to do this for each and any track. Most new releases have it. I give Richard a lot of credit for staying ahead of new technologies.

I don't believe CDs are capable of binaural audio, Blue-Rays, yes. Some artist do offer binaural albums releases. I have not listened to any. I would think it all comes down to the playback on your ecosystem and the mix.