Matthew S
Well-Known Member
And I would assume all this means that the new âmixâ could still be released on CD but not in Atmos in physical media form.
đ Holidays! THE OFFICIAL REVIEW: [Album] "CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT" SP-4726
- Thread starter Chris May
- Start date
Nemily
"I'm goin' way down south to Baton Rouge, tonight"
I listened to an old Christmas playlist I had saved and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas was on it without the Dolby Atmos Badge. I have also listed to it on a streamer with a 16 bitrate signal and 44.1KHz which is equivalent to CD quality, and it sounded amazing, not binaural, but the remix itself is still astounding on that signal. Karen is still way out in front just like the DA playback. Lightyears over the one I saved on my old Playlist. So Im guessing yes.
Electroliner
Well-Known Member
The only way a physical release will happen (with Atmos) is on a Blu Ray Audio disc. If your system is not Atmos compatible, the mix folds down to a 5.1 Surround format. A Hi Resolution Stereo mix is (usually) included as well.
All you need is a Blu-Ray player, AV Receiver or Soundbar that supports 5.1 surround audio.
Ken
All you need is a Blu-Ray player, AV Receiver or Soundbar that supports 5.1 surround audio.
Ken
Nemily
"I'm goin' way down south to Baton Rouge, tonight"
Or Sonos ERA 300 speaker (s) will that work, Ken?
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Electroliner
Well-Known Member
Blu Ray Disc players have a HDMI connector that will pass the Video as well as Stereo/Surround/Atmos Audio. I would use something like a SONOS BEAM (2nd Gen) TV Soundbar. The HDMI cable from the Blu Ray unit would connect to the TV. An HDMI cable from the output on the TV connects to the SONOS BEAM.
The SONOS BEAM can then pair up with your (2) SONOS ER 300s to provide ATMOS decoding.
Ken
The SONOS BEAM can then pair up with your (2) SONOS ER 300s to provide ATMOS decoding.
Ken
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Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
I saw this article today. I wonder if thatâs the reason why this track was released in DA. They want artist and record labels to not only record new albums in DA but also release older tracks in DA.
âThe report says that Apple will âgive added weighting to streams of songsâ that are mixed in Dolby Atmos. The specific details here are somewhat unclear, but Bloomberg speculates that âadded weightingâ could mean âhigher royalty payments for artists who are first to embraceâ Dolby Atmos and spatial audio formats.
The overarching idea, however, is that Apple wants to encourage artists and labels not only to record new music in Dolby Atmos, but also update older tracks with Atmos mixingâ
9to5mac.com
âThe report says that Apple will âgive added weighting to streams of songsâ that are mixed in Dolby Atmos. The specific details here are somewhat unclear, but Bloomberg speculates that âadded weightingâ could mean âhigher royalty payments for artists who are first to embraceâ Dolby Atmos and spatial audio formats.
The overarching idea, however, is that Apple wants to encourage artists and labels not only to record new music in Dolby Atmos, but also update older tracks with Atmos mixingâ
Report: Apple Music to add new incentives for artists who use Dolby Atmos - 9to5Mac
Apple is hoping to incentivize more artists and labels to use spatial audio on Apple Music. Bloomberg reports that Apple...
9to5mac.com
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
Iâm not sure what the intention here is by Apple, incentivising artists to release their back catalogue in Dolby Atmos, given that the majority of people donât have a surround sound system at home.
Matthew S
Well-Known Member
The intention is to sell Apple Music subscriptions and AirPods Pro, Beats and other Apple devices that can play tunes in Atmos.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
I agree. It sounds like you scratch my back, Iâll scratch yours. Apple wants these artist to use DA and in turn they will pay them an incentive. Apple in turn makes more money by selling subscriptions and AirPods.
Hey @ChrisMay, do you think Richard even knows about this Dolby Atmos track? Who even did the mastering to make it DA? It must have got Richardâs approval, huh? Or maybe this is just a contract between Apple and the record label? Maybe youâre not at liberty to say?
Wow. Sounds like a major 'win' to me!I saw this article today. I wonder if thatâs the reason why this track was released in DA. They want artist and record labels to not only record new albums in DA but also release older tracks in DA.
âThe report says that Apple will âgive added weighting to streams of songsâ that are mixed in Dolby Atmos. The specific details here are somewhat unclear, but Bloomberg speculates that âadded weightingâ could mean âhigher royalty payments for artists who are first to embraceâ Dolby Atmos and spatial audio formats.
The overarching idea, however, is that Apple wants to encourage artists and labels not only to record new music in Dolby Atmos, but also update older tracks with Atmos mixingâ
Report: Apple Music to add new incentives for artists who use Dolby Atmos - 9to5Mac
Apple is hoping to incentivize more artists and labels to use spatial audio on Apple Music. Bloomberg reports that Apple...
Matthew S
Well-Known Member
I think weâre âcrossing the streamsâ here because thereâs chat about this in the CP Redux thread too. I think @chrismay has already sort of alluded to the fact that Richard worked on this in that other thread when he mentioned that there would probably just be this one track for now and maybe more next year.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
Oh I missed a lot of threads since I was gone. I wasnât aware it was already addressed. Sorry for crossing streams.
Matthew S
Well-Known Member
Iâm guilty of crossing them too. Iâm sure if we are too far over the line one of our trusty moderators will correct.
JohnFB
She was born to belong to the lines of a song...
Currently enjoying the "Special Edition" version of the CP album (sent to me as a very generous gift last year by a well known member here!). This is the one that was pressed in West Germany and has 22 tracks, including extras from AOFC.
What it doesn't have - and this is extremely disappointing - is two of their best: the FIRST SNOWFALL medley from the original CP album and also SANTA CLAUSE IS COMING... from AOFC.
There's one other thing missing from the SE album, but this is a gigantic blessing - it doesn't have the sadly pathetic use of reverb on Karen's vocals. Her voice here is natural and pure and real and beautiful. It's unadulterated, as it always should have been. It's light years away from the singing-in-a- tunnel sound she is given on the CHRISTMAS COLLECTION double album. The word abomination comes to mind, but that might be a little harsh - or is it?
What it doesn't have - and this is extremely disappointing - is two of their best: the FIRST SNOWFALL medley from the original CP album and also SANTA CLAUSE IS COMING... from AOFC.
There's one other thing missing from the SE album, but this is a gigantic blessing - it doesn't have the sadly pathetic use of reverb on Karen's vocals. Her voice here is natural and pure and real and beautiful. It's unadulterated, as it always should have been. It's light years away from the singing-in-a- tunnel sound she is given on the CHRISTMAS COLLECTION double album. The word abomination comes to mind, but that might be a little harsh - or is it?
BILLSJUKEBOX
Member
I am not familiar with that 22 track German version. Discogs does not list anything like that. From your description it sounds just like the US 21 track version with one extra track. The sound on the SE was excellent, but it is missing critical items as you have said. You need the real German CP 394 726-2. You put that together with disk two of Collection and you will have the real Collection. I have an extra 394 726-2 that I can send you if you can tell me where to send it.
JohnFB
She was born to belong to the lines of a song...
@wilmor - the CD I have is 21 tracks, and not 22 as I erroneously stated above - I believe it probably is the 394 726-2 you indicated, although I don't see that shown anywhere. The only number I can find with it is CD 5173 DIDX 186, which is on the top left side of the back page of the insert. This CD starts out with IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR followed by the OVERTURE from AOFC and ends with LITTLE ALTER BOY, I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS & SILENT NIGHT as tracks 19, 20 & 21.
Thanks much for the offer though - very kind of you! Merry Christmas!
Murray
Well-Known Member
At some point, Polygram Germany replaced the original Christmas Portrait CD with the Special Edition. Unfortunately, they didn't change the catalogue number. Don't buy one, without first confirming the tracklist with the seller, to ensure that you get the original album.
BILLSJUKEBOX
Member
So you have the SE version like we have here. The original German cd had only the original CP 17 tracks. Has original Ave Maria with no Choir.
JohnFB
She was born to belong to the lines of a song...
I was listening to this album this morning and got to wondering just how lovely the songs "An Old Fashioned Christmas" and the "Silver Bells" middle segment of that 3-song medley would sound if Karen had sung them...just wondering (and wishful thinking, as usual)...
Billy Rees
Well-Known Member
I was wondering about the 1980's re-issues on vinyl (the ones with the black label)... Is it the original version or the remix with the choir on Ave Maria, etc?
https://www.discogs.com/release/3829900-Carpenters-Christmas-Portrait
https://www.discogs.com/release/3829900-Carpenters-Christmas-Portrait
Sorry to change the subject. I've never written in a Forum before. I recently, acquired the dress that I believe she wore in "We've Only Just Begun". I'm not sure how to get it authenticated? From what I understand Ret Turner designed it and unfortunately he has passed away. I would appreciate any tips or any information about the dress!
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
So I ended up buying this 2023 Apple Spatial Mix of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas even though I donât have AirPods that will pick up the spatial audio. I primarily wanted to see how the waveforms looked in Audacity. I compared the waveform from this 2023 Apple spatial mix vs the same song on my Special Edition CD and the waveforms are an exact match. So I am guessing this new mix does not show up in the waveform and that itâs a processing effect that is only audible through the designated spatial speaker.
I would have thought if this was a new 2023 mix that the waveform would have looked somewhat different, even subtle, but visually there are no differences between the two.
I would have thought if this was a new 2023 mix that the waveform would have looked somewhat different, even subtle, but visually there are no differences between the two.
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
So basically just another gimmick like SACD that needs expensive equipment in order to enjoy it. Not for me thanks. The new stereo remix I heard in the new YouTube post sounded just great as it is.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
I decided to do some more investigating...
I agree with others about the new 2023 video of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas in that it does sound good and after hearing it you know something is a bit different. For me, Karen is certainly more up front, this brings a new fresher feel to her vocal. Not only that there are backing instruments that are brought up in parts when Karen is not singing that you hear much more clearer. The reverb (that were all so use to) is gone and for me it sounds much like what Richard did on the RPO album where she is clearer, drier, crisper with non of that reverb and it all makes for a new mix that I welcome hearing.
So this video had me wondering....I decided to purchase it from iTunes and there are some noticeable things I wanted to mention. The video file is a .m4v file 167 MB in size and the stats show it to be 1080p mpeg4 file. I decided to extract the audio from the video using quicktime. I then imported the audio into Audacity to see what it looked like. The waveform pretty much matches the Spatial Mix file that I purchased yesterday. The video actually runs 4:06 but the audio of that is actually 3:55-3:56 running time (video fades out without any music) and this audio time 3:55 actually matches the Spatial Mix file that I purchased yesterday.
But what I noticed is that the audio from the video while starts off the same, it does not end the same, the audio from the video fades out cleanly and this makes it sound like a standalone track. The audio from the Spatial Mix ends more abruptly as it sounds just like the song from the Special Edition CD.
I then decided to listen side by side of the audio file taken from the 2023 video and compare it to the audio file from the 2023 Spatial Mix I purchased yesterday. So I cued up both in Audacity to listen to them side by side, going back and forth discovering areas that were different sounding. The surprise is that while the waveforms look almost identical, the sound was not the same...as is evident from so many of us that have already posted here that Karen sounds clearer and more upfront on this video mix. There are parts of the video/audio that you can hear Karen is more centered and closer to the front, the backing instruments donât drown her out in spots but yet they are still brought up in the mix a bit. For me itâs fascinating to hear it like this especially from this Christmas song and Iâm not even hearing the true spatial mix since I donât have the equipment but just from the video I can tell itâs different.
So what I donât know (and probably never will) is where are they getting the audio that was used in the video? Itâs obviously stereo but Karen also sounds more upfront in this mix. Are they somehow capturing some of the spatial audio mix and incorporating it into the video? Is the audio file used in the video being further tweaked? Itâs also obvious that the audio from the video is not the whole or complete spatial sound experience as most who listen do not have that equipment to hear it we are just hearing this in stereo but YET to me the audio from the video does sound different (meaning better than Iâve ever heard it)
Ok...you can say it...Iâm an investigating nerd about the Carpenters lol
I just love their music!!
I agree with others about the new 2023 video of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas in that it does sound good and after hearing it you know something is a bit different. For me, Karen is certainly more up front, this brings a new fresher feel to her vocal. Not only that there are backing instruments that are brought up in parts when Karen is not singing that you hear much more clearer. The reverb (that were all so use to) is gone and for me it sounds much like what Richard did on the RPO album where she is clearer, drier, crisper with non of that reverb and it all makes for a new mix that I welcome hearing.
So this video had me wondering....I decided to purchase it from iTunes and there are some noticeable things I wanted to mention. The video file is a .m4v file 167 MB in size and the stats show it to be 1080p mpeg4 file. I decided to extract the audio from the video using quicktime. I then imported the audio into Audacity to see what it looked like. The waveform pretty much matches the Spatial Mix file that I purchased yesterday. The video actually runs 4:06 but the audio of that is actually 3:55-3:56 running time (video fades out without any music) and this audio time 3:55 actually matches the Spatial Mix file that I purchased yesterday.
But what I noticed is that the audio from the video while starts off the same, it does not end the same, the audio from the video fades out cleanly and this makes it sound like a standalone track. The audio from the Spatial Mix ends more abruptly as it sounds just like the song from the Special Edition CD.
I then decided to listen side by side of the audio file taken from the 2023 video and compare it to the audio file from the 2023 Spatial Mix I purchased yesterday. So I cued up both in Audacity to listen to them side by side, going back and forth discovering areas that were different sounding. The surprise is that while the waveforms look almost identical, the sound was not the same...as is evident from so many of us that have already posted here that Karen sounds clearer and more upfront on this video mix. There are parts of the video/audio that you can hear Karen is more centered and closer to the front, the backing instruments donât drown her out in spots but yet they are still brought up in the mix a bit. For me itâs fascinating to hear it like this especially from this Christmas song and Iâm not even hearing the true spatial mix since I donât have the equipment but just from the video I can tell itâs different.
So what I donât know (and probably never will) is where are they getting the audio that was used in the video? Itâs obviously stereo but Karen also sounds more upfront in this mix. Are they somehow capturing some of the spatial audio mix and incorporating it into the video? Is the audio file used in the video being further tweaked? Itâs also obvious that the audio from the video is not the whole or complete spatial sound experience as most who listen do not have that equipment to hear it we are just hearing this in stereo but YET to me the audio from the video does sound different (meaning better than Iâve ever heard it)
Ok...you can say it...Iâm an investigating nerd about the Carpenters lol
I just love their music!!
