Pink FloydPink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon

The good is the combination of HQ Vinyl and Dolby Atmos Blu-ray - the official songbook with notes and chords as well as lyrics an added bonus and the Black & White full size photograph hardcover book is also cool. The not so much is the repetative discs - seems like they made several discs with exactly the same content - still trying to figure out blu-ray/DVD content - but the ATMOS and UHD stereo is incredible albiet could have been contained one just one Blu-ray - missing are any outakes or different versions of cuts like you got in the Immersion release a few years ago - you do get the live album both on CD and Vinyl.Note: This Box set weighs a TON.... The packaging is the best I have ever seen on a box set - all discs are in separate slipcases so no discs flopping around at bottom of box so no disc scratching - what a relief - I had to send back my Wish you were here Immersion for that reason (scratched discs). The "Single" records in the size of a 45 RPM but with the smaller 33 1/3 RPM spindle holes are cool. Wall Posters look authentic to originals included with original Vinyl release back in 72 (I have it somewhere) & records are heavy gauge, not warped & perfect.. And like I said - the packaging can withstand a nuclear bomb - quadruple boxed... Is it worth the $$$$ - If you are a Pink Floyd Lover and want the ATMOS Mix (the only mix that comes close is the SACD DSD 5.1 surround from 2003 - played on a REAL DSD player not a DSD to PCM decoder.)Added on 5/11/23: I wanted to clarify my last comment comparing the 2003 SACD 5.1 DSD encoded surround mix and the new Dolby ATMOS mix. What I meant to say was the 2003 DSD 5.1 SACD surround mix was the best multi-channel Surround Mix until the new Dolby ATMOS Surround mix found on the 50th Anniversary set only - both are excellent - but the ATMOS is superior assuming you have a properly equipped true Dolby ATMOS setup - meaning a Blu-ray player and surround sound processor that support and can decode the Dolby ATMOS format along with the appropriate number of speakers correctly positioned as per the Dolby ATMOS recommendations. My system uses an Oppo UDP 203 4K BluRay, DVDV, DVDA, SACD, DSD, CD etc... player, an Emotiva RMC-1 Surround Processor supporting Dolby ATMOS, DTS:X, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus, 5.1, 7.1 PCM & True DSD & DSD over PCM etc.. 3 high powered Subwoofers, main Def Tech (7) speakers powered by 300 Watt / channel amps & 4 10" Toshiba Ceiling speakers (front & Rear ATMOS) @ 100 Watts/channel. High Resolution Audio up 32 Bit @ 384 KBPS by comparison a standard CD is 16 Bit @ 44.1 KBPS audio resolution - Dark Side of the Moon - besides the remixed standard CD there are 5 High Definition mixes of the entire album on the 2 Blu-Ray Discs 1) Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 Mix, 24 Bit/96 KHz per channel 2) Stereo Mix DTS HD-MA 3) Surround 5.1 Mix DTS HD-MA 4) Stereo Mix 24 Bit /192 KHz uncompressed 5) Surround 5.1 Mix 24 Bit /96 KHz uncompressed.DSD via SACD discs has been around for around 30+ years. SACDs were typically packaged as multi-layer discs with a regular CD quality copy of the album included with the High Definition DSD content so that the SACD could be played on regular CD players but when played on a SACD/DSD equipped disc player and a Receiver/Processor that could decode DSD (in either PCM format or True DSD - BEST Quality!) - you would hear the difference whether the DSD copy is in UHD Stereo Audio and/or a 5.1 UHD surround copy of the Album. Some SACDs contained all 3 formats of an Album, Standard CD, DSD UHD Stereo and DSD UHD 5.1 Surround. A fantastic format that unfortunately (like DVD-Audio) did not catch on- more popular in Japan and Europe - the special hardware / software required to read the disc (special laser required in player) and then decode the disc (Processor) - further complicated by copyright protection requirements & licensing for the software and integration - companies like Oppo just added all these formats SACD and DVD-Audio which used the entire capacity of a DVD disc most allocated for video, to expand Audio capacity to support not only bit streamed multi-channel encoded formats like Dolby Surround and DTS MA-HD but also totally uncompressed full bandwidth PCM up to 7.1 uncompressed PCM Audio (Dolby and DTS have some compression using their proprietary encoding/decoding format). SACD used the DSD encoding/decoding to get 5.1 (not sure if it goes up to 7.1) but a very pure and balanced sound with most manual adjustments locked out from user as they did not want the user to mess with their protocol by changing the levels or tone equalization on an individual channel basis, similar to Dolby Atmos - you are locked out from many individual channel fine tuning as the Dolby immersion software does that for you. I hope that streaming does not make obsolete physical media like the BluRay disc - there is no comparison IMHO between a Dolby Atmos Audio only or Audio/Video (e.g. a movie encoded with Atmos sound) on disc vs the same content via streaming.. No Matter how fast your connection is there is always lag and to prevent "complaints from users who bother to report this" the streaming service content providers add COMPRESSION to both the Soundtrack and the Video - so you are not getting the same picture and sound streaming as you do running the disc locally - especially with quality equipment using hardwires to connect the components (not wi-fi). Much better picture and sound.

If you are reading a review of Dark Side Of The Moon I am going to assume you are either an ardent fan wanting to know if this edition is significantly better than the well played copy you already own, or you’re an audiophile interested in knowing if this remaster is worthy of your system. For those who want a quick answer, YES to both; if you prefer more details read on. First the basics, I’m reviewing the Experience Edition, it contains on disc one a 2011 digital remaster of the original album and on disc two a live performance recorded at Wembley in 1974 where the band performed the album from start to finish. The remaster is outstanding, certainly sounding much better than my original CD from 1984, but I’m not going to concentrate on disc one because the real excitement was on disc two. Usually on these two disc remasters the second disc contains supplemental material like alternate takes, unreleased songs or a few live versions; interesting, but usually not something I want to listen to all the way through more than once. Disc two on this set is not only eminently listenable, it’s actually a refreshing take on a great album that for me has grown a bit stale by over play. To serve both fans and geeks I’m going to break down the review by the artistic performance quality on the disc and the technical quality.Performance: The live performance starts much like the album, the aural effects are rendered surprisingly well considering it was recorded in front of an audience, the first 4 songs cleave pretty closely to the original album (though the guitar on Time hints at a change to come); the first real sign this performance might not follow the album to the letter comes on The Great Gig In The Sky where the vocal solos are much more evocative and soulful in spots and far more aggressive and guttural in others, by turns suggestive of Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone. On Money, always a bluesy song, the band throws away any pretense that it’s anything but; starting off with a distinctly blues inspired bass line and sax leading to an explosive extended guitar solo by Gilmore who leaves no doubt as to the influence Chicago Blues had on his playing. For Us and Them, the blues slips further south, the pipe organ and lonely muted sax reminiscent of a steamy stroll through the French Quarter which leads us to Any Colour You Like and another Chicago Blues take (with a bit of funk thrown in for good measure); the extended Gilmore solo is a scorcher, where at times I was sure he was actually playing Lucille. After four outstanding variations from the original album, the concert cools us down and finishes as it began, with a faithful rendition of the album, nicely book-ending what must have been an incredible experience. In my opinion the live disc alone is worth the price of the set and is a must own for any serious fan. A+Technical: As a non-engineer I can just say I was blown away by all aspects of disc two; this is the best live recording I’ve heard, the sound is near studio quality to say nothing of replicating the myriad sound effects in front of an audience. The technical skill of the recording and the mastering is demonstrated to full effect on On The Run; not only is the dynamic range on this performance incredible, producing the lowest sustained frequency I ever heard (rather felt) on a CD other than a test disc. This take is my new go-to for showing what my system can do, the highs are crisp and clean, the bass is deep and booming without veering into muddy and how they duplicated the spatial effects live baffles me. On The Run will put any system to the test and while the disc is worth hearing for the performance alone it really screams for a quality system that can handle it’s full dynamic range and replicate the concert experience. For the uber nerds out there who care, I used my Denon DCD-600NE’s onboard 32 bit DAC as source for my Cambridge Audio XR100 powering Klipsch RP-8000’s. A+The only quibble I have with the set is the packaging; while the glossy stock trifold is attractive (a perfect mini version of the iconic sleeve), I hate having any discs slide in and out of cardboard, especially high quality disc like these; also, the “booklet” is beyond sparse with no notes whatsoever, just lyrics. Normally I’d deduct a star but the content is just too good, I will just use some old CD-R jewel cases for storage; this set is a definite must have for fans and audiophiles alike!

Hey! It brings back memories! Wanted to surprise my husband since he loves the tee-shirts. He loves these CDs⭐

Absolutely awesome. Thanks. PF forever and ever

Package arrived great! CD works as expected.

I love this album. It's even better in surround. I don't have a Dolby Atmos set up, which is its default setting. you'll need to change it to what setting you need. It displays the album art throughout. I have a plasma TV. It would have been nice for a slide show of pictures in the booklet too to prevent burn in. A subtitle option would be nice to.

This is legendary and wonderful music, and listening to it on LP is truly a joy. The packaging was secure and the delivery was fast. I am very satisfied.