The Dark Side Of The Moon (50th Anniversary)

As a long-time fan of The Dark Side of The Moon, I was excited to experience the 50th Anniversary Atmos Remix, and I can honestly say it didn’t disappoint. This remix breathes new life into an album that many of us have already played countless times, offering a fresh, immersive listening experience while still staying true to the original’s brilliance.The Atmos mix adds a whole new dimension, especially if you have a surround sound setup or good-quality headphones. The sound feels like it’s swirling around you, enhancing the depth and separation of each instrument. Tracks like “Time” and “Money” have even more punch and clarity, with each note and effect standing out in ways I hadn’t fully appreciated before. Vocals are crystal clear, and the iconic sound effects (like the cash registers in “Money”) are placed perfectly in the soundscape.One thing to note is that while the Atmos remix is amazing, if you’re looking for a completely different take on the album, this might not be it. The remix doesn’t drastically change the songs but enhances what was already there, which is exactly what I wanted.If you’re a fan of the original album and have the right equipment to take advantage of the Atmos mix, this anniversary edition is a must-have. It brings new layers to an already phenomenal album, making it worth experiencing again.

The only proprietary 'Dolby' licenced multi-channel mix is the Atmos one, though this will downmix to anything Dolby & probably sounds spectacular at the planetarium shows, or in Brian Eno's 54 speaker object based home cinema system.For mostly everyone else using a non-Atmos player it's going to downmix to Dolby 7.1 True HD at best. However you do get a brilliant bonus Dolby Atmos coded speaker placement track, in the speaker placement section, of the disk setup which will enable you to test your setup!The track details and individually identifies a 7.1.4 'Atmos' speaker placement combo: so standard 5.1 together with 2 side speakers and 4 ceiling ones. Remember though, just cos you own a device that can render Atmos (like your iPhone) doesn't mean it can output it as Atmos, or anything close, and finally you get to test it.Not hearing anything up near the ceiling from your allegedly room-acoustic algorithm adjustin' up-firing 'Atmos' soundbar and 2 mini satellites rears? This track will nail that, as yet another marketing gimmick.Happily you also get a Hi Def Linear PCM 5.1 remix and a separate 24/192 LPCM Stereo remaster.As well as the highlight of the remix sets for those who don't have the full Son et Lumiere Eno-esq setup: the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 remix, which sounds spectacular using a 6 speaker 5.1 surround system.As well the DTS-HD MA stereo remaster.This all in a very complete and satisfying pack with stickers and a booklet.If this is anything to go by I'm very much looking forward to the blu ray of Wish You Were Here.... :-)

You will almost certainly know the music, so there is nothing new there, but the presentation is truly fresh and reveals elements I haven’t heard clearly before. It is hard to tell whether this is the partly down to the remastering process, or the Atmos generation process James Guthrie so expertly engineered, but there are parts of the audio that stand out more clearly than other mixes I have heard. Guthrie makes very good use of the spatial channels making the album really interesting to listen to. The Atmos production is almost as good as Yello’s Point album. Perhaps there is some weakness in that much of the source material is 50 years old and has some limitations of the then master recordings, but it is still very good. The physical package is nice and appears to be plastic free, apart from the disc itself! The package was very well priced compared to some other Atmos titles.

I first bought Dark side of the moon as an LP when it was originally released all those decades ago and then again when I got my first CD player. I have also been lucky to hear the quadraphonic album on a friend’s high end equipment. It is an album that has been part of my life and is why I was tempted to buy it again as my first and only Atmos music Blu-ray. Wow, this version is a revelation, it is as if all previous releases had to compromise and remove 5-10% of the non-vocal content, when the original master was converted into release formats. For true Pink Floyd fans this version is a must provided you have the equipment to properly experience it as intended. I was looking forward to greater depth and spatial separation which is indeed wonderful but it was added richness of hearing parts of each of the tracks, previously missing that put a lump in my throat. Buy it and pray that the team who produced this work similar magic on your other favourite albums.

The best surround mix of any album I have ever heard. The quality and clarity of this Dolby Atmos Blu-ray is quite simply astonishing.This is a very different way of listening to this classic album and TBH, I was not enthralled about the SACD version - although this is ‘up there’ in terms of quality and the mix compared to others. The Blu-ray however, takes everything up several notches and fully exploits the multichannel format - I have had my Atmos system for over 5 years and the Atmos speakers have never sounded as clear and pronounced as this. There is also an excellent balance between all the speakers which makes the sound very immersive.Not surprisingly, the stand out track is On The Run followed by Money and Brain Damage. Any Colour You Like is the ‘weakest’ as it sounds slightly muddled but I imagine this wasn’t an easy track to mix as multichannel. Everything else is excellent and I love that parts of this mix highlight the sound, instruments, effects and spoken word very differently to the original mix. My only gripe is that the graphics on the display could have been a bit more creative although I usually switch it off once I have navigated the menu.I hope there will be further individual Blu-ray releases of Floyd albums!