Yes - 'The Yes Album'

https://forums.naimaudio.com/topic/yes-the-yes-album 

I've bought this album about 5 times, I'm not buying it again!!!!

Silly human race....

I'll stick with my recently acquired orange/green Atlantic version(thanks to Steve).

Only got 2 channels so these re-mixes are irrelevant to me.

It's been on pre order at Amazon for some time. The date has slipped once so far.

I got my copy today.

The CD sounds excellent indeed, now going through the BluRay for ripping. The bad news, it's got BD+ protection so I can't rip it on my Mac. I've fired up my laptop PC & unprotected it with AnyDVD, ripping with DVD Audio Extractor, now it's a question of identifying the various options, not easy 'cos the BluRay contains the following :-

2014 Stereo mix in 24/92, 5.1 surround mixes in HD Master Audio & LPCM, original stereo mix in 24/192 (Title 9 on the disk), Alternate mix in 24/92 (some live stuff), single versions 24/96, 1014 instrumental mixes 24/96, & needle-drop of original album 24/96 (Title 2 on the disk).

Phew!

Ah yes! I remember having to sort this lot out with CTTE.

Hints and tips based on CTTE which may or may not be applicable:

DVDAA will flag up what's stereo and what's multichannel.

The SW remix will be the 24/96 files.

The needle drop will be at 24/192 and should be pretty obvious once you find it.

The flat transfer will the the other set of 24/192 files

And then there'll be the extras.

On the BD version of CTTE the flat transfer and needle drop was stored twice over, once as a continuous track the length of the album and also as a folder of discrete files.

Have fun. I'm still waiting for mine. Feedback thus far, though limited seems encouraging. Maybe mine will turn up tomorrow.

If you haven't found it already, the 24/96 remix is Title 8.

And the flat transfer is the only 192 file group this time round. Titles 2 and 9.

Don't like the rexim, do like the flat transfer. Better than that sold through HDT.

Thanks for the info. Harry. I'll only save the HD remix & the flat transfer, can't be bothered with all the other stuff.

Same here. I think the flat transfer is rather good. It's the only 192 material so easy to dig out.

My copy arrived on 23rd. Excellent. The usual lovely job on a classic album by SW.

He's cleaned up the stereo mix, and seems to have made it sound warmer, more spacious and 'analogue like' in the process.

John.

Yes, I think he's done a good job as far as I can hear. Not using my usual source at the moment, but it sounds pretty obvious to these old ears. Shame about the remix but that's remixes for you.

Further listening reveals that the level of the hitherto lean and toppy sounding bass has been reduced. It is not so dominant in the mix; and has a warmer timbre - so sounds better to me.

I've read that this and other 'Yes' albums were originally mixed on headphones fed from a desk which delivered a bass-light feed. That's why the bass was relatively prominent in the original mix.

SW seems to have equalised the bass very nicely in the new mix, and I'm aware of hitherto unheard instruments/parts in it. A superb job.

John.

Would someone please explain apart from the resolutions, what is the difference between the 'original stereo mix' and the 'needle drop of original album'?

I remember the same phrases used re SW's mix of CTTE, but I only ever ripped the version from the CD as it's not possible to rip the DVD on the NS01.

For The Yes Album the original stereo mix is a transfer from the master tape (whichever one SW used) at 192 and IMO he's done a very nice job of it. Needle drop is a transfer at 92 from vinyl. To my ears the latter sounds a bit toppy. 

DVDFab wouldn't decode the BD but following Tony's post I got a copy of AnyDVD-HD and this did it just fine. Like Tony I used DVDAA for the rips, as I usually do.

Thanks, Harry. So 'needle drop' literally means SW simply digitised the signal taken from a vinyl copy?

I guess I'll have try the software you mention to get a digitised copy of the original master tape from the CTTE DVD and I should then be able to transfer it to the Downloads folder on the NS01.

BTW I don't much care for the SW remix of CTTE - it messes with my memories. So I'm not sure if I'll buy yet another copy of the Yes Album...yet. 

Yeah, that's about it Clive.

I suppose a remix has to sound different for it to be a remix, but like you I'm not impressed with SW's efforts, although I greatly applaud the time and care that gone into the complete package for both CTTE and TYA. The flat transfers are the best versions now available of both albums, according to my ears.

For both albums, Track 1 seems to have been remixed with sympathy and some reverence. After that it all goes squirly very quickly. But the 24Bit non remixed stuff is good.