Hello dear friends on this bright sunny afternoon, at least in my neck of the woods.
Today I thought I’d share with you some groovy new CDs that managed to find their way to my mailbox just this very week. These aren’t you’re standard CDs mind you, they contain DTS Dolby Atmos mixes of the recently released Beatles collections “1962-1966” and “1967-1970”.
Of course by this time these Atmos mixes are probably old hat to a big section of Beatles fandom but as usual I have one foot in the old world and one foot in the new and do not stream in Atmos but do have the ability to play Atmos mixes now that I recently bought a new sound bar for my TV that’s capable of playing them.
Since I don’t really stream much music I’ve never had the opportunity to partake of any of the Beatles Dolby Atmos mixes but am gleefully playing catch-up as the Dolby Atmos mixes from the Beatles Deluxe box sets from a few years ago sound terrific.
I was wondering if it might be time to break down and get a streaming subscription somewhere to hear the new “1962-1966” and “1967-1970” Atmos mixes but alas I struck physical gold. I stumbled upon these two new double CD sets on the Voo Doo Records label that contain the new Atmos mixes of these albums thus no need for a subscription (for now anyway) which makes it much less of a hassle to hear them.
I do wish Apple (The Beatles company) would change their mind and issue this material on a blu-ray disc but apparently that’s not going to happen as sales I’m guessing don’t warrant it. And that’s too bad as I have to say that after hearing these two sets this is the way to hear these new mixes.
(Note: I can’t say where I found these sets but if you look hard enough online you’ll find them)
For starters the dynamics of the music on both of these sets is much improved over their CD counterparts. The music breathes more and is less hard on the ears but does let the listener discover aspects of the songs that you can’t hear on the regular stereo mix.
Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the 2023 CD versions of the “1962-1966” and “1967-1970” sets but from now on I’ll probably reach for these two new DTS sets which are much more pleasant to listen to while also making the music sound more engaging and satisfying.
Even the strange new 2023 mix of “I Am the Walrus” is less jarring on the Atmos mix as you can hear the end dialogue more clearly than the regular stereo mix which makes this crazy new mix more enjoyable, at least for me anyway.
Of course listening to Dolby Atmos though my TV’s soundbar system may make these new mixes sound more quiet than through my stereo as this set-up isn’t quite as powerful as my receiver but these Atmos mixes nonetheless still sound really impressive and are much more fun to listen to than the regular CDs.
Of the two sets I’d have to say I prefer the Atmos mixes of the “1967-1970” set as the later material seems to be better suited to surround sound but the second disc of the “1962-1966” set isn’t far behind.
The first disc of “1962-1966” is fun but didn’t sound as engaging as the early material didn’t stray too far into an expansive surround feeling as much as the later material did. There were a few songs that sounded really different but for the most part the Atmos version of the earliest material didn’t sound too different from the stereo mix.
Overall though I truly enjoyed these Dolby Atmos mixes and am so happy to have them in disc form. Once Dolby Atmos is easier to access online I may bite the bullet and try some steaming but it seems that getting Atmos to work though my TV soundbar was more of chore online that on a disc format through my 4k blu-ray player.
Besides as this blog is all about physical media how fitting to have found a physical format for these sets. I own one other Voo-Doo Records release and I have to say that the cover and packaging are superb as well as the disc artwork – love that Apple label! Very well done and top notch sound makes these CD sets a true treasure for fans of physical media.
As usual you can see photos of these two sets above and judge the quality of the packaging for yourself. As far as the sound well if you get a hold of these discs I’m sure you won’t be disappointed as long as you have a disc player (more than likely a blu-ray player) that plays DTS and a system that can play Dolby Atmos.
That’s all for now. I hope you are healthy and well and until next time enjoy your day and listen to some music!!!
See you soon.
Records, CDs and Music: 