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5cds worth of live performances in 24bit audio on Qobuz.
Well worth a listen for fans. Just lost a night to it…
Now that is gonna bring back some memories. Just found it on Apple Music too. Nice. ta!
Indeed. Saturday and Sunday Qobuz early session in bed on the headphones. Bliss..
I preferred them when they formed a supergroup with Chris Rea.
Must be the eggy baths that inspired them.
Great band. Had a lot of their albums.
Didn't enjoy seeing them live though. Technically brilliant but there just didn't seem to be a "stage presence". That was around 1983. Maybe they got better in that respect.
Got it on tidal too.
6:52:39
That should see me through the working day.
the-muffin-manFull Member
A band I really regret not seeing – due to me being such a blinkered music snob back in the 90’s not wanting to be seen going to a ‘boring’ Dire Straights gig. Stupid thing is I even liked them back then!
They're the first band I was really into. I was a bit young to make it to what was their final tour in the '90s, but overall in some ways I think I'm glad I missed it, I think it was the pre rothers in Arms versions of the band that I really liked and the very large touring band they were in the '90s (pedal steel guitar, urgh) wouldn't have hit the same spot.
Alchemy definitely established my enduring love for live albums though and I look forward to hearing what's been put together for this collection.
I remember my father picking up a copy of Alchemy when it first came out, pointing to a pic of Terry Williams, the drummer, and saying that they were in school together. I bought the album shortly after and still love it. Many years later, my kids have some school friends whose grandfather is Martin Ace of the band Man. Being a small city where everyone knows each other Terry W used to drum with him. I had to explain to them that Martin, this old man at birthday parties, had played at Reading and was an actual rock star who knew all sorts of other famous rock stars. They were unimpressed. 😀
Anyway, I've listened to the previously unreleased stuff on the new album. I enjoyed.
'tis on Spotify too - not in your fancy-pants hi bitrate though!! 🙂
I preferred them when they formed a supergroup with Chris Rea.
Couldn't let this go unappreciated...
Saw them in Gateshead in 1992 - the On Every Street tour. One of my greatest ever gig moments was when Knopfler played those opening chords to Brothers in Arms.
Doing my best Alan Partridge air guitar impression to telegraph road.
My mum picked Brothers In Arms for music at my dad's funeral. I looked over at her, said "you sod" then bawled my eyes out. Don't think I can listen to it after that.
It's on Amazon in Ultra HD as well.
My reconfigured mimilist hifi, Wiim streamer, Topping DAC and Naim amp is going to love that.
I haven't seen them but recently saw a tribute act and thought I'd pop some of their stuff on my playlist – listening to them with current-generation headphones rather than on a teenage kid's stereo makes such a massive difference – so much detail in there than I ever heard before. Brothers in Arms was the first album I connected to my dad with. But my mum had better taste – she loved Iron Maiden \m/
My mum picked Brothers In Arms for music at my dad’s funeral. I looked over at her, said “you sod” then bawled my eyes out. Don’t think I can listen to it after that.
My dad chose Pink Floyd's 'Shine on you Crazy Diamond' for his funeral. Went to see Aussie Pink Floyd at the weekend and, as always, we cursed dad for choosing it and being reminded of him 🙂
Can't beat the Wild Theme from 'Local Hero'. Wonder how many funerals that's featured in.
My reconfigured mimilist hifi, Wiim streamer, Topping DAC and Naim amp is going to love that.
The Missions/Rega Planar of 2023
Do love a live album and the quality of good modern streaming is great
Keeping it old skool by using a redundant media type as a unit of measure<br /><br />
Except CD is enjoying significant growth in sales. <br />Never really got into their albums, with one exception, which is ‘Love Over Gold’, which I love.
I’ve got an original vinyl copy, mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk, and it’s a stunning album on vinyl when played on a good turntable.
I did see Dire Straits play live, at Swindon Oasis, in 1977. Supporting Talking Heads. 😎
Try listening to Keith Don’t Go Live by Nils Lofgren Band if you want a good demo of how good live can sound when recorded properly. Spotify Vs Qobuz on this track is easy in blind test on half decent headphones or hifi setup. Many of the tracks on this are awesome too, seems like a lot of work / love has gone into it if you compare it to the old live albums.
Interesting read: https://www.guyfletcher.co.uk/dire-straits-live-box-set-2023/
Can’t beat the Wild Theme from ‘Local Hero’. Wonder how many funerals that’s featured in.
I'd be quite happy if it features in mine.
I remember being a 13 year old rock fan in the mid eighties and, being as obsessive and reductive as only a 13 year old can be, talk with mates often consisted of who was 'the best', be it drummer, singer, band, whatever.
I was having one of these conversations with a mate as we walked down the street and it turned to guitarists. I was saying it was Eddie Van Halen, or Hendrix, or Richie Sambora etc, and he went "nah, it's him" and pointed to a Dire Straits poster on a bus shelter that had Mark Knopfler on it.
I said he was mental; the guitarist from Dire Straits? Give over. He was adamant though.
And, you know what, he was probably right.
FWIW, that mate was MartynS off of here 🙂
Try listening to Keith Don’t Go Live by Nils Lofgren Band if you want a good demo of how good live can sound
That
Interesting read:> https://www.guyfletcher.co.uk/dire-straits-live-box-set-2023/
Fun read.
What do I need to hear it in 24bit?
What do I need to hear it in 24bit?
If you are going to stream it then a subscription to a streaming service that supplies 24bit (e.g. Tidal HiFi Plus rather than just Tidal HiFi) and a dac that does 24bit as well (e.g. the WiiM Mini streamer)
Yeah, thought so, I need to spend money. I'm a Yorkshireman, so no chance there, and I'm 53 and my top end hearing has gone so what is the point. I'll just stick my Senn HD25's in the back of my Mac and hope for the best.
It's worth trying a cheap, USB DAC/headphone amp.
You might find it way better than just your laptop.
Get one off Amazon and send it back if you can tell the difference.
My hearing isn't what it was, like all of us in our 50's, but I can tell the difference between HD stuff and bluetooth/MP3.
Used to fall asleep to Alchemy on my headphones most nights in my early teens, think I can probably recite every guitar note!
Saw them at Wembley Arena on 13th July 1985, after they'd played over the road earlier that day.
Definitely a guilty pleasure back then that I keep coming back to, along with Mark Knopfler's solo stuff. Off for a listen.
If your running an M1 or later Macbook Pro the internal DAC and headphone amp is actually pretty decent. You will be able to tell the difference with your HD25’s just trying a free demo of Qobuz or one of the other services.
Otherwise just pop into a Richer Sounds and ask them to demo it to you so you don’t have to spend any money. If you can't tell difference just save your money and enjoy the music.
Much better off spending the money on speakers / headphones than DACs and high res streaming.
What do I need to hear it in 24bit?
It’s worth trying a cheap, USB DAC/headphone amp.
You might find it way better than just your laptop.
I do all my listening via my iPhone, using a variety of different earphones and headphones, using a Fiio DAC or an Amazon inline 3.5mm > USB-C adapter, and tbh I can’t really tell any difference. All my music on my phone is in Lossless, or Hi-res lossless, and my earphones are either Ultimate Ears TripleFi Studio Pro, Mee Audio Pinnacle P1’s and my headphones are Røde NTH-100 studio ‘phones, which have no electronic processing or Bluetooth, so a clean signal path with both.
It’s certainly easy to hear differences between different versions of the same album after a re-mastering process - I was listening to the Steven Wilson remaster of Tull’s Aqualung last night, and it’s significantly different to the original; whether you think it’s better or not is another matter! <br />I’m no longer interested in listening via BT, I find too many compromises, sound quality-wise, and cost-wise once you get up to quality Sony, Apple and Bose ‘phones.
I’m seriously considering getting some custom-fit in-ear monitors, once I’ve finally got all my finances sorted out, which won’t be much more than the Apple ‘phones, with no batteries to die.
Your earphones may be ultimate ears, but your ears ain't.
You're older than me, and my audiophile days are behind me.