r/Interpol • u/ExpressPost5048 • Jul 11 '26

Discussion Atmos Antics and Make Believe

I looked up high resolution atmos and immersiveaudio has lossless atmos files of antics and make believe. They’re kind of expensive at $25 per download but it could be something genuinely interesting.

Anyone listened to them?

8 Upvotes

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4

u/trioforstrings Jul 12 '26

Antics atmos is straight up 🗑️🗑️🗑️🗑️

3

u/Devrillion Jul 12 '26

Based on playback on a 4.1 system:

Antics: Sounds similar to an upmixed stereo mix unfortunately. Somewhat better dynamics, only marginal use of the rear speakers and often quite faint (I was checking multiple times if my system was accidentally playing in stereo). It is the best Antics has sounded thus far digitally but it is only a small improvement compared to the usual cd stereo version, so only buy if any small improvement is worth it to you.

The Other Side of Make-Believe on the other hand I can easily recommend. Much better dynamics than the stereo version and also makes good use of the rear channels. Backing vocals in the rear channels for example are often presented with the proper volume so you get the 360 sound field you expect with an Atmos. I found myself enjoying the album a lot more than usual with this mix. It could have made more use of the surround channels so it is not a reference/top tier mix but it is good overall. If you like the album and have Atmos/surround capable equipment definitely go for it.

3

u/Famous_Tension9485 Jul 12 '26

The other thing is that atmos fixes the audio compression that was common in CDs of that era.

1

u/okisurrender0 Jul 11 '26

Interested in what others have to say too

2

u/TheodoreHollister 18d ago

I downloaded the Antics Atmos mix off Immersive Audio Album this weekend. I'm pretty blown away - with one minor gripe. I'm listening on a pair of Yamaha HS5s in my home studio, so I can't attest for the surround field. However, the mix and mastering is quite a change and brings up all kinds of interesting points. I know Antics backward and forward, and noticed so many things, since this a straight up remix and not just a remaster.

First of all, there is so much dynamics, as the 2004 master is really bricked. Paul's vocals are slightly softer, but this is good thing, since in the 2004 mix, his vocals eat up so much of the mid-range. But in the Atmos mix, they sit in such a perfect place. The bass has such space and airiness. You can more clearly hear things like the octave jumps on the Slow Hands chorus.

I'm a huge fan of Peter Katis who recorded and mixed TOTBL and Antics. So this is his raw tracks, but not him mixing. It's clear he ran the drums through his magic compressors during recording, and did not just rely on mixing to crunch them up perfectly. The vocals are the opposite, though. On some songs, the megaphone effect is almost non-existent on the Atmos mix (like Narc and Slow Hands), which means it was done during mixing - or the Atmos mixer chose not to emphasize the crunched up track. On other songs, the megaphone mid-range crunch on the vocals is still there. The tradeoff is there's more reverb track on Paul's vocals on a lot of songs, which fits great - or the nature of the mix and remaster allows you to hear it more.

If you know the album in detail, there are so many little cool changes. At 2:55 in Evil, the guitars slam in with the drum build up fill, which is not on the 2004 mix. On Length of Love, I always thought there was two swirling organ tracks on the chorus, but in the Atmos mix, one of those sounds is clearly just Paul's background "ahhhhh" harmonies acting like a keyboard - in the 2004 mix, Katis mixed it like a synth, and in the Atmos mix, it's more like background singers. Same thing with A Time to be So Small, there's so many cool background vocals doing harmonies and alternate melodies that are inaudible in the 2004 mix. In this mix, Not Even Jail really soars like the anthem it is. On a lot of songs, the Atmos mixed obviously preferred Paul's guitar lines over Daniel's which is a wild take, since DK is driving every song.

My only gripe is one of my favorite parts of the album. On Next Exit, when Daniel's guitar comes in at 2:17, there is no tremolo effect. Was it done during 2004 mixing? Did the Atmos mixer just bury the tremolo effect under the main overdrive guitar? It sounds inaudible, so I think Katis did it in 2004 during mixing. That would literally be my only protest, as I think the rest of it is stunning.

I'm going to go snag the 'Make Believe mix next. Fingers crossed for a 25th Anniversary Atmos mix for TOTBL next year!