News

Pink Floyd announce standalone blu-ray of The Dark Side of the Moon

Features Atmos, 5.1 and hi-res stereo

By Paul Sinclair

Comments

64

Pink Floyd have announced ‘breakout’ versions of the 50th anniversary edition of The Dark Side Of The Moon, including a blu-ray audio with the new Dolby Atmos Mix.

New CD and vinyl editions are also available, but it’s the blu-ray that will be most of interest to audiophile fans since the Dolby Atmos Mix is finally ‘unlocked’ from the expensive box set released earlier this year.

In fact, arguably, the standalone product is an improvement on what is in the box, since it brings together Dolby Atmos, 5.1 mix (24/96) and the (very) hi-res stereo mix (24/192). In the super deluxe edition these were split across two discs.

The standalone blu-ray audio of The Dark Side of the Moon (click image to enlarge)

This blu-ray audio (no video) features the following audio streams: 

  • Dolby Atmos Mix
  • 5.1 Surround Mix (24/96)
  • Remastered Stereo Mix (24/192)

The spatial audio mixes are by James Guthrie. This is presented in a softpack die-cut gatefold with yet another variation of the famous front cover. Commemorative postcards, stickers and a 24-page booklet are included.

The Dark Side Of The Moon blu-ray is released on 13 October 2023, via Warner Records. You can pre-order the blu-ray from the SDE shop via this link or using the buttons below (newly announced SDE-exclusive Duran Duran blu-ray included for your convenience).

Tracklisting

The Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd / standalone blu-ray audio

    • Dolby Atmos Mix, 5.1 Surround Mix (24/96), Remastered Stereo Mix (24/192)
      1. Speak to Me
      2. Breathe (In the Air)
      3. On the Run
      4. Time
      5. The Great Gig in the Sky
      6. Money
      7. Us and Them
      8. Any Colour You Like
      9. Brain Damage
      10. Eclipse

SuperDeluxeEdition.com helps fans around the world discover physical music and discuss releases. To keep the site free, SDE participates in various affiliate programs, including Amazon and earns from qualifying purchases.

Related Content

64 Comments

64 thoughts on “Pink Floyd announce standalone blu-ray of The Dark Side of the Moon”

  1. To my ears the Dolby ATMOS mix includes the best stereo version I’ve ever heard, the most balanced & accurate……including the Immersion and SACD versions. (it’s ridiculous how many times I’ve bought it)
    My mind is no spectrometer, I just know that from now on this is the release I’ll choose to play….

  2. Slightly off topic, some very strange behavior from Amazon. Anything pre-ordered doesn’t get delivered until Tuesdays. Yet, you can order the same items after release and next day delivery. Cancelled the pre-orders as no price difference other than cheaper than when pre-ordered. Pre-order price guarantee pointless as all items I ordered where cheaper and shipped on-time.

  3. Vastly overrated album. I always much prefered Lennons Mind Games- great tunes. If its Floyd it has to be Wish you were here or any live stuff after Waters left. Also George’s Living in the Material world is a far far better album. And dont tell me its better than Goodbye Yellow brick Road because it isnt. 1973 was an amazing year for music and dark side is way down the list for me. Oh and also Band on the run…………..amazing.

    1. A vastly overrated album that has sold over 45 million copies and remained in the US billboard album chart for 15 years you are having a giraffe surely. The album is perfection from the first second to the last which is rather sad now that Waters is all out to destroy it’s legacy.

    2. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and music is of course subjective which also makes comparison I think in this case, a bit irrelevant. As moni said too, a LOT of people don’t agree, but as I also said, it doesn’t matter, it’s all just subject anyway… ;) :)

  5. Did anybody already hear the latest remaster of the stereo version? Very obviously obsolete and only done for marketing reasons, but is it, at least, not worse than 2011 or 1994?

  6. I had a feeling the ATMOS MIX would get its own release.

    KUDOS to those in the PF-camp that made this EXCELLENT “standalone disc” call (including its price point), AGAIN!

    I would argue that there is plenty of room on the Blu for the AMAZING (if unfinished) ‘73 A.P. QUAD MIX, as well.

    That said: An ALL NEW “DSOTM” 5.1 mix from Guthrie is (WAS) in order to compliment his (newer and well mixed “WYWH” and “Animals” 5.1 entries into PF-mix cannon.

    Oh, well. Can’t wait to enjoy this in ATMOS!

    Tx, again!

    1. The Atmos mix functions as an “all new 5.1 mix”, as it will play perfectly on non-Atmos systems. The Atmos data is simply metadata riding along a standard 5.1 or 7.1 bitstream. An older or non compliant system just ignores the metadata and plays it normally.

      1. Which is why I have ordered this too, whilst already having the 2011 BluRay version of the 5.1. One day I’ll upgrade my house, and THEN my system (5.1) to ATMOS (probably 7.1.4), in the mean time, as you say, the ATMOS mix will be another alternative to enjoy in it’s “bed”/5.1/7.1 version… :)

    1. I wonder too why it is not re-issued. AFAIK the Immersion Box was the only release to include it (apart from the 1973 Quad LP).
      I read somewhere the band were not fully satisfied with it and Alan Parsons considered it unfinished, but nonetheless, the Quad version is of historic significance more than the spatial mixes created decades later.

  9. Ordered from SDE. No brainer for me.

    Here’s hoping for a massive Wish You Were Here 50th Anniversary box set in 2025 (which I probably won’t buy), followed by a stand-alone Blu Ray audio release a few months later (which I definitely would buy).

    1. I’d much prefer a better version of The Wall box as the immersion left me underwhelmed! No Hi res mix? And it would have been a perfect opportunity to release the movie in 4k. Whether or not it’s due to Roger’s ongoing battle with David could be the issue? But they aren’t getting any younger!

      1. I vaguely recall reading somewhere that, as part of the split, Roger retained the rights to the The Wall in it’s entirety, so that may be part of the issue.

  10. Well Floydians
    Spare a massive heartfelt thought for Stefano Tarquini; he of the excellent tome “Any Colour You Like” that details all 700 known vinyl variants from around THE WORLD!
    Those of us that have heard of Blackadder and specifically series 3 and narrowing down even more to the episode featuring Robbie Coltrane as Samuel Johnson when Blackadder dreams up another entry for the dictionary.
    Please pass my condolences to Stefano and “contrafibularities” to you all.
    Shine on.
    Carl

  11. Since new content was added to Richard Wright’s Wet Dreams after some suggestions of fans, I guess it’s time to say that we’d like to have the 1973 quad mix on this blu-ray

  13. Great news…..I purchased a lovely 50th anniversary version from CD Japan which was nicely put together with the stickers and posters etc….it sounded great….so how do this compare?

    1. I have this one too, it’s a great question but looks like the blu ray SDE version is already sold out so won’t have the two to compare now.

      1. Assuming this is like “Diamonds and Pearls” in that it’s not a Paul exclusive and will start appearing on Amazon over the next few days.

  14. No brainer, ordered.

    Hope Elton does a similar format for Yellow Brick Road this year.

    Tempted to send the link to Brian May and say ‘if you’re not willing to open the live archive, this is the minimum you should be doing for the 50th anniversaries.’ We don’t need A Night at The Opera in avocado green vinyl thanks.

  15. Okay, conspiracy theory time: Is this perhaps happening because the sales of the big box in March were lower than expected, so now they’re willing to accommodate those of us who are only interested in the one disc? Or (and I fear this is more likely) are they gonna start pulling the same “exclusive … until it’s not” trickery that’s happened before with other formats? (For example, the 5th CD in Tom Petty’s Wildflowers box, that you could only get as part of the mega set from the WB website… until it was released separately six months later. Or the David Bowie ’70s concert that was vinyl-only for Record Store Day a few years back… until it was suddenly on CD and streaming later the same year.)

    Mind you, I personally won’t complain, since it’d mean I could actually start owning some of these surround sound Blu-Rays that I’m not about to spend $100+ on just cuz they’re welded to a bunch of other material I don’t need. But it sucks for the folks who do pull the trigger and realize later that they could’ve rolled the dice and waited. (And before someone chimes in with the inevitable response … “Nobody’s making you buy it” and “BS corporate profit shenanigans” aren’t mutually exclusive.)

    1. “it sucks for the folks who do pull the trigger and realize later that they could’ve rolled the dice and waited.”

      Agreed. Best solution: don’t buy the super expensive box set if you only want one part of it. That one part may become available separately, in one way or another. Especially for a mega-popular artist/band like Pink Floyd.

      1. Bought the 50th box with eyes wide open back in March. After the breaking up and selling of both The Early Years and The Later Years box before it, not to mention the box set or piecemeal release of the Animals remix, it was always a distinct possibility that the 50th Dark Side box might be sold similarly, especially with the separate Wembley CD & LP releases at the time.

        That said, one got exclusivity on Continu/ation in TEY & the Kebworth & Venice concert films along with some other bits in TLY. My exclusivity on the Dark Side 50th set is some sheet music and bits of memorabilia! Still, with the value I’ve had with Floyd sets since Oh By The Way, I’ve no regrets on the Dark Side 50th box back in March.

        Glad the Atmos mix is getting a wider release at a price point that means more will get to enjoy it. It’s quite something.

      2. and while we are here, please can we have the Beatles and Rolling Stones mono LPs released separately. Beatles were but impossible to find now and Stones only as box set.

    2. If sales were lower than expected, I don’t think they’d double-down by releasing more versions.

      It’s more likely that they see an opportunity to expand the addressable market with a lower price point blu-ray only version.

  16. Excellent – I was feeling a bit guilty about not wanting the Duran Duran one after listening to the preview track!
    This is not a bad substitute. Ordered.
    Thanks Paul. Any chance you could work your magic for Rush – Signals in Atmos?

  17. I shall probably buy this for the high definition stereo mix(es), and yes it’ll be nice to have the Atmos mix when I eventually move house and finally hook up some extra speakers.

    In the meantime, does anyone know if the 5.1 mix is the same as the one on the 2003 SACD that I already own? That was done by James Guthrie. Or is this a new 5.1 downscaled from the Atmos?

    1. I *think* the 5.1 mix is basically the same as what was previously released. 95 percent sure, but someone can step in if this is not the case…

      1. Bought the big box back in March and A/B(and C’d) the 2003 SACD 5.1 mix from the Immersion box with the 5.1 and Atmos discs in the 50th box.

        If the two 5.1 mixes aren’t the exact same, they are all but identical. The Atmos mix, even in 5.1.2, is a much more enveloping, less front centric with audio perfume in the rears mix.

    1. No, the 5.1 on the BluRay is the same as the 2003 vintage 5,1 on both the SACD & the BluRay in the Immersion box. If your system can cope with Dolby TrueHD (7.1 or 5.1), you’ll get the ‘graceful’ down mix of the Atmos mix which should sound quite different to the vintage 5.1 mix. (have the 50th & Immersion boxes and a 5.1.2 AVR & speaker setup here).

  19. Can anyone help someone reasonably unfamiliar with Floyd surround things?

    Is the Guthrie 5.1 mix on this disc (and thus in the 50th box) the same as the one in the Immersion box *and* the one on the 2003 SACD? I’m aware bitrates, etc. will be better here but just wanted to check my understanding.

    (I know that the Atmos mix is really the main attraction here but I’m still 5.1, albeit happy to future-proof). Thanks.

    1. By design, Atmos will adapt to any setup attached, from stereo to whatever your bank account (and your wife) allow you to install in your living room.
      No idea though, if the Atmos version, played back through a 5.1 system, will sound notably different from the old 5.1 version.

      1. Presumably it will sound different, because it’s a new mix from the ground-up. Whether the difference will be notable, that’s a different question. I suspect that, since the new Atmos mix is done by the same engineer as the older 5.1 mix, the differences will be subtle at best. Owners of a non-Atmos 7.1 system stand to gain a more defined rear and surround image due to the extra two channels, however.

  21. What is encouraging are the amount of releases that are happening as standalone items rather than being locked in to a box set, SDE must be having an effect in the record companies mindset.

    1. Couldn’t agree more. Insulting. Even worse than the latest SACD release, or the Delicate Sound of Thunder standalone reissue. Storm Thorgerson would wheel in his grave.
      Makes one wonder if it’s deliberate.

  24. It’s a shame that they don’t do a double pack – Rogers 2023 take and the original!.
    I guess Pigs will fly before you see that happening. All proceeds to a charity that mediates between disgruntled former stable mates!.

  26. Ha ha, I win. That box set was incredibly superfluous since all it brought to the table was an unproven Atmos mix. And now I can try out that mix for a fraction of the cost of the box set.

  28. First it was Duran Duran, now it’s a Pink Floyd bluray with an Atmos soundtrack not mixed by Steven Wilson. How on earth is he going to pay for Christmas?

    This is great to see this though. I have the Japanese hybrid CD/SACD of this, so it’ll be interesting to hear how this sounds by comparison.

      1. I know that. Its why I said it’ll be interesting to compare the two. The 5.1 SACD sounds great, but the rear channels are a bit low in the mix.

  29. Just had the email from the Pink Floyd website and was about to send you a message asking if you knew more, Paul! You beat me to it. However this seems to be a major plus, and solves that issue of just buying the stupidly-expensive box set for the surround sound mixes. An automatic buy for me, even though I have the other previous mixes. Now all we need are those Wall and Wish You Were Here mixes as well….

Leave a Reply