Please post reviews and thoughts on Senjutsu here

Status
Not open for further replies.
Trust me mate, I spend hours every day listening to music. It is true that all albums, even the wqell produced ones, lose some clarity on the streming platforms. If you try to correlate the sound of Senjutsu to e.g. KK's album the difference is huge, both on youtube and Spotify. If you just listen to the Maiden albums after 1992 it is not evident but comparing with other mainstream metal releases the sound is worlds apart.
I am not really saying there is a production issue or not. I am saying that if there is it is not obvious (unlike you and some others are asserting), that I and others cannot hear it, and that I think it's strange that those of us who just enjoy listening without hearing issues are the ones described as having a problem!

For what it is worth I also listen to a lot of modern music and I would take Maidens sound over most of them for the sole reason that I can hear the bass.
 
Like music itself, how it sounds is also subjective pretty much. Some like it, some don't. And some want a specific sound they like for Maiden.
That pretty much sums it up for me. Listening to it again now. I'm liking it still. Liking songs I didn't initially. One thing is for sure, it is a good album to take a nap to:) And I don't mean that in a bad way. Not feeling well today so i have found it very relaxing.
 
IMHO, concerning the sound of this album, I think that it would be perfect with a dolby surround or a dolby atmo compatible audio systems. If you listening to it with headphones or on CD/vinyl player with a stereo or newer basic audio systems can, in fact, be a bad experience. But, with a real professional system, used in professional studios, it can be great... By my side, 'Senjutsu' sounds great even with a basic and cheap audio equipment.
 
@TheMercenary Yeah could be, I wouldn’t be surprised. But what makes you say that? What was your experience so far?

Mine was headphones (over the head & real wireless ones), car, HomePod mini, M1 MacBook Air.

I had the opportunity to listen inside the car driving fast up to the road limit, quite loud & track by track comparison with Black Album.

EDIT: Also track by track with Powerslave and to some extent, AMOLAD.
 
Last edited:
@TheMercenary Yeah could be, I wouldn’t be surprised. But what makes you say that? What was your experience so far?

Mine was headphones (over the head & real wireless ones), car, HomePod mini, M1 MacBook Air.

I had the opportunity to listen inside the car driving fast up to the road limit, quite loud & track by track comparison with Black Album.
I'll give you the specifics about my speakers and headphones later today (we're tuesday here now), maybe on late afternoon when I'll have a little bit more time. I've paid 20 euros +/- for my headphones. And the speakers are speakers for PC. So, something around 30 or 40 euros.

And if I think so about Iron Maiden sound on the new album, that's because of the technology used by Kevin Shirley during the recording process. He's mixed this record with dolby atmo or something, if my memory is good, and used it also for the FX version of TWOTW. That's the same thing with DOD when released in 2003. It was mixed for dolby 5.1 systems. The same kind of situation arises with 'Senjutsu'.
 
"The studio recently adopted producing music in Dolby Atmos; therefore, it upgraded its 5.1 mixing room to include eight extra Genelec speakers. The 9.1.4 Dolby Atmos studio also includes two surround rear speakers, two surround speakers, four Atmos speakers, three front speakers, and two wide surround speakers that optimize transition between surround and front speakers."

Quote taken from this column :


That's explain why the production seems so weird with normal and non-professional audio systems...

1627480382560.png
1627481732232.png
 
I don’t think so. Music professionals know that a huge amount of people listen from PC /cheap speakers nowadays, so they (should) take it into consideration.

And in any case the best way to know is to take 2-3 different albums and compare them side by side with the same speakers /earphones, which is something I’ve done and still doing some times.

I have some initial thoughts and impressions on the matter and I’ll need some more time for a structured opinion.
 
I don’t think so. Music professionals know that a huge amount of people listen from PC /cheap speakers nowadays, so they (should) take it into consideration.

And in any case the best way to know is to take 2-3 different albums and compare them side by side with the same speakers /earphones, which is something I’ve done and still doing some times.

I have some initial thoughts and impressions on the matter and I’ll need some more time for a structured opinion.
I tried DOD on normal equipment and on a Dolby 5.1. The result is that it sounds better on a Dolby 5.1. That's the same for Senjutsu, IMHO. And Iron Maiden and Kevin Shirley know well that most of their fans are wealthy enough to buy their most expensive stuff, like Super Deluxe Boxset at 400 € or Maiden Edphones at 300 €, that they buy a lot of shirts and merchandising on shows or on their website... It wouldn't surprise me if they made also people spend money by making them buy expensive sound systems to have a better listening experience...
 
Last edited:
Agreed, seems very possible. Yet if I could find a 5.1 I'd like to compare Senjutsu to previous Shirley or Birch works as well as other albums such as Firepower, Hardwired etc. similar to what I'm doing now with what I have.
 
I tried DOD on normal equipment and on a Dolby 5.1. The result is that it sounds better on a Dolby 5.1. That's the same for Senjutsu, IMHO. And Iron Maiden and Kevin Shirley know well that most of their fans are wealthy enough to buy their most expensive stuff, like Super Deluxe Boxset at 400 € or Maiden Edphone at 300 €, that they buy a lot of shirts and merchandising on shows or on their website... It wouldn't surprise me if they made also people spend money by making them buy expensive sound systems to have a better listening experience...
I think good produced album sounds great on cheap and an expensive equipment, just look at The Wall or Black Album. Nobody will buy another one 5.1 set just for listening Senjutsu... Okay maybe Harris. In my opinion sound of this album is too compressed especially some cymbals and treble tones.
 
Someone on reddit have written this :

"Right now I'm listening on Spotify on Xbox One on a pretty decent sound-wise Samsung TV. Bought a decade ago but top of the line when it came out. Dolby Digital Plus and DTS 2.0. It sounds clear as hell."

Maybe 'Senjutsu' is really working better on a very good sound system after all... That's why most of Maiden fans can't really enjoy it, because they don't have this kind of sound system at home... :blink:
 
Last edited:
I personally think this album sounds better than TBOS.
In regards to the audio quality itself, I have the CD but didn't even pop it in once: I downloaded a FLAC version and listened to the track on youtube and spotify. I don't hear a difference between the versions, and I have studio monitors as my PC speakers.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top