Keith Hopcroft - Something You Don't Know

There are some who want to rock, others that want some soul, the classics and tradition, then there are the worlds beyond where melody and ambience collide bursting into an aural feast for the ears. This is the place where I found Keith Hopcroft on his latest album “Something You Don't Know.” Embarking on a journey of expansive immersion mixed by Jan Printz, who now has my attention as a top notch Atmos mixing engineer.

Printz is the owner of Surround Music One, a fabulous site that offers surround and Atmos downloads from a variety of artists. A long-time musician himself, plus an audio engineer, along with clearly being a dedicated music enthusiast, Printz recently completed his 7.1.4 Atmos studio where he mixed the Hopcroft album using Cubase.

Before diving in for a listen, it is important to note that the album was recorded in Copenhagen at Veranda Studios, along with creating the original stereo mixes. Keith Hopcroft added guitars, keyboards, programing and plenty of production. Peter Brookes inspired with his vocal work and backseat mixing, plus piano on track 8. Susanne Hopcroft angelic vocals soar as she also did backseat mixing too. Subsequently the digital tracks were sent over to Jan Printz for the Dolby Atmos mix, which is reviewed here.

The album opens with “Come to Me” which immediately uses the height channels with brief spoken question and answer between the front and back, then dropping to the surround floor channels before fully immersing the listener with all channels active. Synthesizers swell from the back heights, while rhythm pulsates from the rear floor channels, with bass and other instruments spread across the from speakers.

Printz has adapted excellent movement as elements shift and swirl, giving the sense of gravity and accentuated dimensionality. Vocals call from the front height and there is an overall sonic warmth to the mix. Songs blend from one track to the next arriving at “Falling Down” which reminds me a bit of Tangerine Dream, and the recent works of Boris Blank stripped down to more ambient level, it pulsates while being completely relaxing. Gilmore fans will surely dig the Stratocaster guitar sounding solos that have a Floydian feel heard on their Wish You Were Here album which penetrates from the front center as the piece grooves on.

Working with a couple of dozen tracks, Printz reimagined Hopcoft’s original stereo mix into the Atmos realm, expanding the soundstage and giving listeners a magnificent aural journey that is accompanied by videos for six of the ten songs. When I spoke with Printz, he noted the separate tracks included elements such as vocals, drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, and more. Using these separate tracks, he was easily able to discretely place them around the immersive space, all while working to maintain the sonic blend heard on the stereo mix. He also commented on how adding very short delays between channels aided in creating depth, which opened up the mix further, giving a real sense of space.

As a reviewer, I believe we have come to a point where recording quality is relatively easy to accomplish with the technology available today. Digital has aided musicians in many ways beyond editing, adding effects, channel separation, and most certainly the noise floor. Likewise, high resolution audio has hit a stride of 48kHz / 24-bit, which is the standard for Dolby Atmos. When I first saw these specifications, I was disappointed, but since then, I have come to agree that the sound is remarkable, and it is the bit-depth, not the sampling rate that is the true measure of improving digital audio recording. With all that said, I have found very few modern recordings that don’t live up to this standard of excellence, and they typically are lossy codecs. This is all to say that rest assured the sonics on “Something You Don't Know” of course are lossless, absolutely stellar, completely transparent, and an absolute treat to the ears.

If you aren’t mesmerized by the on-screen graphics for “Let It Grow,” then your ears will surely pick up the slack. Drums pulsate up front while angelic vocals rise from the left and right sides. Guitar licks sooth from the rear channels and synths along with ambience take to the sky. When fans experience Atmos releases, everything seems to flow so easily. However, engineers like Printz meet challenges while creating mixes, such as adding groups to define where objects are placed in the Atmos heights. In fact, Printz scrapped two earlier mixes before getting to the final incredible one that is reviewed here and available for download as a lossless Atmos MKV file from Surround Music One.

Take a stroll “By the Sea” where a familiar melody is hummed in the distant back channels while a solid grooving bass walk across the sand up front. Your visual imagination will need to turn on at this point, as the video accompaniment has taken a breather, and a still graphic of the album cover is displayed. Only six songs were planned for a theater presentation, now with the MKV file in hand, just bring your friends over to your listening room to escape into the aural and visual world that Hopcroft has created.

“Hold On” delicately uses dynamics as synths drizzle from above and voices rise from the left and right. Bass holds down the lows with a kick maintaining a steady beat drifting into emptiness and returning. It is the subtle sensation of additional rhythmic parts that penetrate from all corners which spice up the dynamics, giving a heightened edge to this piece.

Be sure to open your eyes again for more scenic candy on the song “I Am One.” Artist inspired landscapes flow as the vibration of the music immerses the sweet spot. Vocals soar from above and guitars soothe from the rear channels. A tribal, somewhat heartbeat rhythm hold is carried by the bass up front along with touches of drums and pulsating keyboards that spread around the room. I admit on my first listen I briefly found myself napping to this incredibly restful album. I am locked in now, and it keeps calling me back for another listen.

In many ways, it is the title track, which is the closing song, that is my personal favorite on the album. The song is a culmination of all the beauty and aural bliss that has already been heard over the past hour. This is not an album that will pump you up like a jolt of caffeine, rather I believe it will uplift you in wonder of this amazing world. I find it to be a restful journey, an experience that may even answer the question to “Something You Don't Know.”

Audio Engineer Jan Printz has also released his own album “Forest Tracks” in Dolby Atmos, and one may as well pick that up while also downloading the Keith Hopcroft release. Both are available as Dolby Atmos 48kHz / 24 -bit and Binnaural Stereo 48kHz / 24-bit FLAC at the link below.

Release Date: : 08-29-2026

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 About the Author

Wesley is a lifelong music enthusiast. He started his career in the recording industry in New York City as an audio engineer, producer, and studio manager. Subsequently he toured across America as a guitarist with the short-lived band Land's Crossing. After many years in the technology sector and amassing a substantial vinyl and CD collection, he delved into immersive audio and created Hi-Res Edition to share with other listeners about the sound quality and discrete mixes available on many formats. He recently upgraded his system to 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos and continues to seek out and share about the best sounding releases.