Universal music going Hi-Rez!!!

[Flint]

Is this the dawn of a new era? Gosh, I hope so!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/07 ... io_format/

If they go back to the original tapes and master them identically to tastes of the artists, this is huge! Especially if they choose to avoid adding more compression and limiting to the signal in order to make them sound "louder" (and this better to most people). I want a truly dynamic recording!

I want to get some of these if they put out my favs.

 

[Deleted member 133]

Is this the dawn of a new era? Gosh, I hope so!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/07 ... io_format/

If they go back to the original tapes and master them identically to tastes of the artists, this is huge! Especially if they choose to avoid adding more compression and limiting to the signal in order to make them sound "louder" (and this better to most people). I want a truly dynamic recording!

I want to get some of these if they put out my favs.

Mention of Beck's Sea Change in the article gave me a semi!

Ever since hearing the multi-channel SACD version at Hoops' place, I've been searching for a decently-priced copy of it, or its DVD-A brethren - to no avail.

If all they do is take that version and re-issue it on Blu-ray I'm sold!

Could not find any additional references to it. Tried UMG's web site (what a mess!) and Amazon.

Jeff

ps. Thanks Flint

 

[Zing]

Mention of Beck's Sea Change in the article gave me a semi!

Ever since hearing the multi-channel SACD version at Hoops' place, I've been searching for a decently-priced copy of it, or its DVD-A brethren - to no avail.

If all they do is take that version and re-issue it on Blu-ray I'm sold!

Congratulations on your new purchase! :happy-smileygiantred:

 

[Deleted member 133]

Mention of Beck's Sea Change in the article gave me a semi!

Ever since hearing the multi-channel SACD version at Hoops' place, I've been searching for a decently-priced copy of it, or its DVD-A brethren - to no avail.

If all they do is take that version and re-issue it on Blu-ray I'm sold!

Congratulations on your new purchase! :happy-smileygiantred:

Thanks Zing!

Just went through their buying process. Noticed that they had Queen's Night at the Opera in 5.1 as well so added it to the shopping cart along with Beck. (By now the semi was a near-woody!) Total was ~$60 for the two discs. They then wanted $30 for shipping to Canada. (Coitius interuptus!) Decided to wait for an Amazon listing - with free shipping over $25. Even if Amazon.ca's price per disc ends up higher than Amazon.com's (which is usually the case) at least the shipping will be free, plus I'll avoid any additional border surcharges. I'll give Amazon a couple of weeks to list them and take it from there.

I'm also stopping by a local bricks and mortar record store tomorrow. I'll see if they might be able to order them in for me.

Jeff

ps. Just did a little more searching and found this place offering both discs for the same price. http://www.elusivedisc.com/BECK-SEA-CHANGE-BLU-RAY-PURE-AUDIO-DISC/productinfo/UNIBA44451/. Shipping was going to be only $12.50 (by USPS - which is what I prefer since at my end Canada Post will only charge a flat $5 brokerage fee if there's any duties / taxes to be paid, whereas normal courier - especially UPS - will hose you blind on brokerage fees). However I will still wait to see if I can do better locally.

 

[Botch]

Noticed that they had Queen's Night at the Opera in 5.1 as well...

Now I've got a woodie. Bohemian Rhapsody, in Surround.... :music-listening:

 

[Deleted member 133]

Score!

Visited a local store. They had both discs listed at $26.99. Not stocked yet but 2-4 weeks on order.

Jeff

ps. This is going to knock the crap out of the market for used copies of both the SACD and DVD-A for these two titles - which frequently list for $75+ on Amazon etc.

 

[Botch]

Jeff, make sure to check to see if they've been remixed for Surround. I re-read Flint's post a little more carefully and it sounded like a lot of the releases will be in Stereo, ie recorded off the stereo masters and not the full multitrack tapes. :|

The extra capacity the format provides over DVD, let alone CD, is used to store PCM, Dolby True HD and/or DTS HD Master Audio at 2.0 and 5.1 surround sound, though since many of the first recordings are not recent, almost all of them are stereo only.

 

[Deleted member 133]

Jeff, make sure to check to see if they've been remixed for Surround. I re-read Flint's post a little more carefully and it sounded like a lot of the releases will be in Stereo, ie recorded off the stereo masters and not the full multitrack tapes. :|

The extra capacity the format provides over DVD, let alone CD, is used to store PCM, Dolby True HD and/or DTS HD Master Audio at 2.0 and 5.1 surround sound, though since many of the first recordings are not recent, almost all of them are stereo only.

Of all of the recently-announced releases by Universal, only three are specifically identified as being in 5.1 surround. Beck and Queen are two of them. Given that they were both released previously in 5.1 on SACD and DVD-A, this makes sense.

Supertramp's Crime of the Century (what must surely be the gem among gems in this first batch) is, unfortunately, in stereo only. Which also makes sense since it was never previously released in 5.1 (as far as I know.)

 

[Yesfan70]

Hmmmm..... I see where there's 27 albums released, some on Amazon, but when I looked on Amazon for HFPA discs (or Bluray audio discs), on Amazon (both US and France sites) I get nothing.

 

[Deleted member 133]

Yup. Nothing showing on Amazon yet.

I sent them an email yesterday asking when they were going to list them and they responded with a request for more info on the discs - which I provided. They then said that they couldn't find them listed on their site. That in fact they had no way of knowing about what was going to appear on their site - nor could they influence what was going to be on their site. They then thanked me for my input.

Don't think I'll be contacting them again on similar matters - ever.

 

[garypf]

Hey. You can find them for order on Elusive Disc (http://www.elusivedisc.com). They have a large list of Blue Ray Pure Audio titles, many classical. Just look in the DVD-Audio and Blu Ray Audio section on the site.

 

[Deleted member 133]

Thanks. I linked to Elusive Disc in an earlier post.

A Night at the Opera arrived at my local store yesterday. Picked it up today and had time to give it fairly quick spin in the main HT.

First impressions: I like the 5.1 mix. I think it adds to / complements the original recording quite well. However the recording itself is showing it's age. It's not as crisp and clean as I would have hoped. To be honest the overall sound quality reminds me very much of the CD - although I didn't do any direct comparing. It could very well be that they managed to squeeze the best out of the original recording with the CD.

Sea Change should be in this week.

Jeff

ps. Does anybody ever hear a difference between a PCM and DTS Master-Audio version of the same track? On this new Blu-ray you can toggle between the two very quickly while a given track is playing and I detect no real difference between the two. Stereo and 5.1 alike.

 

[Kazaam]

ps. Does anybody ever hear a difference between a PCM and DTS Master-Audio version of the same track?

I can't recall what it was that I'd have been listening to, but I know I did a quick toggle test like that before, too. I don't recall there being a difference, either, which makes sense I suppose.

DTSHD-MA is lossless. So unless they took the effort to make a separate mix just for DTSHD-MA and used the space savings to go with a larger bitrate or higher frequency rate, then it probably is identical with the PCM. I guess I've just been assuming that most times they still throw the PCM in there because some of the early players couldn't decode DTSHD-MA (outside of maybe downrezzing it to plain old regular lossy DTS, maybe?). Not that I really know anything for sure. Just my laymans observations and thoughts.

 

[AndySTL]

Beck Sea Change is now available on Amazon for pre-order for 10/30/13. I had already ordered this from Music Direct but called to cancel. It was going to be about $42 there. I pre-ordered with Prime for $20.99. I didn't look but perhaps some of the other titles are being released next week too. I can't wait to hear this album in hi rez!

 

[Kazaam]

That price ain't none too bad. I wonder if Universal had any SACDs/DVD-Audios that I would want but never bought back when they were available at reasonable prices. Not sure. But I'll watch and see what BDs come out in the future.

Maybe if these new-fangled discs aren't a total bomb (of course they will be, but...) just maybe we might see Warner Bros decide to put some stuff out on BluRay, too. I know there are some from that label that I'd be interested in if the price were kept at $20.00.

 

[Deleted member 133]

Beck Sea Change is now available on Amazon for pre-order for 10/30/13. I had already ordered this from Music Direct but called to cancel. It was going to be about $42 there. I pre-ordered with Prime for $20.99. I didn't look but perhaps some of the other titles are being released next week too. I can't wait to hear this album in hi rez!

That is a great price. Glad to see that Amazon is going way below "list" right off the bat. This bodes well for sales - and future releases.

 

[Deleted member 133]

That price ain't none too bad. I wonder if Universal had any SACDs/DVD-Audios that I would want but never bought back when they were available at reasonable prices. Not sure. But I'll watch and see what BDs come out in the future.

Maybe if these new-fangled discs aren't a total bomb (of course they will be, but...) just maybe we might see Warner Bros decide to put some stuff out on BluRay, too. I know there are some from that label that I'd be interested in if the price were kept at $20.00.

There have been Blu-ray Audio releases for at least a couple of years now. Flint's OP relates to UMG getting into the game - and calling theirs "High Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-ray Disc".

If you go to Amazon and enter "Blu-ray Audio" into the search bar, you'll get a number of titles - many in both stereo and 5.1.

I just did and found it interesting to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Damn the Torpedoes (2010) listed since from what I can tell that title's original label was Backstreet/MCA - which was acquired by UMG.

Jeff

 

[Deleted member 133]

ps. to Flint...

Amazon's pre-order price for Crime of the Century is $19.87.

You're welcome.

Jeff

 

[Botch]

I just did and found it interesting to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Damn the Torpedoes (2010) listed since from what I can tell that title's original label was Backstreet/MCA - which was acquired by UMG.

Jeff

I have both of the Heartbreaker's Bluray Audio disks. Damn the Torpedoes was remixed from the original tapes in the "sitting-in-the-middle-of-the-band" manner, with specific instruments coming from various directions; fun to hear that classic album in a new way.
But I really like their new album Mojo. I'd read a good article in Keyboard about how this one was recorded: they found a really good-sounding room, set up along one wall (as in a club) and recorded the front channels with band-facing mics, while the surrounds were recorded by mics either in the back of the room, or facing the back of the room from the listener's position (sorry I can't remember which). I much prefer this type of 5.1 mix for this type of band. :music-listening: :music-listening: :music-listening:

 

[Deleted member 133]

I just did and found it interesting to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Damn the Torpedoes (2010) listed since from what I can tell that title's original label was Backstreet/MCA - which was acquired by UMG.

Jeff

I have both of the Heartbreaker's Bluray Audio disks. Damn the Torpedoes was remixed from the original tapes in the "sitting-in-the-middle-of-the-band" manner, with specific instruments coming from various directions; fun to hear that classic album in a new way.
But I really like their new album Mojo. I'd read a good article in Keyboard about how this one was recorded: they found a really good-sounding room, set up along one wall (as in a club) and recorded the front channels with band-facing mics, while the surrounds were recorded by mics either in the back of the room, or facing the back of the room from the listener's position (sorry I can't remember which). I much prefer this type of 5.1 mix for this type of band. :music-listening: :music-listening: :music-listening:

PLEASE bring them to the next GTG at which I am present!

I have Mojo on CD and would love to hear a 5.1 mix. I only have Damn the Torpedoes on (well worn) vinyl!

Jeff

ps. The latter is, IMO, a much greater album (a story, about which, I MIGHT share at said next GTG!)