Thread: Bluray music

Posts: 9

Post by Myrantz November 27, 2009 (1 of 9)

Post by sibelius2 November 27, 2009 (2 of 9)
Hmmm... let's count all the ways this concept will likely fail, shall we?

1) Audiophiles who only think of BD as a video format will refuse to hook up a "video" player to their stereo systems.

2) Fans of BD (as a video format) who purchase one of these discs will attempt to return them as "defective" because they were expecting video footage of the performers in concert. Oh - and they'll also leave 1-star reviews on Amazon.

3) Analog lovers will resent the existence of yet another digital format claiming to be audiophile quality and thus infringing on territory reserved for vinyl.

4) Audiophiles will resent the fact that a $25 disc playing in a $200 BD player connected via HDMI to a $350 receiver could easily sound 95% as good as a system costing thousands of dollars and claim it isn't possible.

5) Naxos will be attacked as a budget label and thus incapable of producing audiophile-quality recordings.

6) The fact that Naxos records at "only" 24/44.1 will be presented as evidence by naysayers that the recordings could not possibly sound any good at all.

7) DSD purists will complain that BD is a PCM format.

8) SACD purists will complain that Naxos did not release more SACDs (so that they could be panned for being poor quality SACDs by unknown artists.)

9) SA-CD.net contributors will organize a boycott, leading to devastating losses of well over a half-dozen sales.

10) One SA-CD.net contributor in particular will complain that the set of complete Haydn solo keyboard works is hampered by strident violin tone and does not contain enough percussion instruments; the resulting boycott will result in sales exceeding all expectations.

11) Confused consumers will complain that the discs are too expensive, considering they'd only end up transferring the contents to their iPods as MP3 files - not realizing that the exact same recordings are already available as legal downloads.

12) Confused consumers will demand to return the discs as defective after attempts to play them in their car CD players.

13) Two-channel purists will complain that the format favors multichannel users (whether it does or not.)

14) Multichannel purists will complain that stereo-only releases (like Neil Young) should have been expanded to 7.1 (even though they own systems which will accomplish this for them.)

15) Many potential buyers will complain that there aren't any titles in the new format representing their favorites from the catalogs of the major labels.

16) Any releases of famous recordings from the major labels will be criticized for coming from decades-old analog masters; reissues of digital recordings in the new format will be criticized for not being high enough resolution.

And, finally:

17) The initial batch of releases will not include anything from the Beatles, thus dooming the format to obscurity for all time.

Post by Ear November 28, 2009 (3 of 9)
:-)
Nicely put ;-)

But I think one of the reasons Blu-Ray Audio might work a little better IF and only IF the major lable support it with releases from many major artists, is the reason that every blu-ray player will be able to play the discs. That was the mistake from DVD-Audio and SACD in the beginning. They where not compatible with existing players and to get the full benefit you had to reinvest. But the recording industry has to stand in unison behind that format if they want it to be a succsess. And, off course, it has to at least include download tickets for the featured album or better yet a CD.

Post by audioholik November 28, 2009 (4 of 9)
sibelius2 said:

Hmmm... let's count all the ways this concept will likely fail, shall we?

1) Audiophiles who only think of BD as a video format will refuse to hook up a "video" player to their stereo systems.

2) Fans of BD (as a video format) who purchase one of these discs will attempt to return them as "defective" because they were expecting video footage of the performers in concert. Oh - and they'll also leave 1-star reviews on Amazon.

3) Analog lovers will resent the existence of yet another digital format claiming to be audiophile quality and thus infringing on territory reserved for vinyl.

4) Audiophiles will resent the fact that a $25 disc playing in a $200 BD player connected via HDMI to a $350 receiver could easily sound 95% as good as a system costing thousands of dollars and claim it isn't possible.

5) Naxos will be attacked as a budget label and thus incapable of producing audiophile-quality recordings.

6) The fact that Naxos records at "only" 24/44.1 will be presented as evidence by naysayers that the recordings could not possibly sound any good at all.

7) DSD purists will complain that BD is a PCM format.

8) SACD purists will complain that Naxos did not release more SACDs (so that they could be panned for being poor quality SACDs by unknown artists.)

9) SA-CD.net contributors will organize a boycott, leading to devastating losses of well over a half-dozen sales.

10) One SA-CD.net contributor in particular will complain that the set of complete Haydn solo keyboard works is hampered by strident violin tone and does not contain enough percussion instruments; the resulting boycott will result in sales exceeding all expectations.

11) Confused consumers will complain that the discs are too expensive, considering they'd only end up transferring the contents to their iPods as MP3 files - not realizing that the exact same recordings are already available as legal downloads.

12) Confused consumers will demand to return the discs as defective after attempts to play them in their car CD players.

13) Two-channel purists will complain that the format favors multichannel users (whether it does or not.)

14) Multichannel purists will complain that stereo-only releases (like Neil Young) should have been expanded to 7.1 (even though they own systems which will accomplish this for them.)

15) Many potential buyers will complain that there aren't any titles in the new format representing their favorites from the catalogs of the major labels.

16) Any releases of famous recordings from the major labels will be criticized for coming from decades-old analog masters; reissues of digital recordings in the new format will be criticized for not being high enough resolution.

And, finally:

17) The initial batch of releases will not include anything from the Beatles, thus dooming the format to obscurity for all time.

You pretty much covered all the issues, I would just add the piracy problem to the list and the increasing move from disc players http://stereophile.com/news/linn_abandons_cd_players/ to music servers.

Post by canonical November 28, 2009 (5 of 9)
sibelius2 said:

Hmmm... let's count all the ways this concept will likely fail, shall we?

That's really good actually!

But I think you left out arguably the most important failure: that retailers will not want to dual stock both a CD version and a Blu-ray audio version of the same item ... and they will not do so (so it's special orders only). And where would they display it anyway ... doesn't fit under CDs (because it doesn't play on CD players), and doesn't really fit with Blu-ray videos, because its not a video. Misfit sans home.

Post by zeus November 28, 2009 (6 of 9)
sibelius2 said:

8) SACD purists will complain that Naxos did not release more SACDs (so that they could be panned for being poor quality SACDs by unknown artists.)

This vies with the one on double blind testing of double blinds for my Post of the Week.

Post by rammiepie November 28, 2009 (7 of 9)
canonical said:

That's really good actually!

But I think you left out arguably the most important failure: that retailers will not want to dual stock both a CD version and a Blu-ray audio version of the same item ... and they will not do so (so it's special orders only). And where would they display it anyway ... doesn't fit under CDs (because it doesn't play on CD players), and doesn't really fit with Blu-ray videos, because its not a video. Misfit sans home.

If Sony follows 2L Productions lead with a hybrid sacd and a blu-ray (superfluous, some of you will counter), that would easily solve the problem. I was miffed that David Gilmours "Live at Gdansk" has a DTS 5.1 remastering of "On An Island" on a separate DVD but no SACD (especially in light of Richard Wright's recent death). But SONY is SONY and the powers that be are continuing to cast a deaf ear to ALL things SACD (save for a few classical bon bons to silence their detractors). The only reason blu-ray is selling well is Amazon's outrageous pricing......Blu-Rays for $6.99 and $7.99 (some are 75% off) as SACD prices are rising (Teac~Esoteric's new batch lists for $70 [US]. To attract newbies to the format, such gouging is UTTERLY counterproductive as it IS becoming a rich man's hobby.

Post by The Seventh Taylor November 28, 2009 (8 of 9)
18) Perhaps it' s not a very interesting performance at all?

Post by Claude November 28, 2009 (9 of 9)
canonical said:

But I think you left out arguably the most important failure: that retailers will not want to dual stock both a CD version and a Blu-ray audio version of the same item ... and they will not do so (so it's special orders only). And where would they display it anyway ... doesn't fit under CDs (because it doesn't play on CD players), and doesn't really fit with Blu-ray videos, because its not a video. Misfit sans home.

I don't think the interests of brick and mortar stores are relevant anymore, since they are doomed anyway, limited to carrying only the top selling titles.

Online retailers should have no problems with multiple versions of one release. Sometimes they even create their own versions, exclusive to them.

Closed