Should Audio Fidelity Issue Multichannel BD Audio Discs?

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In an ideal world we'd have a standard recording format for all hi-rez stereo and surround. But we don't live in an ideal world and standardisation ain't gonna happen anytime soon. :)

So in answer to the original question from Otto - I would say no to issuing Blu-rays. A change would alienate their existing fanbase, and most of us (here) have good or great SACD playback capability anyway.
i guess that's the difference between us.
i don't wanna be unique and enjoy by mine superiority over average Joe or Mary in something, like ability to listen
advanced quality music. instead i would love Joe and Mary to join my camp, which in turn gives me better selection
of high quality music to spend my money on
 
But why should they join your camp, when you can be part of theirs? [Not being horrible, just posing the question :)]
 
I initially resisted the SACD idea because only my car player accepts it. I have nothing at home (yet) that will play an SACD.
Having said that; it is, in my mind, a logical format choice. EVERYBODY has a CD player so virtually any person on the planet who purchases these discs can at the very least hear the new remastered Stereo version on the disc. That's lovely.

An awful lot of home DVD players nowadays.... not the cheapos but the mid-market and up home players do recognize an SACD. Lots of people also have 5.1 setups in their home and have very little to use with it.

So, in my mind, the AF SACD's have mass appeal in that thanks to the CD layer, they are backwards compatible with anything.

The DVD-a, DVD-a/v deal is nice with the menus and all, but that sort of eliminates any basic CD player from the equation.
I can't see Blu-Ray becoming a viable format for a few more years. DVD sales are still strong. Besides, are there any Blu-Ray automobile head units yet?

SACD and DVD-a/v are the most mass-appealing formats out there right now. Sure, we've been using them for the better part of a decade but not everyone else has. You've got to think about the masses and how this appeals to the most people. We are the minority and really, should be thankful that we're getting these discs at a reasonable price. Who would've thought we'd be getting Quad stuff in 2015? Let's praise what we got and try not to rock the boat by reinventing the wheel.

Personally, I think these AF discs sound amazing. I don't need to hear anymore tape hiss or supersonic twiggles from 25,000hz up to 96,000hz. So in response to the original idea: No, I do not think AF needs to invest in any other sort of format like Blu-Ray, Purple-Ray, Charles-Ray or Edison wax cylinder.

This business plan seems to be working. Let it ride and see where it takes us.
 
This business plan seems to be working. Let it ride and see where it takes us.

Yes, hopefully we'll be able to ride this out for At Least 100 or many more titles.

One thing I noticed at the SHF for titles is you have "Stereo CD Only" folks who still don't know all the options of what a Hybrid SACD even is. Some poor guy - and who can blame him - didn't know that a SACD can have a CD layer as well. Folks in that category will hopefully buy these titles - so they can "future proof" their music collection when they're ready to pick up a SACD player sometime and still enjoy the CD layer now.

Personally, I would like to see DVD-Audio/SACD put into inexpensive Blu-Ray players. And all three formats kept going. So best to enjoy things while life is good.

Looking forward very much to the "Open Our Eyes" Earth, Wind and Fire SACD release and hopefully much more.
 
Yeah but the audiophile snobs don't like blu-ray because of (one or more) of the following:

1. Like the fact that it outputs via HDMI - too much jitter etc...
2. They don't have a HDMI receiver
3. The analog outs on most Blu-ray players are crap... "it'll sound better at CD quality via my high end CD player"

You can't teach an old dog new tricks...

Guess that makes me an old dog :)
 
the magic crystal ball showed: 30+ years from now. AF announces re-issue of multichannel titles such like Britney Spears,
Backstreet Boys, Everything But the Girl, Coolio, Boyz II Men, MC Hammer, Ricky Martin and alike.
every purchased SACD contains discount coupon to show at the local museum of electronic gears to receive 15% off
of usual fees, for uses of SACD player to hear it.
but if seriously, guys, if you wanna more surround releases, you must learn to step over personal selfish ego.
 
I'm happy to have these great releases in whichever format they come out as I can play any of the formats. But, I would prefer any of the formats over SACD for two reasons. First, I don't have the ability to rip these to a hard drive which is how I play all my dvd's and bd's. Second is that I have friends that I would love to loan these to, but they don't have players to play them, though they do have dvd and bluray players. But, in the long run, that's their loss. My personal preference for surround title format would be:

DVD-A (I know not everyone can play the hi-res part of the disc but everyone can play the dvd-v track)
Bluray
DVD-V
SACD

But again, I'm glad to get these and will support the releases if they keep putting out discs I want. It's their business and I assume they know what they need to do to make money.

K
 
That's quite strongly worded, but I don't understand what you mean.
you didn't notice, main argument against BD-A is based on simple reason - i'm ok. with my SACD playback capabilities, thus i don't need anything on BD-A.
that's pretty much reminds me main argument against surround - i only have two ears, thus why do i need surround.
 
I'm still not getting it.
number of issues of surround releases directly depend and proportional to market demand for them.
without growth of demand you cannot expect the growth of the offers.
it's pretty obvious, numbers of blu ray players today in household overwhelmingly bigger than number SACD or universal players.
one, who doesn't have SACD player wouldn't fork out 30~40 bucks to buy SACD disc for it's CD layer. not even, as someone suggested
above, as an investment for use it in the future.
but availability of BD player gives greater chance that that person could buy BD-A disc, let's even out of curiosity, and might become
one more supporter of surround format.
i don't even talk about army of those, who stuck today in middle - likes surround but found that availability, selection and cost, doesn't
worth for them to jump into... yet.
 
Thanks for the clarification.

it's pretty obvious, numbers of blu ray players today in household overwhelmingly bigger than number SACD or universal players.

Based on...?

Is yet another format is going to increase demand or is it going to dilute a market? Will some of the target audience reject it based on having to upgrade? Do $40 BD players output in multichannel, or do they tend to downmix, etc only? Many existing, already sold AV amps do not have HDMI in, so it is not necessarily a $40 upgrade as the amplifier may need to be upgraded too. Even things like not having enough room on the AV/TV, etc stand for another piece of equipment, that leads to looking for a BD universal player, and even more expense.
 
Thanks for the clarification.



Based on...?

Is yet another format is going to increase demand or is it going to dilute a market? Will some of the target audience reject it based on having to upgrade? Do $40 BD players output in multichannel, or do they tend to downmix, etc only? Many existing, already sold AV amps do not have HDMI in, so it is not necessarily a $40 upgrade as the amplifier may need to be upgraded too. Even things like not having enough room on the AV/TV, etc stand for another piece of equipment, that leads to looking for a BD universal player, and even more expense.
and again, you didn't noticed that your argument even more works against SACD.
isn't to hear hi-rez stereo/surround SACD one need to fill pretty much the same requirement but on top of this also SACD player.
as for BD, no one buys it to use as a hammer or toaster. if it got into the house, it's already set up to watch the movie and surround sound of this movie.
in regard of HDMI interfaces, i see in the last 5-6 years analog connectors have become extra and supplied only with amplification above average.
 
Is yet another format is going to increase demand or is it going to dilute a market? Will some of the target audience reject it based on having to upgrade? Do $40 BD players output in multichannel, or do they tend to downmix, etc only? Many existing, already sold AV amps do not have HDMI in, so it is not necessarily a $40 upgrade as the amplifier may need to be upgraded too......
This is the problem with Blu-ray players. Maybe lots of people have them but they are low-end machines not really suitable for high def. music. You don't get good sound out of $40.
 
This is the problem with Blu-ray players. Maybe lots of people have them but they are low-end machines not really suitable for high def. music. You don't get good sound out of $40.

My ÂŁ25 Sony Blu Ray sounds exactly the same as my ÂŁ400 Oppo 93; HDMI; no difference.

Cheap Blu Rays are perfectly fine if you are just after a transport system.
 
This is the problem with Blu-ray players. Maybe lots of people have them but they are low-end machines not really suitable for high def. music. You don't get good sound out of $40.

True, but unlike $40 record players, your discs will survive and be playable when you grow up to an Oppo or similar. It also gives a more compatible market.
 
and again, you didn't noticed that your argument even more works against SACD.
isn't to hear hi-rez stereo/surround SACD one need to fill pretty much the same requirement but on top of this also SACD player.
as for BD, no one buys it to use as a hammer or toaster. if it got into the house, it's already set up to watch the movie and surround sound of this movie.
in regard of HDMI interfaces, i see in the last 5-6 years analog connectors have become extra and supplied only with amplification above average.

One reason I'm not getting it is because I am finding your typing a little incoherrent. You are not justifying your argument: how do we know that there are more BD players in the customer base than SACD (including universal) players? You are also not addressing if $30-40 will deliver surround sound or will mix down, or that some people would need to upgrade their amp too, etc, etc. The snobbery argument can also apply to "well I've bought a new format, so everybody else should."
 
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