Should Audio Fidelity Issue Multichannel BD Audio Discs?

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Nice. Just for reference, this was $25 but what was it original retail?
 
I don't believe that surround music will reach significantly more ears through playing any disc or file format on PC or on dedicated media / disc players. However, I think it can do through smart phones or smart glasses in the future.
 
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Yes I only buy hi rez discs that are 5.1. I have 3 Blu Ray players; this one I bought because it will play SACD Rs. Older model.

Nice. Just for reference, this was $25 but what was it original retail?


Ah, okay - so it was around £100-120 new retail. Good deal!

So in terms of upgrading for BD-R this would require a multi-channel via HDMI friendly AV amp, the cheapest one at Richer Sounds being a £169.95 shop price Pioneer = in this case around £270 or $410 in total going for new, covering DVD V (A yes/no?), BD-A and SACD, presumably converting DSD to PCM.
 
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.
sorry but that's not true. bandwidth of HDMI allows to deliver through connection from even most cheapest player to amplification 8 channels @ 192/24 raw PCM stream.
quality of the sound would absolutely depend on amplification and loudspeakers.


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."
i don't have statistic on number of sold up to date BD players.
but from my surrounding only my cousin has capability to utilize SACD (OPPO and Sony BD) but everyone rest have BD player
and effectively uses them, albeit mostly for movies.
 
Not to mention that Universal would probably not be on board licensing their surround mixes to independent labels when they are still trying to push their HFPA Blu-Ray format (and still doing stuff with DVD-A/V)

This is very true.. though I feel it's more dire than that.. UMe need to up their game with the Ham Fisted Procrastinating Amateurish Blu-ray thing pronto or pull the plug.. when I hear that AF can't license the EJ 5.1's from Universal it could well be UMe are actually preventing AF and others from getting the job done properly since they pig-headedly think they can do it themselves and cream off a bigger profit.. thereby committing Harakiri Fleecing Poor Audiophiles..!! (Gets off soapbox and grabs a quick cuppa!) :brew :smokin
 
me too would love to see record industry finally settle for one universal format and will bring the end to dividing already reduced consumer base.
blu ray for now seems most viable.
 
so Brian, any feedback in regards of a thought of Marshall about BD-A?
 
so Brian, any feedback in regards of a thought of Marshall about BD-A?

As I've mentioned before, Marshall has no interest in BD-A since it doesn't provide CD Stereo and SACD Stereo tracks for his core buyers - music fans interested in remastered albums in Stereo.
 
thanks for clarification. i guess eventually he would. it just seems he's lil slow as we can see how long it took for him to accept surround :)
 
Again, it's all about mass appeal, and I'm sure economics enters into it as well. Would you rather spend $60 on a Blu-Ray + CD combo pack or a DVD+CD combo?
Nah. Me neither. Plus, you get the added bonus of compatibility! These will play in stereo in any standard CD player, so at the same time you're getting the remastered Stereo Mix out as well.

Personally, I see it as a win-win. But, this is a free country. You're more than welcome to go out and start your own company and show us how it's done! ;)
 
well, i haven't met someone, who's hunting down SACDs to use it's CD layer in car's stereo.
also wondering who's still have and uses CD players at home. honestly i don't even remember when
last time have seen even in thrift stores such antic piece of of equipment.
 
Again, it's all about mass appeal, and I'm sure economics enters into it as well. Would you rather spend $60 on a Blu-Ray + CD combo pack or a DVD+CD combo?
Nah. Me neither.

I'd rather have a Blu-ray / Digital Download (mp3, flac, wav - 320, 16/44.1, 24/96) combo or I'll settle for a Blu-ray / DVD-A-V or both, package. Compact Discs do nothing for me anymore. They are more like old technology that I can use for coasters.
 
thanks for clarification. i guess eventually he would. it just seems he's lil slow as we can see how long it took for him to accept surround :)

That would have to wait until Blu Ray adds a CD Stereo and SACD Stereo capability. The Blu Ray Dual Disc, perhaps?! :)
 
The bottom line is this guys, Audio Fidelity is a small label specializing in limited release audiophile CDs and SACDs, be they gold or silver. They come from the heritage of DCC which marketed audiophile gold CDs in the 80s and 90s. Their expertise is CDs and SACDs. That is their niche. Their product. They have the manufacturing connections, they have relationships with labels that make them not a threat to the labels but another way for the labels to make money and stay in business. They will never mass produce discs or try and expand beyond what they are good at. It's in their best interest to do what they know how to do and do it right.

Since the SACD format allows for a surround track in addition to the stereo CD and stereo SACD tracks, and they already were issuing these discs, they took the chance to seek out the surround mixes that were already out there and include them on their SACD discs at the same retail price. This was a risk. So far it appears to be paying off for them.........and us!

For them to branch out into BluRay Audio is a huge expense and it opens a huge can of worms. They would then become a competitor of many labels interested in doing the same thing. Getting titles to release as a BluRay Audio disc would be a lot harder to wrangle out of a label than a limited issue CD or SACD.

When companies like MFSL and Audio Fidelity were releasing stereo only SACDs, we all bitched and moaned "Why can't they put the quad mix on the disc?". Well, MFSL still has not, but Audio Fidelity has. So instead of complaining about the format that they have decided on be glad that they've taken the initiative to go the extra step to add the surround tracks to their discs. Just because they release a surround SACD does not mean you have to buy it if you don't like the material!

Quite frankly, I can't think of another company that has taken on the surround music challenge and has made such strides in such a short time. Imagine if Rhino had released as many Quadio's as AF has released surround SACDs! (Of course, we'd all be bitching that they were "only" DVD-V's) :)
 
The bottom line is this guys, Audio Fidelity is a small label specializing in limited release audiophile CDs and SACDs, be they gold or silver. They come from the heritage of DCC which marketed audiophile gold CDs in the 80s and 90s. Their expertise is CDs and SACDs. That is their niche. Their product. They have the manufacturing connections, they have relationships with labels that make them not a threat to the labels but another way for the labels to make money and stay in business. They will never mass produce discs or try and expand beyond what they are good at. It's in their best interest to do what they know how to do and do it right.

Since the SACD format allows for a surround track in addition to the stereo CD and stereo SACD tracks, and they already were issuing these discs, they took the chance to seek out the surround mixes that were already out there and include them on their SACD discs at the same retail price. This was a risk. So far it appears to be paying off for them.........and us!

Agreed.
 
Adding this to the discussion:

SACD is a standardized format that contains a combination of a Redbook CD layer, a stereo SACD layer, and/or a surround SACD layer.
Pretty simple. The best SACDs follow this standard. (or at least have a Redbook CD and stereo SACD layer)

Even though there have been several Blu-Ray audio releases since 2009, there has been no set standard that has been followed across all releases.
For starters, which lossless codecs should be used? There are three choices: LPCM 5.1, Dolby TruHD 5.1, and DTS-HD MA 5.1
Each release has used a combination of these various codecs, but there also is not a set standard on what order they appear in and where the stereo mix fits in with these surround streams.

There is also not a standard practice for the use of visuals for these releases as some contain slideshows, others contain moving visuals, and some just a simple backdrop. Also, should these discs start with the menu or automatically begin playing? Should these releases contain bonus material apart from the album mixes?
And what about headless operation (without a TV or video monitor)? Many of Neil Wilkes' Blu-Rays now contain functionality with the four colored buttons on your Blu-Ray remote, but this still has not become a standard practice.

If AF doesn't want to jump on the Blu-Ray bandwagon and deal with all of these dilemmas, then so be it. Their release of model of Hybrid SACDs now containing either a Quad or 5.1 mix works just fine for me, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it! :)
 
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