Dual Disc Bought 4 "Flipper Discs" today! Scans provided!

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JonUrban

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Took a ride to Framingham, Massachusettes and went to Best Buy. They had a whole new, middle of the isle display rack filled with "DualDiscs". I bought 4, the Bowie, Fagan, Barenaled Ladies, and AC/DC. I have not played them yet, but am including some large scans below so you all can get a good look at them. I will post back later on their musical content. The fisrt scan is the back of a flyer that is placed in the store display. The next two scans are of the back covers, where all the "good stuff" is. You will notice a few disclaimers here and there. More on that later, here are the scans:

dd.jpg

dd1r.jpg

dd2r.jpg


4dd.jpg
 
It looks like the AC/DC Back in Black doesn't make any mention of "surround" tracks on the DVD side. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:

Is that Sony at its best again?
 
Bowie disc states "surround", what kind? dd, dts, dvd-a?
 
First Impressions:

These discs are heavy! They are actually two discs glued together! You can see the seam quite clearly, and the weight and thickness are instantly noticed.

The new jewel box is kinda cool. It is very easy to open and easy to get the disc out. It puts no pressure at all on the disc itself, and has a simple "press here" button that releases the disc. I would rate this very high. (y)

The content of the DVD layer is all over the place.

The AC/DC (Epic) disc uses it strictly for DVD-V, there is no multichannel mix at all. There are videos and clips from a VH1 special about the making of the album.

The David Bowie (Columbia) DVD side has a Dolby Digital surround 5.1 mix on it (why not DTS???), along with videos, making ofs, lyrics, DVD-ROM stuff, it is very much like an old LaserDisc release. I hope they still put out the SACD with Hi-Rez surround tracks and not just stay with this.

The BareNaked Ladies (Reprise)DVD side is a true DVD-A. It includes a bonus track in 5.1, and 11 song acoustic session, and in-studio video clips. This is the way to do it!! And, this title is not yet available on a standard DVD-A. (y) (y)

The Donald Fagen (WB) DVD side is an exact duplication of the previously released DVD-A. That's OK with me, it's Hi-REz, and it's surround. However, this title came in a cardboard outersleever that had to be destroyed (ripped) to get the disc out. This is a BUMMER. (n)

There were more titles in the racks, so I am not sure what those contained, but to me the best of the 4, as far as content goes, is the Barenaked Ladies. Lots of extras, DVD-A surround, and a CD to boot!

I am not sure that this format will last, there are many warnings on these about them not being compatible with certain players and "400 disc mega-changers". If the glue ever did leak out from the two sides, that would raise hell with a mega-changer!!

For those interested, there is a website mentioned, www.dualdisc.com. You could check it out. Also, inside each disc is a password and weblink to give the owners opinion about the product. I will do so and post back.
At any rate, here we go again with a new format. I still would prefer a single package with two seperate discs (a la Flaming Lips), but that seems to be a problem.
 
QuadBob said:
It looks like the AC/DC Back in Black doesn't make any mention of "surround" tracks on the DVD side. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:

Is that Sony at its best again?
Does it have SACD on it? That would do for me.
 
What's the resolution on the AC/DC DVD side of Black and Black. Is it 16 bit/48khz or 24bit/48khz?
 
Jon,

Great work - my only objection is that you paid $13.99 per disc at Best Buy and we paid $18.99 at Tower! Time to complain to the manager…
 
JonUrban said:
The BareNaked Ladies (Reprise)DVD side is a true DVD-A. It includes a bonus track in 5.1, and 11 song acoustic session, and in-studio video clips. This is the way to do it!! And, this title is not yet available on a standard DVD-A.
Actually this was released a few months back with a separate CD and DVD-Audio in one package. The contents are identical.
 
bnyhof said:
Actually this was released a few months back with a separate CD and DVD-Audio in one package. The contents are identical.
Ya! I actually did not know that! (Go figure) Someone over at SH also pointed that out.
 
High Fidelity Review said:
Jon,

Great work - my only objection is that you paid $13.99 per disc at Best Buy and we paid $18.99 at Tower! Time to complain to the manager…
Stuart,

Since i was coming from Connecticut, Framingham was the closest "first stop", so I figured I would do Best Buy first, then Newbury Comics. If they were not there, then I would go into one of the Towers. Lucky for me, Best Buy had them right in the middle of the aisle.

I looked first in the DVD-A/SACD section, and there were non there. I was bummed until I walked around the corner.

At the checkout, I was hoping they might be "on sale"!;)

PS - Stuart, let me know if you got the "Nightfly" disc out of the sleeve without having to rip it....
 
Wow, my first post--go easy.

I'm in Boston for work & thought I'd hit the Tower down the street in Burlington, MA before leaving town. Woohoo, they have titles. Boohoo, they're more expensive than BestBuy. Anyway, I got Back in Black & Brubeck's Time Out. Both work just fine on my sis' DVD player (no surround sound in her house, though). Nice packaging/menus on both.

The AC/DC doesn't list the audio resolution in any obvious way, so I can't answer that. The video piece on this disc is pretty entertaining--AC/DC never took themselves too seriously.

The Brubeck is in 5.1 & stereo. The video has 2 interviews with Dave Brubeck, one of which lets you choose from 4 different camera angles watching modern-day Dave play.

Interesting tidbits:
- Tower *is* more expensive, but there was a guy standing there with questionnaires about DualDiscs, right by the display. He paid $5 for the completed survey. He was astonished that I had come to the store *specifically for* the Dualdiscs & that I actually bought some.

- The survey had check boxes for all the titles in which one was interested...except for the Brubeck. Not 3 minutes after I bought mine, Tower got the word to pull all the Brubeck Dualdiscs from the shelves. The kid at Tower didn't know why he was told to do that, but called the Sony rep for me. The rep was really vague, but both sides of my Brubeck disc appear to play just fine.
 
High Fidelity Review said:
Jon,

Great work - my only objection is that you paid $13.99 per disc at Best Buy and we paid $18.99 at Tower! Time to complain to the manager…

Stuart, I'm shocked! You have to pay? What happened to "review copies"? I would think the press flacks would be drenching you in free CDs...

Clark
 
JNewberg said:
Wow, my first post--go easy.

I'm in Boston for work & thought I'd hit the Tower down the street in Burlington, MA before leaving town. Woohoo, they have titles. Boohoo, they're more expensive than BestBuy. Anyway, I got Back in Black & Brubeck's Time Out. Both work just fine on my sis' DVD player (no surround sound in her house, though). Nice packaging/menus on both.

The AC/DC doesn't list the audio resolution in any obvious way, so I can't answer that. The video piece on this disc is pretty entertaining--AC/DC never took themselves too seriously.

The Brubeck is in 5.1 & stereo. The video has 2 interviews with Dave Brubeck, one of which lets you choose from 4 different camera angles watching modern-day Dave play.

Interesting tidbits:
- Tower *is* more expensive, but there was a guy standing there with questionnaires about DualDiscs, right by the display. He paid $5 for the completed survey. He was astonished that I had come to the store *specifically for* the Dualdiscs & that I actually bought some.

- The survey had check boxes for all the titles in which one was interested...except for the Brubeck. Not 3 minutes after I bought mine, Tower got the word to pull all the Brubeck Dualdiscs from the shelves. The kid at Tower didn't know why he was told to do that, but called the Sony rep for me. The rep was really vague, but both sides of my Brubeck disc appear to play just fine.
The Brubeck was not there at Best Buy, or I would have purchased it. You may have a good collectable there!! Welcome to the forum! Thanks for posting.

Make sure you do the web survey (Passwords are in the discs). It's pretty interesting!
 
:confused: Just what we need right now, a new Standard with no standards
might be dvd-a maybe not, might play here maybe not, might be 5.1 maybe not. and no clear lable to tell us :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
solaris said:
:confused: Just what we need right now, a new Standard with no standards
might be dvd-a maybe not, might play here maybe not, might be 5.1 maybe not. and no clear lable to tell us :confused: :confused: :confused:
I've always wanted a quadraphonic elcaset. Oh well. This thing should stick around about as long as the dcc.
 
The discs were $12.88 at Newbury (NC's list price is going to be $16.99 if you're curious). I picked up the Fagen and the AC/DC. BTW, I did get the Fagen out of the slipcase - only took me 30 minutes. I got the Fagen just to get it as I have the DVD-A already.

I didn't see the Brubeck at the Newbury Comics I was in, either. Had I known it was pulled, I would have been looking for it. There was an empty slot on the display; my guess is it was the Brubeck. C'est la vie. I'll be on a hunt for that one tomorrow :)

Let me state up front I have both SA-CDs and DVD-As. Some good in both formats, some bad in both formats. Overall, I prefer the experience and sound of SACD, but when done right, DVD-A is great (a la Fagen DVD-As and the Queen ones).

I thought from the get-go the idea of a flippy disc (well, it's name is DualDisc) is horrible. Prone to scratching, etc. I was proven right as I opened the AC/DC case and it slipped right out without me touching it, scratching the CD encoded side. Didn't happen on the Fagen. I prefer the old lift-lock cases or the SA-CD cases - or even std. CD cases - over these. I can see the push in button on the case breaking, and try to find a replacement.

IMHO, this is not the answer to hybrid SA-CD. Confusing format for normal consumers and the hi-rez folks. More fragile, as there is content on both sides so you need to handle the discs much more carefully then even you would normally. I hate flippy DVDs, and hate these even more.

Since Sony is behind SACD, the AC/DC is only 48 kHz on the DVD side. Give that one a "why bother". I had compatibility issues in my computer DVD-ROM/CD-R trying to read the CD later, but a normal CD player I put it into had no problem. The DVD AC/DC content worked in the drive fine.

The Fagen had the slipcase from hell. You've heard about the grip of death SA-CD cases, welcome to the grip of death slipcase. Other than that, I haven't popped it in - no real need. This was purely a collection disc.

I would rather have a hybrid SA-CD with redbook and hi-rez for audio, packaged with a separate DVD for video content. Or a redbook CD with either a DVD-A or DVD-V for video and/or hi-rez. I'd pay a few extra bucks for both in one package.

I was also approached by a marketing guy and took the survey. It was mainly about the display (for the most part). I got my $5, too. Woo hoo! Although he had no clue about the format or hi-rez in general. Didn't know what SACD or DVD-A was. Need I say more. I also asked why Boston and Seattle, and he didn't know either.

After I came home, I took the online survey. Some similar questions, but it is more centered around the format. I was very honest and in a few spots told them I hope it dies a quick death. I mean, what are they thinking? Sony confuising folks because they think they're supporting DVD-A (which they aren't), Warner pushing another format when they're trying to still get DVD-A off teh ground, etc. You get the point. Every labels have two fledgling formats without needing a new one (some supporting both DVD-A and SACD).

I don't see this format lasting long at all, so if you want some discs to collect, snap 'em up now!
 
FenderP said:
I don't see this format lasting long at all, so if you want some discs to collect, snap 'em up now!
I went to the local Best Buy hoping to pick up the AC/DC disc. Checked the CD section, and the dvd-audio section and couldn't find it. Looked over in the video section also to see if they were in with the music videos. Even asked the woman at the front counter (as if she'd know anything). Asked another employee and he said they were over in the computer section with the blank disks. Well, then I remembered the disks are only available in 2 states and I don't live there. Hmmmmm.
 
JonUrban said:
The David Bowie (Columbia) DVD side has a Dolby Digital surround 5.1 mix on it (why not DTS???), along with videos, making ofs, lyrics, DVD-ROM stuff, it is very much like an old LaserDisc release. I hope they still put out the SACD with Hi-Rez surround tracks and not just stay with this.

The David Bowie "Reality" Surround SACD has been available for some time now. Check the Acoustic Sounds and Elusive Disc web sites (among others) to order a copy.
 
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