Gabriel in Stereo....Why?

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daved64

2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Joined
Mar 24, 2003
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Location
Milton, Canada
Can someone tell me why Peter Gabriel's back catalogue (everything except Up) is being released on SACD in stereo only? I would KILL to hear the third album (the melting face one) in Multi-Channel! My friend says it's just a cash grab to get people to buy old stuff for the 3rd or fourth time (lp,cassette, cd, sacd) and then a year from now they'll release the MC versions to soak us again. I wouldn't put it past them!:mad:
 
Well it takes a long time to re-mix a disc properly to surround. Look at some of the distant release dates currently plus those that have already been released about 5 months (or longer) after they were announced for release. I guess if you don't have to re-mix but just convert the original stereo master to DSD it is a lot easier and you don't need the same talent to do that. There are a handful (witness the names you keep seeing reappearing over and over on many of the discs) of people that effectively do surround re-mixes and these guys are already booked for other projects. So you are probably right about the grab. Get them out as quickly as possible with a SACD sticker and maybe later when there is more time, re-do the job properly in surround. As we have seen in the past even getting someone that is known (Guthrie for example) isn't always a guarantee of a good surround mix.
 
I think we are going to get more and more stereo discs in an attempt for Sony to say that there are 10,000,000 SACD's and 1,000 DVD-A's. When was the last time you saw a stereo only DVD-A? It takes a lot longer to put a decent surround disc out so DVD-A is at a disadvantage being a format that always has a surround version on it.


 
Actually Sony Music and Telarc have been releasing Multichannel SACDs almost exclusively for some time. Clearly they recognize the need for more Multichannel SACD titles. And that is helping, the total is now approaching 400.

But other labels continue to release Stereo SACDs since they are faster to produce. As Universal's Paul Bishow noted at CES in January, all you need is the "flat, unequalized master stereo tape" for such a disc and you're all set.

>>I think we are going to get more and more stereo discs in an attempt for Sony to say that there are 10,000,000 SACD's and 1,000 DVD-A's. When was the last time you saw a stereo only DVD-A? It takes a lot longer to put a decent surround disc out so DVD-A is at a disadvantage being a format that always has a surround version on it. <<

 
Well the only way to release an entire catalogue all at once in a short period of time from a prolific artist like Peter Gabriel is to do it in Stereo. Just look at The Police and The Rolling Stones as well. To do this number of titles PROPERLY in surround would take months or years. I commend the marketing types behind SACD. The more titles released in SACD the more the format will be known to the general public and the more DVD-A will fade away due to it's lack of entire catalogues being released. The purveyors of SACD can do this as they are not committed to a strictly surround format. The stereo only format in an SACD is generally accepted. DVD-A on the other hand only includes stereo tracks because......frankly I haven't figured that one out as everyone that buy's DVD-A's has surround capabilty if only in Dolby or "lowly" DTS. The 192 vs 96 makes very little difference nor can most people notice the difference anyway so a stereo DVD-A is a moot point. Now after all of that I must say that I have as many DVD-A's as I have SACD's so there are good examples in each format. I just hope that DVD-A's are not pushed out the door by solely letting a piece of equipment decide what should be panned without human intervention. I think the latest Fleetwood Mac DVD-A smacks a bit of that. Quantity without quality. I think that is the next phase we will be going through before the general public picks up on one or the other or both of the formats and demands quality surround productions. Unfortuantely most of that will be based on the average persons understanding of surround by watching movies on their home theatre. Anyway, this is not an "Us vs Them" rant , It's an "Us and Them" rant and as long as you have marketing types calling the shots in a market with falling sales, panic will pervail to get product out that will satisfy the masses and therefore we on this forum are probably up the creek.

 
Well, I guess I'm a bit of an anomaly since I don't listen to surround-sound exclusively. I do enjoy listening to a lot of stereo recordings in their native format (i.e. without surround processing). As such, I don't mind seeing all the stereo-only SACD titles coming out. Actually, I celebrate them! I want to see more old favorites coming out in any hi-rez format. While I would certainly cheer for surround remixes, I don't mind seeing the stereo titles and I will buy them. I bought all the Stones discs, I bought all the Police discs, and I just bought all the Peter Gabriel discs.

There is a label called Hi-Rez Music that releases stereo-only DVD-A's exclusively. They have a great selection of lesser-known titles available. This shows that hi-rez stereo need not be the sole domain of SACD, but I do agree that there is a perception out there that DVD-A means surround-sound. Still, I would be totally happy to buy more stereo-only DVD-A titles just as I am happy to buy stereo only SACD titles.

My philosophy of "more surround titles, whatever the format" extends to hi-rez stereo as well. More hi-rez stereo titles, whatever the format!

In any event, staying on topic... I can't wait for my Peter Gabriel discs to arrive!

 
I don't know about the merits of stereo only, after listening to the stereo layer of DSOTM, and comparing it to the Mobile Fidelity 24K Gold edition.....it wasn't the earth shattering experience I was expecting. The 5.1 was a different story (while a tad dissapointing, I still enjoy it). Using Gabriels 3rd album as an example...I wore that out on vinyl....bought the cd...now, I would walk over glass for a multichannel version....but is a hi-rez stereo version enough of a big deal for me to spend $25CND? I dunno....Cai, you tell me when you get it....all I know is to hear the song Intruder in 5.1 would be INSANE!
 
Can anyone confirm that the import versions of the new Gabrial SACD's will be hybrids? I know the new Police discs, which are also single-layer in the US, are hybrid overseas; and I plan on picking those up (instead of the US ones) from amazon.co.uk shortly. Is it the same situation with Gabriel?

I'm certainly disappointed they didn't bother to do surround mixes for these albums (as with the Police), but it's really irritating as hell to have to get SACD-only discs, when making the discs hybrid really isn't that much more work. There's really no more excuse for the labels to keep doing this to us. There's no way I'm paying for two copies of the same friggin' music, just so I can listen to it in places OTHER than my living room.
 
That is my understanding. The European and Japanese editions of the Gabriel SACDs will be Hybrids while the US editions will be Single Layer.

In other words, the same program as Universal Music followed with the Police catalog on SACD (except for "The Hits" by the Police and the upcoming "Up" by Peter Gabriel).

The good news here is that all of the future Universal SACDs shown through June are now listed as Hybrids. So I gather that Universal is seeing that consumers want the Hybrid SACDs.

But it wouldn't hurt to drop them a line to that effect!

 
There are so many variables (recording strategies, condition of the tape, remastering strategies, etc.) that the media is way down on the list of factors affecting the quality of the final product. Simply put, just because it is on SACD does not mean it will be a sonic masterpiece. It certainly has the potential, but there are just too many upstream variables to guarantee that. Long story short, don't toss your MOFI or DCC discs just cuz something comes out on SACD!

 
Cai,
I agree on that. Just because it is SACD and there are 8,000,000 titles out doesn't necessarily make it good. based on some of the things have have been chosen for release lately I figure my favourite disc Shlomo Weinstein
conducting the Bubonic National Quartet's rendition of Gunther Cubehead's "Aria de mierde" is coming out any day now. Just think though how those piccolos would sound in the rear channels along with the "audience participation". This is of course limited to mainly burps and some farting. But's it really clear and realistic. You can almost smell it! Whatever happened to smellaround anyway? Maybe this can be included on another layer on a future SACD disc. Hmmm. That probably is not a good idea as the extra pressure would probably cause the discs to crack.


 
Cai,

Please post a little review of your thoughts on the Peter Gabriel stereo SACDs. I had So in my hands at a store and I'm pi$$ed it's neither hybrid or M/C. I can't bring myself to buy into this.

So you'll give me the compelling reason? ;)
 
I'll be curious to hear So, not just because it is one of my all-time favorite albums, but I'm keen on hearing how well a digital recording can sound on SACD. I wonder if they upsampled before conversion to DSD. I hope so, otherwise, what's the point? In any event, I'll be doing a comparison between the original CD and the SACD.

 
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>So I gather that Universal is seeing that consumers want the Hybrid SACDs.[/quote]

They are realizing it based on sales - it's a no brainer to offer hybrid discs - you satisfy everyone..

Having already repurchased a few MC Sacd's of discs I already bought in stereo, I'm getting more selective in what stereo only discs I'm going to buy..

for Gabriel, it will be 3 only - if they were in MC, I'd buy the entire catalogue..


 
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