Yay! New Steven Wilson album "4 1/2" due out Jan 22nd!!!

[JanBakker]

Ditto, except I went just with the Blu-Ray, especially since it has a download code for both FLAC and stereo mp3 files of the entire mini-album.
Godspeed, british post!

Is it a mch flac download?

 

[rtbluray]

Is it a mch flac download?

No, both the FLAC and mp3 files will be stereo-only.
(I guess I should have put stereo in front of FLAC instead of mp3 to avoid any confusion!)

 

[JanBakker]

OK thanks, I'll have to rip it myself then , no stereo when mch is available :51banana:

 

[knifeman]

The BD is only $15.98 on Acoustic Sounds. Pretty good deal. Could be cheaper elsewhere. And is the FLAC file high resolution?

Flac files are lossless, but aren't supported by iTunes. So if you're like me and want to listen to it on an iPod, you'll have to settle for the mp3.

 

[JanBakker]

Flac files are lossless, but aren't supported by iTunes. So if you're like me and want to listen to it on an iPod, you'll have to settle for the mp3.

There's also something like alac (apple lossless audio codec).

 

[splinter7]

Amazon US has the Blu-ray Audio for $12.99. Same release date

--Greg

 

[bktouchstone]

Amazon US has the Blu-ray Audio for $12.99. Same release date

--Greg

Thanks, just ordered one.

 

[natiahs]

No, both the FLAC and mp3 files will be stereo-only.
(I guess I should have put stereo in front of FLAC instead of mp3 to avoid any confusion!)

I don't understand Burning Shed sometimes. The new Tim Bowness album, which was not available as a MCH disc, came with a MCH FLAC download.

 

[rtbluray]

I don't understand Burning Shed sometimes. The new Tim Bowness album, which was not available as a MCH disc, came with a MCH FLAC download.

Once you understand that it's not Burning Shed that makes these kind of decisions but the respective record labels, then it all makes sense, especially since the example you sited (the new Tim Bowness album) was released on a different record label than SW's new mini-album.

 

[mrcond]

Mine arrives today. Any early reviews? Or is it a given that this will be everything we expect it to be? I have purposely avoided any online previews. The first I hear this I want it to be in all its 5.1 glory.

 

[GOS]

* GOOF

 

[GOS]

Mine arrives today. Any early reviews? Or is it a given that this will be everything we expect it to be? I have purposely avoided any online previews. The first I hear this I want it to be in all its 5.1 glory.

yes, HERE

 

[mrcond]

yes, HERE

Thanks! I guess I missed that thread. Now I'm REALLY excited to hear it!

 

[rtbluray]

Mine arrives today. Any early reviews? Or is it a given that this will be everything we expect it to be? I have purposely avoided any online previews. The first I hear this I want it to be in all its 5.1 glory.

I find the opposite to work for me, especially when it comes to any and all new music from Steven Wilson. I like to listen to any new music from him several times in stereo before I get the 5.1 surround disc in. This allows me to get familiar with the music and judge it on its own merits so that way I can focus on the surround mix itself once I hear it. That was an especially good approach for this new mini-album as there were several tracks that I only started to like once I heard them more than once, and once I heard it in surround, it just completely sealed the deal for me. Another clear winner from Steven Wilson! Aren't we all so lucky?! :banana:

 

[GOS]

I find the opposite to work for me, especially when it comes to any and all new music from Steven Wilson. I like to listen to any new music from him several times in stereo before I get the 5.1 surround disc in. This allows me to get familiar with the music and judge it on its own merits so that way I can focus on the surround mix itself once I hear it. That was an especially good approach for this new mini-album as there were several tracks that I only started to like once I heard them more than once, and once I heard it in surround, it just completely sealed the deal for me. Another clear winner from Steven Wilson! Aren't we all so lucky?! :banana:

Yes, his talent is almost hard to believe.

 

[rusinurbe]

Found the time to listen, live the 5.1 and why wouldn't I ?
How come his outtakes are so good ?

 

[cupboy]

No, both the FLAC and mp3 files will be stereo-only.
...

The FLAC is 24/96. 6 tracks. I didn't download the MP3.

 

[bktouchstone]

This is pretty phenomenal. I don't mind that it is around 40 minutes. SQ is great. Will get around to rating this over the next couple of weeks. For now will simply enjoy!

 

[0tto]

Steven has released his albums in both CD + surround disc and standalone CD and surround disc configurations - you have to assume that if he's doing it as two seperate releases it's because sales data for previous releases probably shows they'll make more money this way.

The days of bands selling hundreds of thousands or millions of copies of an album are long gone at this point - I recall Steven saying in an interview that Grace For Drowning had sold about 8,000 copies on BluRay at the time the interview was done, and that that was a really good sales figure for a BluRay audio disc. Labels need to be very careful about what formats and configurations they offer because having a few thousand unsold units (especially of BluRays, which I believe cost a few thousand dollars per 1000 units just for the disc pressing) can be the difference between something being a financial success and failure.

We have to accept that as people who buy surround music we're a niche market and will always be in the minority, and that the logistics of the release format meant for mass consumption (ie the CD, or digital download) are always going to trump what we'd like. Look at it from the perspective of someone who only wants the CD - people like that probably outnumber us 25 or 50 to 1 (or more). All they want is to pay $10 for a CD, not to be forced to pay $25 or $30 for a CD + BluRay set. They bristle at that the same way we bristle at having to buy expensive box sets with vinyl in them (or things like the Ten Years After quad DVD + vinyl set) because the BluRay disc has as much use to them as vinyl does to us. Record companies also have to be aware that there's basically a 'piracy threshold' with pricing: if you price your product too high there's a point beyond which people will say 'screw it' and just burn a copy off a friend or download it off the internet, and neither is hard to do even for the most technologically backwards.

If you really need a CD of this new album, simply rip the BluRay, extract the stereo audio track and downsample it to 44.1/16 bit stereo .wavs and then burn it on to a CD-R. In the US and Canada (I believe UK copyright law has literally just changed to make this illegal once again) you're allowed to make backup copies of albums you own for your own personal use. There are plenty of tutorials on the internet that will tell you how to do so, and you're probably saving yourself a few bucks by only buying a standalone BluRay instead of a two disc combo set.

pretty much agree with what you said.
it seems music industry, at least in ther hardcopy music distribution department, on their last leg.
automobiles now comes without CD players, laptops without CD/DVD drives and so on. i guess in few years
the purchase of blank discs would become almost imposible task. so all this hardcopy trend will go way of niche market.
perhaps sole solution for an artists could be to offer different formats off work thru download purchase.

 

[DennisMoore Jr.]

I recall Steven saying in an interview that Grace For Drowning had sold about 8,000 copies on BluRay...

We have to accept that as people who buy surround music we're a niche market and will always be in the minority... All they want is to pay $10 for a CD, not to be forced to pay $25 or $30 for a CD + BluRay set. ..if you price your product too high there's a point beyond which people will say 'screw it' and just burn a copy off a friend or download it off the internet,...

If you really need a CD of this new album, simply rip the BluRay, extract the stereo audio track and downsample it to 44.1/16 bit stereo .wavs and then burn it on to a CD-R. In the US and Canada (I believe UK copyright law has literally just changed to make this illegal once again) you're allowed to make backup copies of albums you own for your own personal use. There are plenty of tutorials on the internet that will tell you how to do so, and you're probably saving yourself a few bucks by only buying a standalone BluRay instead of a two disc combo set.

@steelydave, I really enjoy reading your posts cause they contain lots of pertinent data and specifics. I'd like to add:

All types of consumers suffer from the status quo, not just us QQers.

I dare say the primary problem is the mega corporate sales/promotion machine. Big-Music is only interested in selling fifty million units of Adele or a dozen or so other artists, world-wide. Artists like Steven Wilson exist solely on local fan support and music is sold from that pressure, with the labels doing the minimum except what they must, due to real listener driven demand.

Steven Wilson and thousands of other supremely talented artists just wanna get their music to market, but are in the same bad situation we consumers are! Too many confusing & encrypted customer NON-friendly delivery methods for their music. Oh and little to no promotion from Big-Music.

Big-Music needs to return to promoting more artists and drop the copy protection. Until that happens things will never change.

BluRay discs are too expensive, that is why there are less sold. Yes, all of us die-hards at QQ buy them, but as you stated we are a niche market. The price needs to come down for greater market penetration.

Your advice about ripping to CD etc, is completely unrealistic for the vast majority and hurts sales big-time. I do IT and I am sick of all the crap I must do to get my files into 5.1 FLAC to play on my HTPC so I can have such a basic feature as continuous play of my purchased music. Just today, I found that I can't RIP my new SW 4.5 BluRay. AnyDVDHD can't break the encryption. Over the years I've bought DVD-Fab(they had their Domains seized, last Fall), AnyDVD, etc.. and I'm tired of buying it over & over just to make back-ups of my music. And yes, backing-up is now illegal in the U.K. & a grey area elsewhere. This is a very real brick-wall to the vast majority of customers.

The LP record resurgence is a big part of this. People want nothing to do with bit-rate & ripping & macrovision defeating software. They want to listen to music and have something in their hands to read & look at. Big-Music has totally screwed the pooch in terms of digital music.

Big-Music still clings to its anti-consumer copy protection like it is a good thing, oblivious to the problems it creates in sales(they don't care about our problems). You are so right about piracy:

Too much harmful copy protection coupled with over-priced BluRay discs sprinkled with no corporate promotion equals low sales figures.




@The Group: I got my new Steven Wilson 4.5 today. I can't RIP it to FLAC but the disc sounds great in my optical player!

I LOVE the art and it has very nice packaging. Beautiful surreal concept and the art that plays with the music is a huge improvement from the older Steven Wilson scribble & depression motif. Nice outer box sleeve covering the usual cheapie plastic box, AND I got my Burning Shed 4.1 postcard!

But one epic fail: The new Don't Hate Me(w/female co-vocals) is very nice but Steven's full vocal version is only in 2.0
I like the new version fine, but Steven's sensitive voice really makes the chorus and that song in general IMHO...

Overall 4.5 is a must have. Its not really an EP, there's more than enough material to qualify as a full release. And it is another "reference quality" mix to blow away your friends. :music