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Thanks for the heads~up. Even though I'm not presently equipped for ATMOS, the Itune sound clips were enticement enough. Only $15.99 for a BD~A that runs 78 minutes.
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A positive review from an AmazonUS purchaser ......



Myles Connolly

5.0 out of 5 starsStunning audio experience
September 26, 2018

I've never heard anything quite like this. The quality, the sounds of nature, the brilliant music all work together to transport you to a place and rush of sensations like nothing before. This is my escape mechanism from the craziness of daily life, something I listen to to calm my brain and remind me of the healing powers of nature and music.
I like the "video not working" review...
 
As regards the “video not working” EOADTIE review on Amazon - there is no video as it’s a BD-A ‘audio only’ disc! Despite the Amazon reviewer’s misinformed comment - it’s also not a DVD. The Amazon reviewer clearly misunderstood the product - which was not defective - it’s just unfortunate they didn’t read or understand the tech spec properly before purchasing. I think they must have confused the product with the 4K BD-V Vision-Atmos audio-visual documentary film title, which is a very different (albeit wonderful) experience!

This is all despite the very clear description on the Amazon listing about the Atmos immersive album product - ie intended as an ‘audio only’ experience with still ‘screensaver’ images. It’s supposed to be experienced like you would do any other music album (ie listened to not watched) but with the special addition of Dolby Atmos!

Sadly, for now at least, the BD-A format with ‘audio/music only’ Dolby Atmos remains an extreme rarity of an offering in the commercial market today. Hopefully, life will get easier for the wider consumer base to better understand what this format/ tech offers after the Universal Music volume release later this year of their back catalogue of Atmos music remixes - assuming UMG also do so in physical disc not just digital!

Until then, I suspect those pioneering the release of similar immersive experiences are going to suffer the early aches and pains of releasing Dolby Atmos ‘audio only’ physical discs and having to deal with the occasional confused or tech frustrated consumer along the way (especially given it requires an amount of fairly expensive kit & some know-how in order just to play Atmos content).
 
As regards the “video not working” EOADTIE review on Amazon - there is no video as it’s a BD-A ‘audio only’ disc! Despite the Amazon reviewer’s misinformed comment - it’s also not a DVD. The Amazon reviewer clearly misunderstood the product - which was not defective - it’s just unfortunate they didn’t read or understand the tech spec properly before purchasing. I think they must have confused the product with the 4K BD-V Vision-Atmos audio-visual documentary film title, which is a very different (albeit wonderful) experience!

This is all despite the very clear description on the Amazon listing about the Atmos immersive album product - ie intended as an ‘audio only’ experience with still ‘screensaver’ images. It’s supposed to be experienced like you would do any other music album (ie listened to not watched) but with the special addition of Dolby Atmos!

Sadly, for now at least, the BD-A format with ‘audio/music only’ Dolby Atmos remains an extreme rarity of an offering in the commercial market today. Hopefully, life will get easier for the wider consumer base to better understand what this format/ tech offers after the Universal Music volume release later this year of their back catalogue of Atmos music remixes - assuming UMG also do so in physical disc not just digital!

Until then, I suspect those pioneering the release of similar immersive experiences are going to suffer the early aches and pains of releasing Dolby Atmos ‘audio only’ physical discs and having to deal with the occasional confused or tech frustrated consumer along the way (especially given it requires an amount of fairly expensive kit & some know-how in order just to play Atmos content).

Quite unfortunately, DVD~Audio even though it had limited video had the very same issues. Purchasers were expecting FULL videos with surround music and not mainly MLP DVD~Audio! A lot of those discs were returned as DEFECTIVE.
 
Quite unfortunately, DVD~Audio even though it had limited video had the very same issues. Purchasers were expecting FULL videos with surround music and not mainly MLP DVD~Audio! A lot of those discs were returned as DEFECTIVE.

Multichannel in general also has support issues.
Discs get returned by listeners who expected to hear Surround Sound with only Stereo gear! :)
 
Hopefully, life will get easier for the wider consumer base to better understand what this format/ tech offers after the Universal Music volume release later this year of their back catalogue of Atmos music remixes - assuming UMG also do so in physical disc not just digital!

I think it's just me. I simply don't like digital downloads...enough said about that.

What I really wanted to comment and ask, didn't one record company back during the early 70s provide a list of albums that were to be released in quad and never followed through? The same type of thing also happened for CX encoded records, but the reason for the CX fiasco was entirely due to inside industry fighting.
 
What I really wanted to comment and ask, didn't one record company back during the early 70s provide a list of albums that were to be released in quad and never followed through? The same type of thing also happened for CX encoded records, but the reason for the CX fiasco was entirely due to inside industry fighting.

Record companies announcing and planning albums in new formats and then some not materializing happens with every new format.

As for CX, consumers didn't understand what the format was all about when it came to LPs with CX encoding. (And dBX encoding for LPs as well....)
But CX did end up being used on laserdiscs. So it had some success/use in that market.
 
With my interest in Auro 3D
I thought I would contact the company and inquire about their Auro 3D Demo Vol 2 disc.
Although I have purchased a copy from China, which I mentioned in a previous thread ..I thought it would be interesting to see if there is any difference in sound quality etc.

This is the reply I received, which I will reply to soon.

Dear Mike,

Thank you for your email and your interest in Auro-3D. We would be happy to send you an Auro-3D Demo Disc VOL 2.

For Fedex shipment, handling and custom fees, we ask each consumer to pay 28 EUR (VAT included).

Upon receipt of the payment, we will Fedex the Demo Disc over to you, together with the invoice and inform you of the shipment and corresponding tracking number.

Other BluRays, released in Auro-3D, are listed on our website as well; www.auro-3d.com/consumer/bluray/.

I hope this of interest to others who may also wish to obtain a copy.

I used this site to contact them
https://www.auro-3d.com/consumer/bluray/
 
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With my interest in Auro 3D
I thought I would contact the company and inquire about their Auro 3D Demos Vol 2 disc.
Although I have purchased a copy from China, which I mentioned in a previous thread ..I thought it would be interesting to see if there is any difference in sound quality etc.

This is the reply I received, which I will reply to soon.

Dear Mike,

Thank you for your email and your interest in Auro-3D. We would be happy to send you an Auro-3D Demo Disc VOL 2.

For Fedex shipment, handling and custom fees, we ask each consumer to pay 28 EUR (VAT included).

Upon receipt of the payment, we will Fedex the Demo Disc over to you, together with the invoice and inform you of the shipment and corresponding tracking number.

Other BluRays, released in Auro-3D, are listed on our website as well; www.auro-3d.com/consumer/bluray/.

I hope this of interest to others who may also wish to obtain a copy.

I used this site to contact them
https://www.auro-3d.com/consumer/bluray/
Prince? Johnny Mnemonic? What a wacky, far-ranging list!

The Prince blu ray / DVD (4 total) is 54 deutschmarks <gasp>

I do have one -- Aelita.
 
As for CX, consumers didn't understand what the format was all about when it came to LPs with CX encoding. (And dBX encoding for LPs as well....)
But CX did end up being used on laserdiscs. So it had some success/use in that market.

CX encoded records were promoted as being compatible with any standard audio equipment. In other words, the records sounded fine for those who didn't have a CX decoder. I'm simply pointing out consumers didn't have to understand what CX encoded records were about, and if they were released in the numbers originally planned, it wouldn't have mattered to those without the decoder since the records would have sounded fine to most everyone. For those who did want to take full advantage of the benefits of CX encoded records, could have done so by simply buying a CX decoder, or getting a new turntable with a built in CX decoder.

What killed CX encoded records was the infighting between CBS (who heavily promoted CX) and the sound engineers (who complained that there were in fact differences between regular records and CX encoded recorders when not decoded.) Because of the infighting, CBS couldn't even get the albums out in real numbers to the pubic.

The reality is the audio differences were in fact very small when CX encoded records were not decoded. And, it wouldn't have mattered to most anyway since most consumers had very average and substandard audio systems. A CX encoded record playing through a CX decoder on a nice system sounded very, very good and actually sounded much like what a CD sounds like with virtually no record surface noise and dynamic range improvements.



I remember hearing a CX encoded record playing through a CX decoder at a Highland Appliance in Flint MI around 1980 or 81. I was super impressed. However I didn't buy into the system since hardly any albums were released in CX. The idea was eventually every record would be released in CX and would cost the same as any standard record. The other idea was as consumer, you didn't have to spend any money on a decoder unless later on if you decided to, and that would then open up your whole library of CX encoded records to be enjoyed on a whole new level.

By the way I do have some CX encoded laserdiscs and they sound fine even with the decoder turned off. However when the CX decoder is turned on, the background noise pretty much disappears which does make it sound better.

I also used to have a DBX decoder for DBX encoded records. That too did a great job of eliminating record surface noise. There however were at least a couple problems with DBX. 1. You HAD to have a DBX decoder for DBX encoded records because without the decoder, the records sounded very bad. The reason for this is because the compression ratio for DBX was much greater than CX's compression ratio. And 2, the cost of DBX records being much more than a standard record. Even so, I did have a few DBX records and I remember having a lot of fun listening to them. Without surface noise and greater dynamics, it was like experiencing a CD even before CDs were available to the public. Of course once CDs were made available, I stopped listening to my DBX records since like a DBX record, there was no surface noise, there were increased dynamics WITHOUT the trouble of having to clean a record and stylus before every play...at least that's how I handled records. Of course it was the CD that killed DBX records along with most standard records...but that's another story.
 
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