BIG Blu-Ray Audio drive from Universal Music in 2013 - PART TWO
- Thread starter JonUrban
- Start date
Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2013
- Messages
- 24,354
Although it's NOT a Universal BD~A release, just announced [from Auro 3D) in multichannel http://hraudio.net/showmusic.php?title=11467#tracks
For all you ole timers, George McCrae had a hit back in the 70's "Rock Your Baby" and worked with artists like Michael Jackson, James Brown, KC & The Sunshine Band, Bill Wyman, etc.
This is a newly recorded collection from Auro 3D so natch it'll be multichannel.
For all you ole timers, George McCrae had a hit back in the 70's "Rock Your Baby" and worked with artists like Michael Jackson, James Brown, KC & The Sunshine Band, Bill Wyman, etc.
This is a newly recorded collection from Auro 3D so natch it'll be multichannel.
This is actually pretty good for the genre.
I like it
ImportCDs talked me into pre-ordering this with a $5 personal promo code
. OK, had to grab the Yoga with Yogi one as well, but hey, $28? 
@:
Its as riveting as its title suggests too..
Thanks for the tip off Ralph
Pre-ordered that George McCrae BD-A from Amazon Germany (Amazon UK haven't listed it, yet) for only 13 Euros (about £10 UK sterling..) which is much more palatable a price imho..
..by stark contrast, that Yoga one from the same Auro 3D folk set me back £25 in all (!) thanks largely to international shipping + import charges from the U.S. - for a disc MADE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION which I couldn't even buy in Europe..
..it certainly had a circuitous journey here =
> Manufactured in Europe,
> Shipped to Amazon U.S.A,
> Shipped from the U.S.A. back to Europe...
..although I realise this is nothing new, you would think that with the music industry in relative flux such daft logistical antics might have been curtailed somewhat by now.. and there's a not inconsiderable carbon footprint with all that flying around the world for what amounts to just one CD - oh I dunno.. Kap knows all about how the logistics and distribution works I guess.. maybe its not so easy for Amazon to organise if a customer buys a disc from Amazon U.S. to see if their UK/European division/distribution has the disc also if the customer is based in the UK/Europe and just ship it from within the UK/Europe maybe..
This is not true. I saw it at a local chain (Saturn) here in Germany.
A suprise, considering that BD-As are seldom seen in stores over here. They may carry a new title (usually one item only!), and when it's gone it's gone. Rarely gets restock.
-Kristian
Congratulations on finding a copy in a store in Germany! :upthumb
Sadly, we don't have (m)any such stores in my country anymore. HMV has only ever stocked a handful (literally you could hold them in one hand) of HFPA Blu-ray Audio titles the last couple of years abd even when it has had HFPA Blu in stock they've almost always been Classical titles in Stereo only (Who's "Tommy" seems to be one Surround Rock HFPA exception for them). I guess HMV's buyers must have thought the Classical Stereo HFPA would sell better than the Rock & Pop, the Surround sound, etc.. nothing changes..
It was indeed true, by the way - at the time I pre-ordered. Let me be clear, I absolutely could not pre-order this Yoga Blu-ray Audio disc (Made In Europe) from the likes of Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it.. hence I could not buy it in Europe at that time. The only pre-order that wasn't simply a placeholder I could actually place a pre-order for a copy at that point was on Amazon.com.
I could and should have held off and saved some money as it is now available in Europe.
Ah well.. I think I'm nearly done with these HFPA things, as I imagine Universal is too, HFPA has been on life support as a "format" for a while but now it feels like it's gasping its last breaths. What a crying disappointment HFPA has been for the most part.. I was so hopeful.. silly me (again).
Just for the hell of it?? Anyone remember his wife and her major song?? Rock Your Baby was Awwwwesome but his wife's song was pretty damn Awesome tooo 1975
[video=youtube;KSRXuKa5PIs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSRXuKa5PIs[/video]
[video=youtube;KSRXuKa5PIs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSRXuKa5PIs[/video]
You're all heart!
(Heart, Love.. geddit!? :ugham: )
As for this disc, only given it one quick playthrough so far and it was a pleasant album, Georgie boy in good voice (in fact it's hardly aged at all from what I could make out), the surround mix is solid if unspectacular (but it's not ambient or double stereo) content wise it's all a bit samey but then it's variations on a theme (the theme of "Lurve"..) I guess you could say the mix and production befits the music.. none of it's gonna set the world on fire.. but it might set a few hearts (see what I did there?
) a-melting.. no pacemakers should be permanently damaged for the duration of listening but running a little above normal operating temperature at times maybe :music:
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2013
- Messages
- 24,354
You're all heart!
(Heart, Love.. geddit!? :ugham: )
As for this disc, only given it one quick playthrough so far and it was a pleasant album, Georgie boy in good voice (in fact it's hardly aged at all from what I could make out), the surround mix is solid if unspectacular (but it's not ambient or double stereo) content wise it's all a bit samey but then it's variations on a theme (the theme of "Lurve"..) I guess you could say the mix and production befits the music.. none of it's gonna set the world on fire.. but it might set a few hearts (see what I did there?
I likewise played this BD~A twice, thinking perhaps that I missed something the first time around but it was SO uninvolving that I would relegate it to background music.
Wish they'd mine the Donna Summer archives instead.....and remix into 5.1
Now THAT would really be something to crow about.
Yeah its a total bloody snoozefest and a waste of polycarbonate, Ralph.
Just get it off your chest and say it how you mean it. I'm in that kind of mood right now, so until I pass out tonight from exhaustion, that's how I'm gonna roll I think, in these types of situations. ("No more Mr. Nice Gay.."
)To think that, for the budget they blew on mixing this dreary shit into 5.1 (and Auro 3D bollocks fuck whatever it is they mixed it in too... for which the audience is probably about 1/100th that of the 15% who buy Audio Fidelity Surround SACDs for their Surround content, imho) this label could have licensed like half a dozen old Quads and no doubt shifted more units.
PS. 15% of all statistics are 4.44444444% recurring questionable.
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2013
- Messages
- 24,354
Yeah its a total bloody snoozefest and a waste of polycarbonate, Ralph.
Just get it off your chest and say it how you mean it. I'm in that kind of mood right now, so until I pass out tonight from exhaustion, that's how I'm gonna roll I think, in these types of situations. ("No more Mr. Nice Gay.."
To think that, for the budget they blew on mixing this dreary shit into 5.1 (and Auro 3D bollocks fuck whatever it is they mixed it in too... for which the audience is probably about 1/100th that of the 15% who buy Audio Fidelity Surround SACDs for their Surround content, imho) this label could have licensed like half a dozen old Quads and no doubt shifted more units.
PS. 15% of all statistics are 4.44444444% recurring questionable.
Seems the Universal BD~Audio 'DRIVE' Drove a nail into their own coffin. SO many titles were released in Stereo only not to mention the amount of drivel (like the UNNECESSARY McCrae title) and with all my bitchin' and moaning' about NOT releasing any boxsets [like a Motown compilation containing 3 or 4 hours of content], no wonder no one stood up and took notice.
And if Universal REALLY wanted to show us their LOVE (and NOT the McCrae type), they would've released the wildly sought after Hayward/Lodge Blu Jays album in ALL it's QUAD glory instead of the lackluster releases they did.
Another program that was mishandled and really not given the opportunity to succeed. Sadly
Maybe in hindsight the biggest issue was that the program consisted of too many reissues and not enough new titles.
Reissues:
Queen "A Night at the Opera"
Beck "Sea Change"
The Who "Tommy" (new 2013 mix, but a title that was already available on DVDA-V and SACD)
Genesis "Selling England by the Pound"
Elton John "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
RUSH "Fly by Night"
Bon Jovi "Slippery When Wet"
RUSH "A Farewell to Kings"
Marvin Gaye "Let's Get It On"
Lynyrd Skynyrd "Southern Surroundings"
RUSH "Signals"
Simple Minds "Once Upon a Time"
Simple Minds "New Gold Dream"
New titles:
The Who "Quadrophenia" (half of the album had been released as a 5.1 DVDA-V in 2011)
Bryan Adams "Reckless"
Tears for Fears "Songs from the Big Chair"
Simple Minds "Sparkle in the Rain"
Alan Parsons Project "Tales of Mystery and Imagination"
So that's 13 titles that had already been released in surround sound before compared to 5 titles that had never been released in surround sound at that point.
Yep. They took the easy way out instead of going all-in. And they also compressed the heck out of the discs. The Bryan Adams is very loud, and although some of those tunes are made to be heard loud, it would have been nice if they let the buyer add the volume and eq. If you're going to sell HiRez for audiophiles, you don't slam the audio like you're making a CD for a boom box
I think maybe the bigger issue was all the missed opportunities - there were a whole bunch of titles where an extant surround mix (either 5.1 or quad) wasn't used, either because the guy running the HFPA program was anti-surround (as he said in one interview) or simply the company was willfully ignorant about what assets they had in their vaults.
A couple of notable examples:
Derek & The Dominos Layla - HPFA BD-A was stereo only, could've used either the Mick Guzauski 5.1 mix from the SACD, or the (at the time) unreleased Scheiner mix.
Marvin Gaye Let's Get It On - reused the (sub-par) Cal Harris/Jeff Glixman 5.0 mix from the SACD, could've used the infinitely superior quad mix to entice new buyers
Marvin Gaye What's Going On - stereo-only disc that could've used the fantastic quad mix, not to mention included some of the wealth of extra stereo material that's been released on various special editions of this album, like Marvin's rejected "Detroit Mix" of the album, various instrumental versions and outtakes, and live material. Seems wasteful to author a 25 or 50gb disc and only use 10% of its capacity.
A couple of notable examples:
Derek & The Dominos Layla - HPFA BD-A was stereo only, could've used either the Mick Guzauski 5.1 mix from the SACD, or the (at the time) unreleased Scheiner mix.
Marvin Gaye Let's Get It On - reused the (sub-par) Cal Harris/Jeff Glixman 5.0 mix from the SACD, could've used the infinitely superior quad mix to entice new buyers
Marvin Gaye What's Going On - stereo-only disc that could've used the fantastic quad mix, not to mention included some of the wealth of extra stereo material that's been released on various special editions of this album, like Marvin's rejected "Detroit Mix" of the album, various instrumental versions and outtakes, and live material. Seems wasteful to author a 25 or 50gb disc and only use 10% of its capacity.
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2013
- Messages
- 24,354
If you recall, and NOT to sound uncharitable, but they put a dweeb in charge of the program who had NO knowledge of surround. Universal's BD~A launch was D.O.A.
Rule of Thumb: NEVER HIRE A BOY TO DO A MAN'S JOB!
Similar threads
- Poll
- Sticky
- Poll
