Jethro Tull - Aqualung BluRay Audio Failing?

[quicksrt]

Has anyone already mentioned any experiences of the Jethro Tull - 40th Aqualung BluRay disc failing? I saw a mention of a guy having it start with sections of his disc and then eventually the entire disc failure. He said he heard of at least one other person having this happen. It nearly wrecked my entire day. But I got mine out and am listening to it now and it plays fine.

But I am a little alarmed that anyone could be having this problem with one of our "crown jewels" of quadraphonia on high-rez yet.

 

[ProgRules]

I mentioned in the poll thread that mine is failing, but hasn't failed completely yet. I can only access the last 2 songs and the bonuses in 5.1. I can access all of the quad mix. I assume more will fail gradually, but that's where it was last I played it.

I'm bummed but not terribly surprised after reading of all the DSotM failures- another of our crown jewels. BR just doesn't seem very robust...

 

[JediJoker]

Was this Blu-ray—like DSotM—pressed at Optimal?

 

[Rickk]

I decided to play my BR last night after reading about this. Hadn't played in several months. Sadly after never having a problem mine won't play the SW proper album mixes, both stereo and MC. The SW extra tracks, original quad and stereo plays fine. Very disappointing.

 

[mrcond]

If this is true, the record company should make good on replacements. Totally unacceptable if they don't, after what people paid for the box.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I should check mine also, even though you should always rip for storage, nothing is ever truly secure. But distressing nonetheless as once that happens you can forget about resale . We’ve kicked this subject around several times already; I just believe it may be due to pressing plants taking short cuts on inferior materials or keeping up their quality control, since there remains millions of good discs still out there.
If there’s ever a day when a mass failure occurs, it will really spur on the digital download / streaming service model and be a huge hit on label’s bottom line.
Also, is this much of an issue with Movie Blu-ray Discs? I don’t collect those, as NETFLIX and many others now including Disney etc. offer movies streaming which will only accelerate from here.

 

[Scott65]

I should check mine also, even though you should always rip for storage, nothing is ever truly secure. But distressing nonetheless as once that happens you can forget about resale . We’ve kicked this subject around several times already; I just believe it may be due to pressing plants taking short cuts on inferior materials or keeping up their quality control, since there remains millions of good discs still out there.
If there’s ever a day when a mass failure occurs, it will really spur on the digital download / streaming service model and be a huge hit on label’s bottom line.
Also, is this much of an issue with Movie Blu-ray Discs? I don’t collect those, as NETFLIX and many others now including Disney etc. offer movies streaming which will only accelerate from here.

So far the only problem with blu ray movie discs I have experienced is the blu ray of Patton - It hangs on my oppo players but will play without problem on my PS4.

 

[Scott65]

I don’t collect those, as NETFLIX and many others now including Disney etc. offer movies streaming which will only accelerate from here.

As much as I like streaming services, I do have concerns that some content disappears after awhile.

 

[ProgRules]

If this is true, the record company should make good on replacements. Totally unacceptable if they don't, after what people paid for the box.

Ideally, yes, but doubtful after so much time has passed. If most of them have failed, there'd be a stronger case, but just sporadic failures they can attribute to incorrect handling/ misuse. Which I know was not the case for me but...

 

[JohnN]

Jethro Tull Aqualung blu-ray:
Panasonic BD80 - (no disc read warning)

Panasonic BD65 - Can't play any SW remixed album from the beginning without freezing up. Choose a track and it plays fine. Quad is unaffected. All firmware updated.

2017 players, Yamaha s681 & Sony x800 won't read the blu-ray at all.

 

[Rickk]

I should add my player is a Sony X800 with no firmware updates since the disc played fine last time.

 

[ProgRules]

I mentioned in the poll thread that mine is failing, but hasn't failed completely yet. I can only access the last 2 songs and the bonuses in 5.1. I can access all of the quad mix. I assume more will fail gradually, but that's where it was last I played it.

I'm bummed but not terribly surprised after reading of all the DSotM failures- another of our crown jewels. BR just doesn't seem very robust...

Guess I should add that I get this result whether played on my Oppo 103D or my Sony X800M2

 

[humprof]

Dang. I usually ignore these sorts of threads, as I've never experienced anything like this. But so many people chiming in made me nervous, so I pulled out my Blu-Ray and...sure enough...

I haven't listened to every track all the way through, but on my Oppo 205, if I try to play the SW 5.1 DTS-MA mix, either from "Play Album" or "Track Select," it struggles to play the title track and eventually begins at around 4:20. From that point I can back up and get unbroken audio from around 3:30, but no earlier. The remaining tracks in this mix seem to play fine, and I think the bonus tracks are okay, too.

Same problem, though, with the SW 5.1 LPCM mix, except that unbroken audio finally kicks in on the title track around 5:30 instead of 4:20. Ditto for the new stereo mix (5:35). Only the original stereo mix and the two 4.1 mixes seem to be unaffected--so far. Maybe they're physically on a different section of the disc?

Finally: similar issues when played in my Sony UBP-X800 and Oppo 103--although in addition to the title track failure, the 103 also won't play the first couple of minutes of "Cross-Eyed Mary."

What are our options here? Has anyone dealt with Chrysalis before? I was lucky enough to get my box dirt-cheap on one of those blow-out sales at DeepDiscount (or wherever it was). But in the two years or so that I've owned it, I've played this disc maybe...four times? Stored it properly, handled it carefully. And no matter when you bought it or how much you paid for it, this ain't right.

 

[humprof]

So I just sent a PM on the Chrysalis Facebook site, asking to be connected with customer service. Also sent an email to
[email protected], cc'd to [email protected].

@Rickk , @ProgRules , and @JohnN : want to join me in this? (And @JediJoker : yes, according to the inner ring on the disc, it was produced at so-called Optimal--so now I've cc'd the Head of Customer Care, the Manager of Customer Care International, and the two "Quality Assurance" guys listed on Optimal's contact page. I'm a regular Karen!)

Not sure what to expect, since the label has changed hands at least once since the box was issued in 2011. And the set is long out of print, as we know. Still, I donno 'bout you-all, but I only bought mine in October 2017 as a new, sealed copy from a legitimate online retailer. So you'd think the label would still want to stand behind their product and make things right, especially when it concerns an expensive deluxe set by one of their flagship artists.

 

[Imbobman]

This is sad news about the BD failing.(. which I don't have)
Just a sort of related question,
anyone heard of any similar problems happening with the 2016 Aqualung 2 DVD/ 2CD version of this? This I have though I've never played it.

 

[Juggsnelson]

Didnt the deluxe box set also come with a DVD? I'm not at home to check. If so, any issues with that playing?

 

[Rickk]

Just checked the DVD (I'd never tried it in 9 years!) and it seems fine. So at least there's that.

 

[Rickk]

Oh, and my BR will play after Wondering fine so just not the first several songs. Weirdest thing I've ever experienced in almost 40 years of physical digital media.

 

[quicksrt]

I just check my copies of the BR disc. All songs from each mix play fine on my Oppo 105D. I even cracked open a sealed box and played the BR in that set, all tracks fine.

 

[boxhead]

After all the earlier reports I checked my BR as well and thankfully all is okay. Seems this is not a universal problem. I wonder how widespread it is?