Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts DTS 96/24 Mixed by Bruce Soord

[Simon_LDT]

I kind of agree with Otto here. It certainly doesn't cost much at all to author a basic DVD-A with lossless audio. If the artist in question can't do it themselves then in this day and age with social media being what it is, it's very easy to ask for possible input from any fans that could do basic authoring or know someone that would so it either for free or very cheap.

I don't know the actual costs but I know it's not cheap to use the MLP codec.

For me, the only thing that is expensive with these kind of releases is if a record label owns the material and fees need to be paid to license the material from them (or they refuse to do anything reasonable with the masters - such as what has happened with PT's In Absentia & Deadwing).

In general, Kscope are a great label and they have made some excellent releases over the years. I do question some of their decisions though at times which make me believe they did '''cheapen out'' on some things (remember Anathema's 'Weather Systems' DD only release?)

 

[von kulper]

Fair point regarding Kscope and Weather Systems. That release was a total mess; from the atrocious Dolby Digital sound quality, to the bizarre surround mix itself (and correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall the DVD being PAL). Burningshed/Kscope tried to make things right by offering a FLAC download, and it was certainly an improvement, but obviously, it's not going to fix a sub-par mixing job...

However, I gotta say, Anathema/Bogren/Kscope nailed it with Distant Satellites - Yeah, yeah, there's no lossless codec, and it wouldn't have cost them any more to add a blah blah...

 

[0tto]

i wouldn't blame Kscope. as far as i understand they do not have on-site authoring house and typically they just
allocate the fund for particular project and let artists to find the way how to use this money without much
interference in regards what will be final format as long as artist/band wouldn't go over budget.
i even suspect that SW and now Giancarlo for BD-A investing own money, to get what they really want.

 

[rtbluray]

i wouldn't blame Kscope. as far as i understand they do not have on-site authoring house and typically they just
allocate the fund for particular project and let artists to find the way how to use this money without much
interference in regards what will be final format as long as artist/band wouldn't go over budget.
i even suspect that SW and now Giancarlo for BD-A investing own money, to get what they really want.

It's well-known that Giancarlo does all of the disc authoring himself for nosound, and it's also well-known that Steven Wilson will release lossless discs whenever he has the control to do so, which he does for all of his solo releases, but that's not always the case for the remixes.
Both are the exceptions, not the rules. There are also other artists and labels who are solidly in the lossless camp, but everything else is in a constant state of flux.
Consistency is largely absent from surround releases nowadays, and as frustrating as that is, all we can do is make the choice to buy or not buy any particular release.

As for me, if the content is important enough, I'll likely purchase it, regardless of whether it's lossless or not.
In this particular instance, lossless could have been a deal breaker, but because it's absent, I'm gonna sit this one out.

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

that's not big deal. your friend can come here at any time and ask for assistance as did others.
i guess at least about 10-15% of members in here familiar with DVD-A authoring and can do
this for free, just to add to list one more HiRes surround release.
in regard of my remark about I.A. i've been sarcastic. really feel sick from cheapness not only labels but some asrtists as well.

That's really interesting and potentially very helpful. Please explain to me how to author DVD-Audio (I'm pretty technically minded) bearing in mind that it would also need to have DVD-Video, since most customers don't have DVD-Audio capable hardware and I'll pass the information on. Maybe we'll get a better result in this case.

 

[von kulper]

Thought I'd pass this on here. Obviously, our main focus here is going to be BS' surround mix, but anybody interested in a limited edition vinyl (500 copies), here's the pre-order: http://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com...s-limited-edition-gold-gatefold-vinyl-lp.html

$32 shipped to US.

 

[von kulper]

Thought I'd pass this along here. Obviously, our main focus is going to be BS' surround mix, but for those also interested in a limited edition vinyl (500 copies), here's the pre-order: http://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com...s-limited-edition-gold-gatefold-vinyl-lp.html

$32 shipped to US.

(Oops - double post - sort of. I was having computer issues...)

 

[0tto]

It's well-known that Giancarlo does all of the disc authoring himself for nosound, and it's also well-known that Steven Wilson will release lossless discs whenever he has the control to do so, which he does for all of his solo releases, but that's not always the case for the remixes.
Both are the exceptions, not the rules. There are also other artists and labels who are solidly in the lossless camp, but everything else is in a constant state of flux.
Consistency is largely absent from surround releases nowadays, and as frustrating as that is, all we can do is make the choice to buy or not buy any particular release.

well, producing the disk officially is not only fill up content, do authoring and compile but also pay all related to
formats, logos, licences fees. if i remember correct, just legalization of use for own content BD disk alone, cost
about $3000 for one year.
perhaps this does some impact on decision to go BD-A route for an artists, albeit if one can avoid authoring services, it's definitely helps.

 

[0tto]

That's really interesting and potentially very helpful. Please explain to me how to author DVD-Audio (I'm pretty technically minded) bearing in mind that it would also need to have DVD-Video, since most customers don't have DVD-Audio capable hardware and I'll pass the information on. Maybe we'll get a better result in this case.

first step would be to obtain DVD-A authoring app and that will be three main:


Sonic DVD-Audio Creator - best in it's category but also has quite complex learning curve and
this app in needs of dedicated PC with Windows XP or Windows 2003. won't run on newer OS.


Minnetonka discWelder Chrome - next after Sonic. albeit not as advanced as Sonic, but still
pretty much functional. handles PCM, MLP, support basic menu navigation, links from menu
to video/audio streams in VIDEO_TS folder, etc. way easier to learn than Sonic.


Cirlinca HDSolo - not much can tell you about as never used it but i think it doesn't works
with MLP format, thus 5.1 stream can be authored only at highest 48/24 PCM.
you know, some members in here do use this app to make DVD-As and perhaps can tell you more about.


on top of this, to work with stream 5.1 96/24 you must have SurCode MLP encoder

 

[rtbluray]

well, producing the disk officially is not only fill up content, do authoring and compile but also pay all related to
formats, logos, licences fees. if i remember correct, just legalization of use for own content BD disk alone, cost
about $3000 for one year.
perhaps this does some impact on decision to go BD-A route for an artists, albeit if one can avoid authoring services, it's definitely helps.

Yes, there's no doubt at all that Blu-Ray is definitely more expensive to author and replicate than DVD-V or even DVD-A/V so I can understand if people are deterred from going the Blu-Ray route due to cost. That's fine.
There's much less of a cost distinction between authoring DVD-V and authoring DVD-A/V and no difference at all in replication costs, but there's not many programs at all that can do a great job authoring a DVD that works great for both DVD-A and DVD-V users.

 

[Ge Someone]

Too bad this announcement thread derailed again in a DVD-A vs DVD-V debate. That would be better done in a thread of it's own instead of again and again in a release thread IMO.
As this band has gone from extremely heavy to acoustic, I need to hear a bit more of the music on this one (more than the one minute intro snippet they released until now). A good mix is more important than the format BTW.
Another suggestion: a (lossless) surround download doesn't need much authoring at all.

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

Too bad this announcement thread derailed again in a DVD-A vs DVD-V debate. That would be better done in a thread of it's own instead of again and again in a release thread IMO.
As this band has gone from extremely heavy to acoustic, I need to hear a bit more of the music on this one (more than the one minute intro snippet they released until now). A good mix is more important than the format BTW.
Another suggestion: a (lossless) surround download doesn't need much authoring at all.

I've been play testing the final surround mixes over the past few days and I really like both the material and what Bruce has done with it. They've done a bit of an Opeth and mellowed their sound up a little bit, which combined with a very classy surround mix and some really superb vocal harmonies, makes the whole album a very enjoyable listen. Easily Katatonia's best surround to date, imho.

 

[von kulper]

New song just released via their facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katatonia/videos/10154065106714907/

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

I've just been back to give this another listen to this after a break of almost a week after my final play test. It's always quite interesting to do this, to see how it holds up and I'm pleased to say I'm still very, very impressed with both the content and the mix. This is a great album and I think the surround mix is going to go down really, really well.

 

[peterzach]

Did anyone else get this album yet, here was Bruce's tweet today for this,nice plug for 5.1:

"Today the brilliant new Katatonia album is released. Get down the shops and buy a 5.1 system so you can hear it in my glorious surround"

 

[von kulper]

Mines at home, apparently. Im stuck at work, so I haven't had a chance to listen yet. I'll definitely be cranking it tonight.

 

[vegas]

Mines at home, apparently. Im stuck at work, so I haven't had a chance to listen yet. I'll definitely be cranking it tonight.

Please, post your comment here after listening... I can't wait to hear the first review's. ))

 

[von kulper]

Please, post your comment here after listening... I can't wait to hear the first review's. ))

Sure thing!

 

[DuncanS]

I'd forgotten about this release......so just ordered!

 

[von kulper]

Alright, I guess it's time to grab a beer, and delve into this... I've restrained from listening to any album samplers or any of the tracks they've released thus far, so I'm going in completely blind on this one!