Ziggy Stardust on DVD-A in New Set coming 6/5

[fredblue]

I've got the CD and the Vinyl/DVD editions already on order - although why the flaming hell EMI are not doing the DVD as either a standalone or CD/DVD pack is frankly a mystery.

@ Mandrake 2011 - there is no such thing as too much Bowie. You should hear the 24/96 flat analogue transfers we have of the catalogue up to Let's Dance.
Sounds much better than any CD version ever released.....

@fredblue. Peter Mew? as in "Mewtilations"? The same man who managed to chop off the first chords of "Band on the Run" on the DTS-CD? Thesame man who managed to get the left/right channels in the wrong order on the 30th anniversary version of Ziggy? The man who chopped off tails and count-ins on the 30th anniversary version of Ziggy?
That Peter Mew?
You really reckon he would have made a better fist of it? I doubt that - he a mastering engineer as opposed to a mix engineer (The ELO was mixed by an un-named person).

totally agree, it should be a cd/dvd package, idiotic but not the the first record company blunder we've ever encountered eh.. so just taking it in ones's stride.

ooh! where'd you get those 24/96 flat analogue transfers? After ploughing through the Steve Hoffman forums (where there's plenty of hatred for Mew!) i tracked down all the RCA Bowie cd's up to and including Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) and most of them sound pretty nice (warts and all) but those flat t/fers must be gorgeous!!

I know, I know.. the guy's f***ed up more than I've had hot dinners.. I shudder when I see his name on anything now, having learned the hard way! my first encounter with his work was the god awful "Best of Bowie 74/79" compilation, just dreadful. Then i too later found out his hamfists had screwed up BOTR DTS, Ziggy 30th, etc..

I only name-checked Mew because as the head honcho fella at Abbey Road he's so heavily involved in all these quad reissues and in just about every surround project with any connection to the studios. It just seemed like if somebody/anybody who was also around during the Ken Scott Ziggy remixing with a bit of knowledge of 5.1/quad might have chipped in, it might have been him.. and he might just have saved the day! Tenuous, I know but.. who else who was there while Ziggy was being remixed into 5.1 should have known better, in your opinion Neil?

So those notes of Mew's in the back of the new ELO quad reissue are only for his reference as the engineer? Sorry, my mistake. Such a shame we don't know who mixed it. It's pretty wacky and wonderful!

 

[Mandrake2011]

why the flaming hell EMI are not doing the DVD as either a standalone or CD/DVD pack is frankly a mystery.

I have seen this combo (Vinyl + DVD, or Vinyl + Hires downloads) before. Are they trying to make one mass-market package and one "audiophile" package?

@ Mandrake 2011 - there is no such thing as too much Bowie. You should hear the 24/96 flat analogue transfers we have of the catalogue up to Let's Dance.
Sounds much better than any CD version ever released.....

:worthy
Who is "we"? How can I get a copy?

 

[Quad Linda]

There may be other versions. Music Direct always lists vinyl versions first, or vinyl only versions. That includes vinyl packaged with other formats. So stay tuned, hopefully there will be others.

I've got the CD and the Vinyl/DVD editions already on order - although why the flaming hell EMI are not doing the DVD as either a standalone or CD/DVD pack is frankly a mystery.

 

[0tto]

i do have RCA pressing LP and SACD so really doesn't makes much sense to purchase it again
but also can't get into logic of EMI with those LP+DVD re-print and narrowing their market.
or they have big plans to ressurect the vinyl as a main stream music medium?
also doesn't make any sense their usage of dual layer DVD for Talk, Talk.
raw 96/24 stereo stream barely reaches 2GB of data and discs doesn't contains any extras like
video or even picture gallery.

 

[fredblue]

i do have RCA pressing LP and SACD so really doesn't makes much sense to purchase it again
but also can't get into logic of EMI with those LP+DVD re-print and narrowing their market.
or they have big plans to ressurect the vinyl as a main stream music medium?
also doesn't make any sense their usage of dual layer DVD for Talk, Talk.
raw 96/24 stereo stream barely reaches 2GB of data and discs doesn't contains any extras like
video or even picture gallery.

just says to me that EMI see vinyl, surround sound and high-res as niche markets and so just lump them altogether in one package like this. misguided at best, imho.

now if they'd made it an SQ-encoded quad LP and a high-res surround sound DVDA, that would still be a bit screwy but it'd definitely be more fun! :banana:

 

[fredblue]

I have seen this combo (Vinyl + DVD, or Vinyl + Hires downloads) before. Are they trying to make one mass-market package and one "audiophile" package?

:worthy
Who is "we"? How can I get a copy?

Interesting.. I'm aware of Muse's "The Resistance" Limited Edition boxset, that has the surround mix on DVD together with the Vinyl, a USB stick of the album in various encodes and a whole load of other stuff (just short of the kitchen sink!) but what other releases are like this Bowie LP & dvd combo?

Yes, can "we" be "me" (and Mandrake 2011 of course!) too please...?!?

 

[fredblue]

There may be other versions. Music Direct always lists vinyl versions first, or vinyl only versions. That includes vinyl packaged with other formats. So stay tuned, hopefully there will be others.

ahh.. that would be very slippery of them!
why not just release a cd/dvd combo along the lines of Ian Andersons' TAAB2 at the same time and be done with it!?
It'd be bound to sell more copies in that format, than with an LP, no?

 

[Ge Someone]

It appears that since this year hardly anybody knows what DVD-Audio was, so they (erroneously) use it as a label for any non video DVD. Too bad, I like the format, but I don't believe today's DVD-A announcements anymore. I hope those King Crimson DVD-A's won't be cancelled because of the (false) idea nobody can playback DVD-A anymore.

 

[Quad Linda]

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. What I posted was from Music Direct. Their usual habit on any new release, other than their own Mofi product, is to list ONLY the version that includes vinyl. Other versions, if they exist, are rarely listed as new releases. Likely there is another version(s), however, since I found no listing at all on Virgin's website, that is impossible to ascertain at this time. So, there are likely other version(s), but I have no way of knowing if there are other versions, exactly what they would be, or how many there are. Perhaps one of you could do web research to see if other versions are forthcoming, which I'm not inclined to do.

ahh.. that would be very slippery of them!
why not just release a cd/dvd combo along the lines of Ian Andersons' TAAB2 at the same time and be done with it!?
It'd be bound to sell more copies in that format, than with an LP, no?

 

[fredblue]

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. What I posted was from Music Direct. Their usual habit on any new release, other than their own Mofi product, is to list ONLY the version that includes vinyl. Other versions, if they exist, are rarely listed as new releases. Likely there is another version(s), however, since I found no listing at all on Virgin's website, that is impossible to ascertain at this time. So, there are likely other version(s), but I have no way of knowing if there are other versions, exactly what they would be, or how many there are. Perhaps one of you could do web research to see if other versions are forthcoming, which I'm nor inclined to do.

ah, now I gotchya! I'll have a snoop around and get back to ya!

 

[fredblue]

just checked the calendar.. maybe I won't be able to get this on Monday the 4th after all, as it's a public holiday here in the UK

funny day to choose to release it when a fair few places will be closed. nevertheless I'll still try on the 4th, so if I can get it, I will and I'll report back to QQ post haste!

 

[0tto]

just says to me that EMI see vinyl, surround sound and high-res as niche markets and so just lump them altogether in one package like this. misguided at best, imho.

now if they'd made it an SQ-encoded quad LP and a high-res surround sound DVDA, that would still be a bit screwy but it'd definitely be more fun! :banana:

to some degree it's so but hard to imagine niche market for DTS/DD. it's like to say, niche for mp3.
none of audiophiles with self respect would consider those audio streams to be worthy. oh well,
maybe some from niche within a niche

 

[leevitalone1]

to some degree it's so but hard to imagine niche market for DTS/DD. it's like to say, niche for mp3.
none of audiophiles with self respect would consider those audio streams to be worthy. oh well,
maybe some from niche within a niche

my niche calls me uncle

 

[fredblue]

to some degree it's so but hard to imagine niche market for DTS/DD. it's like to say, niche for mp3.
none of audiophiles with self respect would consider those audio streams to be worthy. oh well,
maybe some from niche within a niche

"Self-respecting Audiophiles" may not consider it worthy, nevertheless the dvd in this set is being marketed as "high resolution".

here's EMI's description, on Amazon UK:

Originally released through RCA Victor on 6th June 1972, Ziggy Stardust was David Bowie’s fifth album, co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott. Incredibly, the album was written whilst Bowie was recording 1971’s Hunky Dory album, with recording beginning a couple of months before that album’s release. Famously Bowie killed Ziggy at his peak at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, on July 3rd, 1973, though Ziggy Stardust’s influence was to redefine popular culture forever: pop music was never the same again. This 40th anniversary edition has been remastered by the album's original Trident Studios engineer Ray Staff. This limited edition vinyl features the new 2012 remaster with a 5.1 mix and high resolution audio on DVD. The bonus DVD also includes previously unreleased Ken Scott mixes of "Moonage Daydream" (instrumental), "The Supermen", "Velvet Goldmine" and "Sweet Head".

 

[0tto]

my niche calls me uncle

really? oh well, you can relax, at least no uncle Sam

fredblue
perhaps that's referring to lossless stereo stream, if such are on DVD.
but looking slightly back, there was DD stream on ADVD off PF immersion set was proclaimed as an HiRes, in similar description

 

[fredblue]

really? oh well, you can relax, at least no uncle Sam

fredblue
perhaps that's referring to lossless stereo stream, if such are on DVD.
but looking slightly back, there was DD stream on ADVD off PF immersion set was proclaimed as an HiRes, in similar description

Yep, the 640kbps Dolby Digital on the PF DVDV's was described by EMI as higher resolution..!

Afaik it's not even a proper spec of dvd (let alone high resolution!) but I'm sure somebody will correct me if I'm wrong.

Of course 640kbps is "higher" than regular DD @448k so maybe on a relative scale.. what they're constantly dishing up is "higher".. than complete crap.. but only just!!

Well, as you say, maybe EMI are referring to a "lossless stereo stream".. who knows!?

EMI not knowing their arse from their elbow (again) is more like it though, I reckon.

 

[fredblue]

All that said, what I would add, is that the Amazon UK track listings for the dvd in this set refer to 26 Tracks on the DVD.

The first 12 tracks have (2012) after each one, in parentheses.

The remaining 14 have the following description added after each track:
(5.1 mixes: DTS 48/24 and Dolby Digital / Stereo mixes: 48/24 LPCM stereo)

..which may mean that the new 2012 Ray Staff "blow your socks off" remaster is in true high resolution stereo on the first 12 tracks of the dvd...

followed by the Ken Scott SACD drivel which comes in regular DTS, joe bloggs DD and 48k/24bit stereo flavours.

Who can say..?!?! :banana:

 

[neil wilkes]

Well, we will know soon enough I guess - I pre-ordered both (I am a big collector of Bowie) and will soon let all know.
The new analogue remaster will be either great or indifferent, I suspect - we shall see.
I hope the stereo is 24/96 of the 2012 master, but not holding my breath - EMI seem to screw up so much it's not funny. The Serious Moonlight reissue only has DD stereo, and DD/DTS 5.1 for sure but it is a poor upmix, like the Glass Spider release. At least that one has LPCM stereo....you would think that on a MUSIC DVD, 16/48 LPCM should be the minimum and DD should be nowhere in sight for stereo.

As far as the KC catalogue, DGM (correctly, IMHO) take the attitude that whilst it costs more to author the discs, they get that back because it is true DVDA on pre-orders alone.
It is also a fact that it costs no more to replicate a DVD-A/V disc than it does a DVD-V or a DVD-ROM. It's irrelevant.

Why I think most labels stopped doing DVDA is so tragically pathetic it's not funny.
The authoring tool (MEI) will not run on Vista or Windows 7. It was designed for W2000, and thankfully runs on XP too.
I could name a few houses who literally upgraded themselves out of the market.......

 

[fredblue]

less than a week to go, yes! I'm keeping everything crossed for at least a decent stereo mix (pref 96/24) of Ziggy, at last on CD! the bonus tracks that were (seemingly) mixed by Ken Scott 10 years ago but not included on the SACD will also be nice to have/hear on the DVD..!

The King Crimson DVDA series is an exemplary set, anyone looking to release 5.1 or quad material now should look to DGM as to how to do it. I've only bought two so far but they are fantastic! I intend to get them all, in time.

I had no idea there was no increased overhead to a label to author DVDA rather than DVDV or that so many manufacturers had upgraded themselves into a pickle, thanks to the Windows/MEI situation!

can I just ask you Neil, if the likes of Sony/Universal/EMI (basically anybody involved in the quad & 5.1 releases we are getting now) has contacted you to ask how it should be done? or is that just wide-eyed wishful thinking!?

 

[fredblue]

I don't know how I feel about this post Ken Scott made on the Steve Hoffman forums just last night..

"OK people, time to jump in. Yes this is the first time I have really been involved in any Bowie re-masters. Hence the use of Ray Staff, the mastering engineer that worked on the album originally. I can tell you that Ray used the original master tapes and that he worked analog right up to the last minute. All eq is analog and I'm sure, going by past experience, there will be some of you out there that will disagree, but I happen to think this is the closest we've got to the original vinyl pressings.
As far as Starman goes, unless someone sometime swapped the original mix for the alternate one that I don't remember doing, this is the mix I, David, Mainman and RCA approved.
One last thing, TOTAL self promotion, but Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust is released on June 6th and I'm prepared for the onslaught.
Cheers"