BIG Blu-Ray Audio drive from Universal Music in 2013

[fredblue]

Thank you my dear !

In my excitement to rip off the cellophane, I didn't think about the stickers.

My carer's just gone.....and now i'm relaxing with Diana !

( First impressions.....the audio quality of these discs, are top notch !!

they're not important! (to most people..) stickers I mean!

Lucky you! Diana's hot! (I think I'm on the turn!)

 

[Dixie4]

they're not important! (to most people..) stickers I mean!

Lucky you! Diana's hot! (I think I'm on the turn!)

I doubt that very much !!

( Played Diana, Bob & now playing Eric )

 

[fredblue]

I doubt that very much !!

( Played Diana, Bob & now playing Eric )

what do you think of Bob?

the most variable out of the 3 BDA's I got (I guess proof of authenticity in the lack of volume level matching from track to track, which any self-respecting compilation producer should do!)
.. still very nice!

 

[Dixie4]

what do you think of Bob?

the most variable out of the 3 BDA's I got (I guess proof of authenticity in the lack of volume level matching from track to track, which any self-respecting compilation producer should do!)
.. still very nice!

I really need to play it through again. ( I was in another room, at some points ) I liked it though, fidelity wise perhaps a little similar to Stevie Wonder, but SW is the outright winner so far ! I will have to take note of volume variation. ( SW sounded great at any volume, but found I needed to turn the volume up on Supertramp )
I wanted to listen to Diana Krall, purely for vocal, and Layla for guitars, e.t.c. As I said, I've never heard Layla or any of these discs before. All I can say is, sounds like a 1970's production, which of course, what it is !
I like the audible quality of Diana Krall disc. Vocals fill the room.

Overall I think these discs, improve on redbook cd's & i'm intrigued to hear more titles, especially artists I love !!

If there were polls for these BD-A's then Stevie Wonder would be a must have, 10 !

PS Only listened in PCM ( haven't really noticed a difference in audio options, up till now, but just spinning DK disc in DTS-HD Master Audio, and my immediate thought was it sounds better.

 

[fredblue]

I really need to play it through again. ( I was in another room, at some points ) I liked it though, fidelity wise perhaps a little similar to Stevie Wonder, but SW is the outright winner so far ! I will have to take note of volume variation. ( SW sounded great at any volume, but found I needed to turn the volume up on Supertramp )
I wanted to listen to Diana Krall, purely for vocal, and Layla for guitars, e.t.c. As I said, I've never heard Layla or any of these discs before. All I can say is, sounds like a 1970's production, which of course, what it is !
I like the audible quality of Diana Krall disc. Vocals fill the room.

Overall I think these discs, improve on redbook cd's & i'm intrigued to hear more titles, especially artists I love !!

If there were polls for these BD-A's then Stevie Wonder would be a must have, 10 !

PS Only listened in PCM ( haven't really noticed a difference in audio options, up till now, but just spinning DK disc in DTS-HD Master Audio, and my immediate thought was it sounds better.

You mean you weren't sat in your sweet spot the whole time..?!? :yikes

all I meant re:Legend volume was that it varies from track to track (level matchings something good compilers of tracks for compilation albums strive to achieve, the best hits compilations have tended to flow from track to track no matter what the source/production/etc and for Bob Marley it's not that hard to do, we're not talking about a v.long career spanning set here..) the only reasoning I can think of is that these are flat transfers of the original mixdown tapes (good news!) and so master volume levels, left as is, would naturally be all over the shop! intriguing..

have you already got the 5.1's of Layla or Diana K? Interested to compare the SACD stereo layers on each of those to these new BDA's.

 

[Dixie4]

You mean you weren't sat in your sweet spot the whole time..?!? :yikes

all I meant re:Legend volume was that it varies from track to track (level matchings something good compilers of tracks for compilation albums strive to achieve, the best hits compilations have tended to flow from track to track no matter what the source/production/etc and for Bob Marley it's not that hard to do, we're not talking about a v.long career spanning set here..) the only reasoning I can think of is that these are flat transfers of the original mixdown tapes (good news!) and so master volume levels, left as is, would naturally be all over the shop! intriguing..

have you already got the 5.1's of Layla or Diana K? Interested to compare the SACD stereo layers on each of those to these new BDA's.

( I had to prepare / get food....but I did turn it up, so as I could hear )

As you can gather my dear, I wasn't totally sure what you meant by volume variations, but thanks for explaining.
I don't have the SACD MC versions to compare. I was thinking of buying the DK disc, purely because I can still buy it !
I still come back to the conclusion that well produced / mixed albums will sound wonderful in this format....i'm not so sure about older recordings, like Layla, for instance ? ( although, i'd never heard the album till today )....but I think what you do hear is " Pure Audio ", i.e. not some compressed, brickwalled production !
All I know, is that I want some more titles....lots more !!....and even more still in 5.1 !!!

 

[dpv2008]

New to my BD-A collection

Is it true that there is some sort of tape noise evident on the Breakfast in America blu-ray during the quiet openings of Gone Hollywood and Take the Long Way Home?

 

[Dixie4]

Is it true that there is some sort of tape noise evident on the Breakfast in America blu-ray during the quiet openings of Gone Hollywood and Take the Long Way Home?

I can't say that I've been aware of that, but i'll give it another listen. ( Perhaps Fredblue / Adam....or other owners of the disc, may have a view, be able to answer your question ? )

 

[fredblue]

Is it true that there is some sort of tape noise evident on the Breakfast in America blu-ray during the quiet openings of Gone Hollywood and Take the Long Way Home?

I haven't heard any.. but then I saw that the poster of that finding over at SHF was listening on headphones.. whereas I've only played these blu-ray's back through my home theatre with warm-sounding tower speakers and a tasty REL sub! I guess if I put a ton of old 70's stuff through my cans I'd be in hiss heaven and tape noise hell..!

I'll try the Supertramp blu-ray through my Sennheisers later and see if I can hear anything "iffy" at the beginning of those two tracks but I'm not a big headphone listening fan to be honest.

 

[Dixie4]

I haven't heard any.. but then I saw that the poster of that finding over at SHF was listening on headphones.. whereas I've only played these blu-ray's back through my home theatre with warm-sounding tower speakers and a tasty REL sub! I guess if I put a ton of old 70's stuff through my cans I'd be in hiss heaven and tape noise hell..!

I'll try the Supertramp blu-ray through my Sennheisers later and see if I can hear anything "iffy" at the beginning of those two tracks but I'm not a big headphone listening fan to be honest.

Thinking about it, I have listened through headphones, quite a few times ( I love headphones ! ) and can't recall anything untoward.

 

[dpv2008]

I'll try the Supertramp blu-ray through my Sennheisers later and see if I can hear anything "iffy" at the beginning of those two tracks

It will be great. Many thanks!

 

[Dixie4]

Is it true that there is some sort of tape noise evident on the Breakfast in America blu-ray during the quiet openings of Gone Hollywood and Take the Long Way Home?

Well, well, well, there is ! You've got to turn it up at high volume, to a level that no one would listen to, but it's definitely there !!

 

[ProgRules]

I'd like to thank Adam and Rob for being early adopters and being so generous w/ their detailed reviews- will really help me when it comes time to purchase, i.e. when these things become available in the states. Though hopefully by then we will have a lot more to choose from, including a lot of 5.1 material (though I doubt this will be the case, one can hope...)

 

[dpv2008]

You've got to turn it up at high volume, to a level that no one would listen to

Great! Thanks.

 

[Dixie4]

I'd like to thank Adam and Rob for being early adopters and being so generous w/ their detailed reviews- will really help me when it comes time to purchase, i.e. when these things become available in the states. Though hopefully by then we will have a lot more to choose from, including a lot of 5.1 material (though I doubt this will be the case, one can hope...)

Thank you Progrules. Technical stuff goes over my head....the only judgement I can make, is with my ears ( and my hearing at times, is not great !.....but what I do hear is very very good, wonderful stereo productions, certainly with the Stevie Wonder disc.....and just listening to Diana Krall on repeat, i'd say that's on a par ( you have to take into account of course, that they're two very different styles of music.)
Like everyone, I really hope & pray that there will be many 5.1 releases in the future.....but regardless of that, and purely comparing these 2.0 BD-A discs to redbook cd's, Universal, could be onto a winner ! I really think long term, that BD-A discs could replace cd's. To me the audio quality is superior. ( It's like listening to the detail & quality of a 5.1 disc, but in 2.0....or I should say 2.1

 

[ProgRules]

Based on what you guys have said, I will def be getting the SW disc.

 

[Dixie4]

Based on what you guys have said, I will def be getting the SW disc.

I'd be surprised if you ( or anyone else ) would be disappointed by it. I think it's a very safe purchase !

Have to say, i'm loving the Diana Krall disc, the more & more I listen to it. Feels like she's in the room. The orchestral parts sound wonderful too....I can imagine the classical releases, would be a pleasure to listen to...i'm very tempted to order a couple !

 

[Dixie4]

what do you think of Bob?

the most variable out of the 3 BDA's I got (I guess proof of authenticity in the lack of volume level matching from track to track, which any self-respecting compilation producer should do!)
.. still very nice!

Just have to say, i'm listening to Mr. Marley again, it's very very good. All the detail shines through. If I could just place some of this detail in my rear speakers.....!
I just need to give Layla a run through tomorrow. For me, the jury is still out on that one ? ( but I need to get familiar with the album, to give a proper / fair conclusion. )

 

[fredblue]

Just have to say, i'm listening to Mr. Marley again, it's very very good. All the detail shines through. If I could just place some of this detail in my rear speakers.....!
I just need to give Layla a run through tomorrow. For me, the jury is still out on that one ? ( but I need to get familiar with the album, to give a proper / fair conclusion. )

I'm not being horrible (at all) or trying to encourage you to spend more money but I suspect you're now being hobbled by your AVR, which has limited processing etc. and more importantly by your speakers.

maybe if in time you spend a few quid on a better AVR that can do more complex DSP stuff and some better speakers, that'll bring you even closer to getting the most out of your music.

as for the surround processing, I've said it before on here but the "PLII Music" setting with the centre channel off and the "Panorama" setting engaged, on my current Yamaha AVR at least, whatever that combination does exactly I don't know but the results in transforming a fair number of stereo programs into pseudo-surround are absolutely superb. somehow it does it in a way no other AVR I've owned previously (Denon, Sony, another Yamaha) could with their own variants on ProLogic etc.

I'd also seriously consider upgrading your speakers from those small satellites, Rob. You don't need large full range speakers at all (if space is an issue for example and let's face it, it's all a compromise for most of us) but a set of 4 matching modest standmounters and a decent centre speaker that's voice-matched to the front pair at least will transform your surround music listening experience, I've been there and done that and I can tell you the leap in quality with surround music going from a sub/sat system to something with proper "hi-fi" speaker components and enclosures/cabinetry is huge. you can even use the sub you've already got for now and upgrade that later and notice another step up in bass handling/capability.

this need not cost an arm and a leg, small standmounters or budget bookshelf speakers from the likes of Mordaunt-Short, Tannoy, Wharfedale, etc can be found for as little as £150 a pair and a decent budget centre for similar money.

even without upgrading your AVR, less than £500 spent on better speakers will make everything you play on your system sound better, whether Hi-Rez or mp3 (within reason with the latter, no AVR or speakers can perform miracles..! "Garbage In = Garbage Out", after all..!).

all just imho, of course

 

[Dixie4]

Strangely enough Adam, I was thinking tonight, how I wish I had high end equipment, ( or better equipment ) to listen to these new discs ( or any others for that matter ! )
Unfortunately, my finances wouldn't cover any kind of an upgrade. I really am spending so much on discs ( and other things )
I need to try to save money, which for everyone on lower incomes like myself, is difficult. I can imagine how much better music would sound with an upgrade....I just need to win the lottery, or some amount of money !

PS Haven't tried the PLII on any of the discs I've received today....will try tomorrow.