BIG Blu-Ray Audio drive from Universal Music in 2013

[cupboy]

I received my order from Fnac today:
Supertramp, Serge + Zazie.
Here are some Scans:View attachment 10673View attachment 10674
Serge sounds great : 5.1 dts HD Master Audio

Well, the word Tramp seems to apply to all three.

 

[culabula]

I suspect it's due to the exclusivity deal with FNAC, which will rumble on until September... nobody other than FNAC will retail these discs, nobody will buy them, the trial will be a failure = BONKERS

Actually, they were flying out in the FNAC in Limoges the other day.

 

[fredblue]

Actually, they were flying out in the FNAC in Limoges the other day.

thats really great to hear!

you'll notice I in fact started this thread here and that I've bought some of these discs myself and posted photos of the discs & packaging on this forum when I first bought them, also giving feedback on sound quality/disc navigation/user experience etc., in order to spread the word and hopefully to encourage others to buy them too. indeed, I'm buying more today, I think they're excellent! I'm behind them all the way.. I'm certainly not bashing them at all.

I have however been a bit dismayed at certain decisions etc along the way and when I posted my fears/grumbles that you quoted from the other day I was feeling a bit fed up as its been made so difficult for anyone outside of France to lay their hands on these.. and it hit me that trialling it in this way could be disastrous!

Here's some of my main issues..

1.) the marketing (or lack of)
- obviously promotion is vital to get as much awareness as possible - lots of word of mouth (here!) etc but what else apart from a rather cryptic/vague HFPA Facebook page and similar Twitter feed?
2.) the 5.1 (or lack of)
- so many titles previously released in 5.1 on SACD are only Stereo here - its been discussed ad nauseam here,
3.) the French exclusive deal.

I also don't get some of what Universal have done..!?

- why so little promotion or pre-hype about these?

- why ignore the colossal giant Amazon?

- why limit it to one country?

- why France in particular?
i've nothing against it being there of course but there's as big a market in say Germany or the UK (if not bigger) and then there's the US and Japanese markets to consider, Japan being traditionally 2-channel audio nuts you'd think this BDA format would be right up their street!

- why no modern-day UK/US rock & pop?
Universal are after all the World's biggest music label, you'd think they'd have a fair few popular artists & bands to choose from to showcase their new format!? Instead we get Layla, Stevie Wonder, Velvet Underground, a load of Classical & Jazz & tons of French stuff (figures for a French trial I guess, outside of France they'd have more limited appeal I imagine).

- oh and.. why no 5.1? (did I say that already!?)

If (and it's still a big "IF") Universal decide to take a different approach when these HFPA BDA's are released outside of France, say in the UK, in order for them to succeed here they must be (imho):

A.) ..cheaper than they are in France - the discs I bought from Fnac worked out at being £22 each including postage -- this is too high, the majority of people here will not pay that amount of money for one album. the Rolling Stones Grr BDA is £11 w/free shipping on Amazon UK right now.. priced similarly these will do well,
B.) ..albums by modern/relevant/UK & US rock & pop artists, as well as the similar variety of classic rock, jazz, classical, etc in France with the current trial,
C.) ..seen to represent added value for money - and have some bonus material (like extra tracks compared to the CD/iTunes.. or each disc has more than one album by an artist on it, or have 5.1.).

 

[culabula]

Well, that's why I flew to France instead and filled my suitcase !:banana:

And had a nice meal along the way....

 

[culabula]

This is sounding wonderful....

 

[fredblue]

Well, that's why I flew to France instead and filled my suitcase !:banana:

And had a nice meal along the way....

ooh la la!

delicieux!

sacre bleu (ray)! :yikes

 

[fredblue]

This is sounding wonderful....

ah now that is GREAT to see!

this one does not have the same (crappy!) numeric grid affair onscreen menu with black background as the Marley, Wonder & S'tramp!

here you have the Song Titles (alleluia!) on a rather fetching white background!

i like it!

 

[inquadwetrust]

I had a feeling that the Serge could turn out to be 5.1 as it had been released recently as the 3 disc set with the DD 5.1. I would have thought access and rights to the surround mix was still current and easier to include. Is it possible that some of the previous SACD releases that appear in stereo as BDA simply didn't carry the 5.1 mix with the rights and permissions or indeed the masters weren't archived in the same way?

I realise of course that the DSD contained within the multichannel SACDs is retrievable and thus transferrable to PCM. For all the wonderful debate and insight into surround sound to be found on QQ there is a lack of detail with regards to the archiving of original DVDA and SACD surround masters. I don't know where/how and what is archived.

 

[culabula]

Yes, Barbara up next, I'll give you feedback on that and a photo -hopefully the right way up.

If one owns the 5.1 DVD of Melody Nelson, is there any point in ordering the new BD-A?

 

[Dixie4]

ah now that is GREAT to see!

this one does not have the same (crappy!) numeric grid affair onscreen menu with black background as the Marley, Wonder & S'tramp!

here you have the Song Titles (alleluia!) on a rather fetching white background!

The Rolling Stones menu is awful ! What's the point of having a grid of 50 tracks, and you can't access it !! ?? ( Well, I can't on mine ! )
I like to see title information.

 

[culabula]

The Rolling Stones menu is awful ! What's the point of having a grid of 50 tracks, and you can't access it !! ?? ( Well, I can't on mine ! )
I like to see title information.

You can access it, but its a PITA. They should give a free magnifying glass with every copy.

 

[Dixie4]

If one owns the 5.1 DVD of Melody Nelson, is there any point in ordering the new BD-A?

Did you buy it ? Mine will be delivered today. Looking forward so much to hearing it !

 

[culabula]

Did you buy it ? Mine will be delivered today. Looking forward so much to hearing it !

No, because I already own last year's release on DVD in 5.1.

 

[Dixie4]

You can access it, but its a PITA.

What's that ?

 

[culabula]

The five extra tracks tacked onto the end of «Brel» do not sound in any way as good as the preceding twelve, nor do they sound as good as they did on «Infiniment».

 

[culabula]

What's that ?

A pain in the a....

 

[Dixie4]

No, because I already own last year's release on DVD in 5.1.

I wonder if anyone has both to compare ? I guess they would both sound the same sonically ?

 

[Dixie4]

A pain in the a....

 

[culabula]

I wonder if anyone has both to compare ? I guess they would both sound the same sonically ?

That's what I'm asking in effect. I wasn't going to plunge for another 20€ when I already own several copies including the 5.1 (you're in for a rare treat, by the way. The vocals are luscious, not to mention the surround mix).

Among my copies is the original highly-respected Philips CD.

 

[Dixie4]

The five extra tracks tacked onto the end of «Brel» do not sound in any way as good as the preceding twelve, nor do they sound as good as they did on «Infiniment».

What's the point of the extra tracks, if they're not of the same audible quality ?? ( It's like they decided, " We'll stick these extra's on, consumers will think they're getting more value "....are they forgetting that these discs are touted as, " High Fidelity, Pure Audio " ?? )