To be honest, the "criticism"/questions/humour, whatever, are fair points!
I am a big boy, I can take the criticism (if that's what it was, it's not clear if it really was, or a joke (or perhaps a bit of both))
. Of course, buying clothing I really couldn't give much of a toss about, I would never feel compelled to get gouged similarly for clothing, but I seem to be less than average on that front, when I look around. However, good music I *am* a sucker for, and really struggle with not buying something I like/want, if it's clearly a rip off (like the Pink Floyd early years box set, when all I wanted was the Meddle 96/24 2.0 and more so, the 5.1). I didn't end up purchasing the full box set, but the individual BluRay, when it later came out, and when it turned out they had removed the "hidden" 96/24 5.1, I "acquired it" elsewhere instead... (but I digress).
Of course I don't actually hope for this kind of behaviour (price gouging via releasing an inferior version, wait a while and then release it again in higher quality), but, seeing as only the "inferior" is currently available, with no known likelihood of the "proper" higher quality release in the future, I bought what is available, and very much enjoy it.
However, it doesn't stop me being annoyed at this and if they were to release the proper version, life is too short to deny yourself the pleasure that can be derived from a great album (if that's what any particular title is to you), released in a great format, as surely a release of the 5.1 in 94/24 would be (based on the 96/24 2.0). Of course, it would depend on the price, but the likely price would likely not put me off (though I do shake my head at the current price of the Eagles Hotel California re-release of the existing 96/24 5.1 mix on Blu for the first time!
(luckily, I already have an SACD rip of that! ; )).
Everything is a price/performance balance that is personal to each any every one of us (depends on how much you like the individual title, how much disposable income you have, what your overall spending priorities are). I have loved this album since I discovered Fleetwood Mac in the mid 80s, it's only slightly behind Rumours (which is my favourite) by a small margin, and was over the moon when this release was announced. I'm obviously less over the moon than I was, but as I said, it's a really nice mix and the overall sound quality is highly listenable, if not as good as it should/could be.
On another note, now I'm posting on here now (been a "long time reader"), does anybody on here know why rather than taking a chance with producing a run of potentially loss making DVD-A/SACD/BluRays, when a studio is already sitting on a completed mix (especially a 5.1 mix), like in this case, why they don't just make that available via the purchase/download sites, and not make a physical production run? Why do they not do that? Seems like a low-risk/cost approach where they could make money out of something they are currently making nothing out of, with little up-front costs (which is where the risk is).
Cheers,
Matt.
