New Alan Parsons album "From The New World" out in July! (CD/DVD release)

[4-earredwonder]

Confirmed by back cover it's a DVD~Video with 5.1 Dolby Digital mix with LPCM Stereo

 

[JulesRules]

Confirmed by back cover it's a DVD~Video with 5.1 Dolby Digital mix with LPCM Stereo

So that's different from The Secret, which had DD stereo, DTS stereo and DTS 5.1.
"Due to licensing restrictions, the Be My Baby track will play with a black screen only"

 

[jaybird100]

It already sounds better than anything on “The secret”, that is the most disappointing AP album to me so far

I liked "The Secret"! Am I the only one?

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I liked "The Secret"! Am I the only one?

No I thought it was decent as well. One Note Symphony and As Lights Fall are gems.

 

[JulesRules]

The Secret was one of my favourite albums from 2019. I don't think there's a bad song on it, there are just a bit too many ballad-type tracks in a row. Although the new album probably won't differ greatly in that regard...

 

[rtbluray]

Confirmed by back cover it's a DVD~Video with 5.1 Dolby Digital mix with LPCM Stereo

Yuck! It's a hard pass for me then.
Alan needs to get away from Frontier Records as quickly as possible.
First the mess-up on the One Note Symphony Blu-Ray (which contained Dolby Digital 5.1 audio instead on DTS-HD Master Audio as advertised) and now this?! Digusting...

At least Alan still appears to be with Esoteric Recordings for his back catalogue reissues (whenever those will happen again...)
Esoteric at least has DTS audio for most of their DVDs

 

[mandrix]

I agree about the DD. I just don't get it. I suppose less licensing fees but that's a cop out when less known artists can cough up at least DTS.
I can't for the life of me understand why all B.O.C.'s Blu ray's are DD 5.1.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

I wonder why they're only offering Dolby Digital. Perhaps the DVD discs capacity will be just a single layer (4.7/4.4GB) type

 

[jaybird100]

Yuck! It's a hard pass for me then.
Alan needs to get away from Frontier Records as quickly as possible.
First the mess-up on the One Note Symphony Blu-Ray (which contained Dolby Digital 5.1 audio instead on DTS-HD Master Audio as advertised) and now this?! Digusting...

At least Alan still appears to be with Esoteric Recordings for his back catalogue reissues (whenever those will happen again...)
Esoteric at least has DTS audio for most of their DVDs

Why are we being so particular about which system they used for the surround? Yes, DTS sounds better, but we should be glad they're offering it in surround at all!

 

[madship]

Maybe not, but Alan's short essay included with the Blu-Ray makes it sound like the 5.1 remix was done with a lot of care.

View attachment 80469

I always wondered whether baking was a euphemism, but it turns out to be a literal term for the process when preparing a new mix.

 

[JediJoker]

I always wondered whether baking was a euphemism, but it turns out to be a literal term for the process when preparing a new mix.

Very much so. It's likely "modern" tapes will never need to be baked, and there are some older tapes that don't and won't, but the '70s saw a change in backing material that causes delamination over time. The only way to get those tapes to hold together enough to be played back is to heat them up first.

 

[Bill B]

Wow, Alan Parsons had emergency spinal surgery...

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/alan-parsons-spinal-surgery/

 

[4-earredwonder]

Wow, Alan Parsons had emergency spinal surgery...

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/alan-parsons-spinal-surgery/

We all certainly wish Alan a speedy recovery so he can get back on the road and promote FROM THE NEW WORLD!

 

[JulesRules]

Yuck! It's a hard pass for me then.
Alan needs to get away from Frontier Records as quickly as possible.

Well, evidently he's happy with them. He made that rather clear when The Secret came out: In the years prior he used to say that he was disappointed by the poor sales of A Valid Path, but once the new album was out he revealed that there was no new album in such a long time because there were no good offers from labels.

(That doesn't mean I wouldn't want to see him on InsideOut...)

I agree about the DD. I just don't get it. I suppose less licensing fees but that's a cop out when less known artists can cough up at least DTS.
I can't for the life of me understand why all B.O.C.'s Blu ray's are DD 5.1.

My grandparents' DVD player can't play DTS, so on The Secret, there was no playable 5.1 track. I would therefore assume it's an attempt to remain compatible - and storage space, since I guess a single layer DVD can't hold both DTS and DD plus hi-res stereo?

 

[JediJoker]

My grandparents' DVD player can't play DTS, so on The Secret, there was no playable 5.1 track.

But are your grandparents even in the market for Alan Parsons' music, or any surround music? (I suppose that depends on their age.) I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that anyone who would want to hear any surround album would have a disc player capable of at least core DTS.

 

[JulesRules]

But are your grandparents even in the market for Alan Parsons' music, or any surround music? (I suppose that depends on their age.) I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that anyone who would want to hear any surround album would have a disc player capable of at least core DTS.

I get to use it when they're on holiday. I don't have a DVD or BD player of my own, although I now thankfully have a working drive for my laptop again.

Of course I don't know the stats on how many DVD players are still in use that can't do DTS, but this doesn't seem to be accidental to me, as I would've expected them to stick with the formats of The Secret.

 

[mandrix]

I get to use it when they're on holiday. I don't have a DVD or BD player of my own, although I now thankfully have a working drive for my laptop again.

Of course I don't know the stats on how many DVD players are still in use that can't do DTS, but this doesn't seem to be accidental to me, as I would've expected them to stick with the formats of The Secret.

I'm thinking the DVD player must be pretty old if it won't decode DTS? Although Dolby got in first, DTS wasn't too far behind. I don't know if surround lpcm would have fit on the disc, but that would have been a better option for me. Thanks @Mr. Afternoon I now know that surround lpcm is allowed on a DVD.

I personally thought "The Secret" was a snooze, although I realize many like it. Maybe I'll break the disc out and have a listen and see if it sounds better to me now.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

My grandparents' DVD player can't play DTS, so on The Secret, there was no playable 5.1 track....

Out of interest... What's its make and model number?

 

[sjcorne]

Thanks @Mr. Afternoon I now know that surround lpcm is allowed on a DVD.

Within the DVD-V spec? How?

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Thanks @Mr. Afternoon I now know that surround lpcm is allowed on a DVD.

Well.....Yes and no!

Source: LPCM Audio Limitations (The 'MuxMan' DVD software developer)

Creating and muxing multi-channel LPCM audio in-accordance with the DVD-Video specification is a bit different to creating and muxing multi-channel LPCM audio in-accordance with the DVD-Audio specification, as there's little or no moving (MPEG-2 encoded) video to suck up the DVD discs maximum permitted bit-rate.

Suffice to say, creating and muxing multi-channel LPCM audio suitable for use with HFPA or Pure Audio Blu-ray discs is much easier...