Suggestions for Audio Fidelity Multichannel SACD Releases

[fredblue]

When o When we can have a release from Audio Fidelity with a popular artist in surround SACD?

My hopes are very low..... maybe we are really at the end of the road for surround SACD.

Regards,

With you on that, personal confidence shaken by 3 albums in a row now that have Quad mixes which have not been utilised and the resultant AF SACDs = Stereo only.. disappointing ain't the word... in the case of RTF & Weather Report = gutted, bordering on bored to (BS &) Tears poring over it.

 

[fredblue]

There are a few tracks on "The Collection" whose albums have never been released on SACD before. "Tyranny & Mutation" is one of those albums. Same goes for the Harold Melvin & Friends of Distinction albums. The vast majority of the other tracks have already been released on SACD before, making an AF SACD release of many of these other titles not likely to happen.
I think that's what Brian's getting at, but only he can say for sure.




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Understood, thanks.

 

[Q-Eight]

With you on that, personal confidence shaken by 3 albums in a row now that have Quad mixes which have not been utilised and the resultant AF SACDs = Stereo only.. disappointing ain't the word... in the case of RTF & Weather Report = gutted, bordering on bored to (BS &) Tears poring over it.

Don't get so upset over it. Audio Fidelity is the one that should worry. After all, it's not your money (or mine) that they're getting from Stereo-only releases!

In the case of B,S&T; well, they couldn't provide what I wanted, so, using the albums at my disposal, I created my own Greatest Hits disc expunging the songs I did not like, adding two tracks from New City and using the full versions from the unreleased Reel.

Done like dinner. I got what I wanted and it didn't cost me a dime.

 

[fredblue]

Don't get so upset over it. Audio Fidelity is the one that should worry. After all, it's not your money (or mine) that they're getting from Stereo-only releases!

In the case of B,S&T; well, they couldn't provide what I wanted, so, using the albums at my disposal, I created my own Greatest Hits disc expunging the songs I did not like, adding two tracks from New City and using the full versions from the unreleased Reel.

Done like dinner. I got what I wanted and it didn't cost me a dime.

You're right.. of course you are.. totally.. it just sucks.. I don't think I'd have given a **** years ago but this feels like the potential last hurrah for some of these Quads.. case in point, has there been a decent physical reissue of Musicmagic in any form? miserable missed opportunity to do it right once and for all on AF's part imho..

anyhoo, good creative do it yourself job with the BS&T!
(that sounds wrong on so many levels but.. you know what I mean! )
..can't see anyone reissuing the Mirror Image & New City Quads, a shame as they're both terrific mixes imho.. maybe Dutton Vocalion would consider doing a 2-fer.. not their kinda thing maybe I dunno?
off to the land of nod, take care matey and stay creative :upthumb

 

[edisonbaggins]

Windham did at least one Winter Solstice album that was great...

You got any more info on that? Is is hi-res or surround?

 

[timbre4]

You got any more info on that? Is is hi-res or surround?

Neither, just beautiful well engineered Windham Hill RBCDs you can play everywhere.

A Winter Solstice Reunion 01934-11369-2
> probably under $5

George Winston has recorded several albums that allow one to fully absorb the season (without being clobbered by schmaltz)

Winter WD-1025 - stone Classic; you can hear the snow and remember how the white landscape makes you feel.

Linus & Lucy - the music of Vince Guaraldi 01934-11184-2 for some familiar fun

Winter Into Spring - WD 1019 because Winter doesn't last forever but hopefully nature will!

In summary, the selection of surround music is but a fraction of the total music market. Therefore holiday music is simply going to be a teeny tiny sliver within that.



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[quadtrade]

Just for the thought, no malice intended. There was a line here that gives me pause, and i have to disagree somewhat. The idea that we give a better education now than we old farts got is just wrong. We get lots of info we have no idea is true or not. But Our parents were willing to support schools like they should be run. We got more education in grade school than many get now through high school. Especially thing like Civics, and Art, and Music, and History, and Geography, and Lit and ... it goes on and on. In this country we are not willing to spend the $ on funds it takes to provide a well rounded education with small class sizes. It means more teachers, more technology, more funds. We have the F-35, 100 built and none operational. $400 billion. Stop a ******* jet and we would have plenty of dough.
A lot of Xmas albums are I think, are redo of seasonal songs many grew up hearing, but by popular artists of the time. It changes each decade and they get redone over and over again. All albums have a better chance of selling 50 years ago, we are slightly distracted these days!

Christmas is a total B.S. holiday for a lot of people. Discussing it can pack a lot of emotional weight.
Musically speaking, I think Christmas albums were a better bet back in the '50's or so, when mainstream Christianity was far more dominant, here in the US and in other developed countries.
Nowadays, more and more people are not affiliated with religion or are even anti-religious, through bad experiences, better education (especially access to information rapidly through the internet) and stuff like that.
I just can't see Christmas albums as being the "sure thing" they once were.
Perhaps an album of Winter Solstice music or something that includes a variety of religions from cultures around the world would pack more appeal, if the music is good.

 

[Simon A]

Just for the thought, no malice intended. There was a line here that gives me pause, and i have to disagree somewhat. The idea that we give a better education now than we old farts got is just wrong. We get lots of info we have no idea is true or not. But Our parents were willing to support schools like they should be run. We got more education in grade school than many get now through high school. Especially thing like Civics, and Art, and Music, and History, and Geography, and Lit and ... it goes on and on. In this country we are not willing to spend the $ on funds it takes to provide a well rounded education with small class sizes. It means more teachers, more technology, more funds. We have the F-35, 100 built and none operational. $400 billion. Stop a ******* jet and we would have plenty of dough.
A lot of Xmas albums are I think, are redo of seasonal songs many grew up hearing, but by popular artists of the time. It changes each decade and they get redone over and over again. All albums have a better chance of selling 50 years ago, we are slightly distracted these days!

I agree with you 100%.

 

[edisonbaggins]

Let me try to clarify my statement somewhat, not that I mind anybody disagreeing. You should just disagree with what I really meant.
It is without a doubt that people, in general, have more access to more information today - yes, you have to vet information on the internet. But you have access to more information, for better or worse.
You are now less at the mercy of whatever "authority figure" in your life decides to teach you, be it a high school teacher, preacher, Imam, whatever. You can fact-check and make up your own mind more easily, in certain cases, if you are so inclined.
This has helped some, in this day and age, make the decision that what they were taught about certain things is B.S. and to choose not to buy in to it.
Not to mention that, since the '50's there have been tremendous progressive discoveries in Cosmogony, Cosmology, Astronomy, Biology and many other sciences. Sure, certain school systems out there suck balls and not every student benefits from the same quality of education. I am talking about a general increase of access to information. It would be interesting to get some data on how well Christmas music is doing these days, compared to the past, and yes, relative to how all music is doing. It just seems to me that as official religious affiliation by the populous decreases that it would impact Christmas music sales (possibly other spiritual music, but I'd think the less schmaltzy the music, the less in danger it would be). Again, all this is in question of why AF chose a certain album for their MC SACD series. Anyway, that is closer to my point.

 

[bmoura]

Audio Fidelity just has to find a way to license out some of his older (or even unreleased) mixes that are already completed, but either the owning parties (record label and/or artist) are putting up a road block to that happening, or AF just do not see profit potential from albums that could be available to them.

The real gold mine for AF when it comes to Elliot Scheiner 5.1 mixes (besides anything great that is unreleased, of course) are those DVD-A only releases from the likes of Steely Dan & Donald Fagen. ("Kamakiriad", "Two Against Nature", and "Everything Must Go") I know that Marshall has tried to acquire those titles (especially "Kamakiriad") but none of those have received the green light, and I don't think they ever will.

There's also some other albums that are probably low-hanging fruit for AF that they could also try to grab, with "Toy Matinee" being probably the best option.

The Steely Dan catalog remains unavailable for reissue licensing. Audio Fidelity (and the other reissue labels) are aware of the interest that these albums would have on the reissue market.

As for Toy Matinee, that one doesn't have the sales potential needed among Stereo fans for the reissue market.

 

[4-earredwonder]

two years ago the partnership between ES and AF was announced, https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...-Audio-Fidelity-Announce-5-1-SACD-Partnership

The way it was announced one would think more was in the pipeline and not that they would get together if the opportunity becomes available.

At the time, Robert, there was a huge expectation that with ES' considerable clout in the recording industry a considerable flurry of new surround releases would suddenly manifest themselves........and that ES' unreleased 5.1 masters would also magically appear and that perhaps artists who were reluctant to release in surround would acquiesce to ES and allow him to remix their albums into 5.1 as well.

What we didn't anticipate is the VERY slow process involved in getting even a single 70's QUAD release to fruition and ES' imminent retirement.....only a scant few months (in retrospect) after the initial announcement was made.

Ironically, the ONLY new Scheiner 5.1 release was "Let It Snow......" and you know how well that went over........even though I liked it.

Inevitably, separate licensing fees to create a RBCD/STEREO/QUAD SACD release, questionable choice of surround titles, the VERY minute surround niche market and Mr. Scheiner's retirement all conspired to put a rather abrupt end to AF's QUAD/5.1 endeavors and since this is the third QUAD/SURROUND revival (70's QUAD/00 SACD/DVD~A launch/AF's PUSH) might mean an end to this cornucopia of riches because there's that reality in baseball: THREE STRIKES, YER OUT!

Hopefully, it won't be THE END as there is a small treasure trove of newly announced surround releases but one thing is certain:

Brian Moura is going to have to change his title from THE MULTICHANNEL MAVEN to Mr. DSD!

 

[bmoura]

Brian Moura is going to have to change his title from THE MULTICHANNEL MAVEN to Mr. DSD!

Don't forget the regular releases of Multichannel DSD titles. Now approaching 800 over at Native DSD, for example.
https://www.nativedsd.com/new_browse/#channel=multi

 

[4-earredwonder]

Don't forget the regular releases of Multichannel DSD titles. Now approaching 800 over at Native DSD, for example.
https://www.nativedsd.com/new_browse/#channel=multi

Aw, Gee, Schucks, Brian, I suppose you can keep the title of multichannel maven but a more apt title might be THE PCM ANTICHRIST!:yikes

 

[bmoura]

Aw, Gee, Schucks, Brian, I suppose you can keep the title of multichannel maven but a more apt title might be THE PCM ANTICHRIST!:yikes

I have Multichannel PCM as well. Remember, we do live in the era of Optical Disc Players (like the Oppo 105) and Digital to Analog Converters (DACs) that play all formats - PCM and DSD as well as Stereo and Multichannel sound.

No need to choose, or be religious about sound formats or other products in the consumer world.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I have Multichannel PCM as well. Remember, we do live in the era of Optical Disc Players (like the Oppo 105) and Digital to Analog Converters (DACs) that play all formats - PCM and DSD as well as Stereo and Multichannel sound.

No need to choose, or be religious about sound formats or other products in the consumer world.

I agree. I've read NUMEROUS articles praising/damning both formats and to tell the truth, both formats have their strengths/weaknesses.

Most unfortunately, there is still no truly archival solution for preserving our musical heritage that I know of..........

Do you know of any?

 

[rtbluray]

As for Toy Matinee, that one doesn't have the sales potential needed among Stereo fans for the reissue market.

I figured that would be the case, because when I emailed Marshall about that title, he had no idea who Toy Matinee were, and yet, I still feel like it would be a better release and would sell more for AF than titles like "Let It Snow" and "Fresh Aire 8", but I could be wrong.

 

[edisonbaggins]

I figured that would be the case, because when I emailed Marshall about that title, he had no idea who Toy Matinee were, and yet, I still feel like it would be a better release and would sell more for AF than titles like "Let It Snow" and "Fresh Aire 8", but I could be wrong.

Well, I can't speak to how well they've ever sold, but Toy Matinee and Kevin Gilbert are pretty well known, at least among people in my age group.
Kind of like Jeff Buckley, Gilbert is mourned as one of those special artists that died far too young. I'd love to see his Shaming of the True receive deluxe treatment.
And I just searched out and found Toy Matinee in 5.1 20-bit on the used market not too long ago.

 

[edisonbaggins]

I'd love to see his Shaming of the True receive deluxe treatment.

Beyond the 2011 2 CD version, I mean. Does the fact that the album has already received some deluxe love prove it's got some market appeal?

[video=youtube;AyBE8BU3MR8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyBE8BU3MR8[/video]

 

[Simon A]

After reading Q-Eight's excellent thread about the various Kris Kristofferson's Quad Q8 tapes, it really made me wish Audio Fidelity would release at least one of them in their Quad SACD series.

 

[bmoura]

When o When we can have a release from Audio Fidelity with a popular artist in surround SACD?

My hopes are very low..... maybe we are really at the end of the road for surround SACD.

Regards,

Is Blue Oyster Cult considered a "popular artist" or perhaps not popular enough?