TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

For releasing a title (Close to the Wind) on DVD-Audio - ordered it today and thoroughly looking forward to hearing it.

Can we have more of the same, or on SACD pretty please?

Ta

This came out about 5 years ago, didn't it?  I thought DVD-A and SACD were both dead formats these days?

lol, first I have ever heard of these formats!
wiki says 'The first discs entered the marketplace in 2000. DVD-Audio was in a format war with Super Audio CD (SACD), another format for delivering high-fidelity audio content. Neither has gained a strong position in the marketplace.' so bit of a fail then....

SACD is brill, but a  format fading into obscurity, albeit a lot of mid-noughties players have that capability. If you have a system that can play them, then DSoTM is the one to get....

And this illustrates the problem that has dogged SACD and DVD-A.  Absolutely no marketing of the formats whatsoever.  A system can't fail if it hasn't been given a chance to get going in the first place!

I didn't know about them myself until about a month ago, while bringing my trusty Ariston Pro turntable back into day to day use.

I found that there were some high resolution recordings that my computer could play and was gobsmacked at how much better it sounded over that of a standard CD playing the same material - which ain't 'alf bad given the number of jobs we expect our computers to do.

Now computer CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drives can't read SACD or DVD-A, so with a spare few bob I invested in a couple of disks and a Cambridge Audio DVD99.  At the very least I'd get a decent 1080p DVD upscaler, I reasoned.  But the multi-channel high resolution SACDs sound truly spectacular - a much wider dynamic range, with little or no audio compression - in multi-channel surround sound.  it's worth it just for any extra care that goes into the remastering.

I now find that Amazon UK has over 6,000 SACD titles and over 9,500 DVD-Audio titles.  Although I suspect some of those DVD-As might be mis-categorised, that's still an impressive catalogue and new titles are being released - they're just "under the radar".

Right now, I'm hooked.  As a fan of music in many and varied forms, these formats are the pinnacle of what I can expect to achieve without spending the stratospheric amounts of money I don't have.

You had me wondering what DSoTM meant, for a few minutes there, Andy.

But the Floyd's masterpiece isn't on my list at the moment, I've already got at least two copies of it on other formats.

I've started of with Brothers In Arms and War of the Worlds.

I have a couple of SACD players. The format is a niche market but still going. I have 20 or so discs including the Stones, Santana and Miles Davies. All sound great.  

i think it was the record company who released that old compilation on dvd -audio rather than the band
but that was that for FC and the dvd-a revolution wasnt it.
i cant see matty grooves being interested in what was only ever going to be a niche market
its only chance was for dual CD/sacd discs which didnt cost extra like DSOTM and the stones decca remasters
most of the sacd's on amazon seem to be a good few years old , suggesting that its a format that time forgot, but Rob didnt

robin, you must have the hearing of a bat, did you pay £20+  for that old compilation cd?

I have to say, I wish I had the same!

Talking of which, has anybody else watched a Blu-Ray disc (on a decent Hi-Def tele) and seen absolutely no difference whatsoever to watching a DVD?  No?  Oh, ok, then....   :)

Incidentally, one area where 24 bit Audio (DVD-A) recordings are quite popular is in 'live recording' trading circles.  I've downloaded a few but genuinely can't tell the slightest bit of difference between them and a 16-bit FLAC recording of the same material.  They're just twice as big to store, that's all!

mp3 at 192 sounds much the same to me as flacs but i blame ritchie blackmore for that

Even if there's no advantage in high word lengths and bit rates, the extra care taken in transferring them, and the lack of audio compression, makes them worthwhile.  They're much clearer and (if the original studio masters allow) devoid of over-modulation and distortion.

Most are remixed and transferred as 1:1 copies of the studio masters.  The remixing is often made into discrete multi-channel (5.1 or better) audio, too.

SACD and DVD-A aren't necessarily exclusive of each other when it comes to replay equipment either.  My Cambridge Audio DVD99 handles both (as well as being an excellent 1080p DVD upscaler too).

Linn Records and Naim Label are very active in the HD Audio field, with regular new recordings - although they do tend to be Classical or Jazz.  Folk, particularly acoustic, would really benefit from the same sort of treatment.

right, but is there much of a market for them, folkies are notoriously tight fisted ::)

I think that interest would be greater if people knew about them.

The sales of turntables and vinyl are growing faster than CDs now, and there is a significant "audiophile" market that craves audio perfection even more than I do. If £1700 turntables are selling well, then I don't see why SACD/DVD-As and their players won't.

Linn don't even make dedicated CD players any more, prefering to concentrate on high definition audio streaming devices, and multi-function DVD players.  Yet they still build and sell the ubiquitous Linn Sondek turntable.

So, credit crunch notwithstanding, the money's there for the taking.

Just discovered a new record label; Three Black Feathers [click] (http://www.threeblackfeathers.co.uk/) who are remastering and rereleasing some of the old Topic label LPs.  Even though they've only just started I see that some of the titles have Fairport members playing and/or singing on them.  But no Fairport titles at the moment.  Hopefully that'll change.

But at a minimum £24.99 each, I'll have to pass I'm sorry to say.  I haven't got the bottomless pit of your average audiophile.

Rob, if you click on to the "Sister site" from the menu on the left of the Three Black Feathers page you come to a "Classic Lp's" page, click through and choose "Folk & Roots", - there's tons of stuff there including six Fairport LPs and Fotheringay 2

Favourited.  Thanks.

Might have to come have a listen to some of that Tony....

Not sure who "robin" is, but if you mean me, then No I didn't.  I paid much less than the price of two CDs.  Which is fair, given that it is a reworking of the two albums; The Five Seasons & Red and Gold.

But I must have got the last one from the particular seller, as the price on Amazon is now over £23 - I paid nothing like that!

Mind you, it still hasn't been delivered  ???

As for my hearing; I have a lot of time on my hands, so I'm in the enviable position of being able to sit down, sink into the music and give it my full, undivided attention.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


Lovelly.

Just got it this morning.  It's like the very best sorbet - sharp, clear and yet very smooth.

Mock Morris is especially good, I can sense the influence of Gryphon in there, or rather the kind of delivery that would have been predominant during the Rennaisance when a consort of crumhorns would have lead the way.  For all I know I might be talking rubbish - but I like it anyway.  :) :)