RUSH R30 to be released on Blu-ray

[eljay]

I didn't check for any supplemental material on the single disc that was in the case, but I will do so tonight and post an update...unless someone else beats me to it.

[Poles]

Hi. Some owners of this blu ray could tell us if it's region all or region A only?

I saw the back cover on the axelmusic website, but there are no indications about.

Bye, Chris

[HDmark]

This is the strangest packaging yet. Other than the tiniest of tiny Blu-ray logos, there's no indication anywhere on the packaging that it is one. The only other hint is that its a smaller box than usual.

(I didn't buy this -- didn't have the funds -- but I saw it at Walmart (Canada) for $19.93)

Methinks this was rushed (no pun intended) to production...

[eljay]

Yup, the Blu-ray's case is just a smaller version of the DVD's "book"-style case. And the booklet that's inside looks like a re-print of the DVD booklet: It makes no reference at all to Blu-ray or DTS-HD MA or anything related to the technical aspects of the new version.

Methinks this was rushed (no pun intended) to production...

The Blu-ray looks better (use of the original, uncompressed "high definition" footage?) and sounds better (DTS-HD MA re-mastering of the audio) than the DVD, but it does appear that a minimum amount of effort was expended getting the new version out to market.

[reedlover]

Originally Posted by Poles

Hi. Some owners of this blu ray could tell us if it's region all or region A only?

I saw the back cover on the axelmusic website, but there are no indications about.

Bye, Chris

I am from the UK so I checked with the distributor.

According to Rounder it is region free:

Our disc is not region coded - so if you did order from us it would play fine for you. I don't know naything about a European release.

[davidxiphoid]

Originally Posted by Paul.R.S

Are the disc 2 supplements of the DVD ("Interviews" and "The Anthem Vault") not on the BD?

Unless I'm missing something that is correct which annoys the hell out of me. I am watching it right now and the Audio and Video are quite good, definitely a step up from the DVD but there are NO extras. Just the concert.

I was hoping to give the DVD to a friend but because of this bare bones release I'm forced to hang on to it. I can't complain too much. I'm a huge RUSH fan and IMO it's a good improvement in audio and sound from the DVD. On top of that I only paid $13 for it on Amazon. still the extras would have been really nice.

[Hwkn]

Imho the video's as good on the Blu ray as the Palladia broadcast I mentioned earlier[the color quality's a bit better on the Blu ray].....looks like they used the same master as on that broadcast.

[Trip]

I'm glad some others on here are saying the same as me about this release.... WTF??? After seeing this on Palladia and Snakes and Arrows, I had high hopes. I'm VERY disappointed in this release. The PQ is inconsistant as hell. Sometime it is above average, sometimes below, but the PQ did seem to me that it got better as the disc went along. I did put the disc in my A35 to see if it was actually a DVD. It read "no disc", so I guess it is a BD.

AQ?? Ball totally dropped. No True HD or Master Audio, just a DTS 5.1 track and 2.0 lossless. No kick ass audio, no extras, no goodies, but the disc runs at 3 hours+. I guess they used the disc for the film and there wasn't any room left for anything else.

The band is great and the setlist impressive, but I'm not sure that I would buy this again, but at $13.49 at Amazon, the pill is easier to swallow.

On this one, you definitely get what you pay for...

[Paul.R.S]

Originally Posted by Trip

AQ?? Ball totally dropped. No True HD or Master Audio, just a DTS 5.1 track and 2.0 lossless. No kick ass audio, no extras, no goodies, but the disc runs at 3 hours+. I guess they used the disc for the film and there wasn't any room left for anything else. {bold mine}

Are you sure, Trip? Eljay posted earlier saying the audio tracks are DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Digital 5.1. (If anyone's player has a bitrate meter that shows the bitrate of that Dolby Digital track, I'm interested in confirmation that it is likely 640kbps.)

Originally Posted by davidxiphoid

Unless I'm missing something that is correct which annoys the hell out of me. I am watching it right now and the Audio and Video are quite good, definitely a step up from the DVD but there are NO extras. Just the concert.

I was hoping to give the DVD to a friend but because of this bare bones release I'm forced to hang on to it. I can't complain too much. I'm a huge RUSH fan and IMO it's a good improvement in audio and sound from the DVD. On top of that I only paid $13 for it on Amazon. still the extras would have been really nice.

Indeed, annoying re absence of those supps.

Thankfully the second disc is Netflixable.

[eljay]

Had the disc on again last night. My player displayed the following information:

- 1080/60i (AVC)
- Bitrate was fairly steady at 20-25Mbps
- DTS-HD MA 48KHz

There are no extras on the disc, and there is no region coding identified anywhere on the disc or the packaging. (So, either it's region-free or they forgot to include the region labelling.)

I did a bit of back-to-back comparo with the DVD and, as I had noted earlier, there's no mistaking the improvement in the PQ: It's cleaner, with better contrast and crisper colours. With my headphones on (it was late and the missues was in bed), it was clear that the AQ was better, too. Vocals were a bit more prominent, and audio was generally clearer overall.

In my opinion, the BD version is a definite step up from the DVD version. Well worth the $21.49+ tax (CDN) purchase price.

[davidxiphoid]

Originally Posted by HDmark

This is the strangest packaging yet. Other than the tiniest of tiny Blu-ray logos, there's no indication anywhere on the packaging that it is one. The only other hint is that its a smaller box than usual.

(I didn't buy this -- didn't have the funds -- but I saw it at Walmart (Canada) for $19.93)

Methinks this was rushed (no pun intended) to production...

I'm thinking I'll just take the DVD out of it's packaging and replace it with the blu ray, Put the DVD copy of the concert in the Blu ray case and give THAT to my friend.

Seeing as how the RUSH DVD box is literally the same size as the Blu ray one, at least in height, this will keep the blu with the SD bonus disc that came with the DVD.

[Paul.R.S]

Re " (it was late and the missues was in bed)"

Hilarious. Freudian slip? Mis-sues. Ms. Sues. One letter away from the intended "missus," but also mis-uses. LOL.

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by davidxiphoid

I'm thinking I'll just take the DVD out of it's packaging and replace it with the blu ray, Put the DVD copy of the concert in the Blu ray case and give THAT to my friend.

Seeing as how the RUSH DVD box is literally the same size as the Blu ray one, at least in height, this will keep the blu with the SD bonus disc that came with the DVD.

Great idea actually. I own the original R30 on DVD, so if there's No major packaging change, but you get better Sound & Video on the bluray, I might just give DVD from that to a friend, & toss the bluray package. Extra songs (8 I believe) all on bluray for $13.47 or so, Hell Yea !!

[eljay]

Freudian slip?

I'd like to think it was just careless typing...

[Trip]

Originally Posted by Paul.R.S

Are you sure, Trip? Eljay posted earlier saying the audio tracks are DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Digital 5.1. (If anyone's player has a bitrate meter that shows the bitrate of that Dolby Digital track, I'm interested in confirmation that it is likely 640kbps.)

I did go back and look at the disc again and it is DTS MA. Last night when I turned my player on I had to reset it and it killed my HDMI settings. It did show DTS and sound not good last night, but sounds much better doing LPCM from the PS3 to the 607.

[eljay]

I watched about 30-40 minutes of the show this evening - and did a bit of "concert volume" A/B-ing w/ the DVD for good measure - and my final thoughts on this BD version of R30 are: Buy it. It offers a significant improvement over the DVD version and it's a really good show.

PQ is cleaner overall, with noticeably better contrast and sharpness, and with crisper colours. The DTS-HD MA soundtrack is clearer, more immersive and much more dynamic.

If you don't have R30, it's worth owning on BD; if you do have it on DVD, it's worth the upgrade to BD.

"For I have dined on honeydew / and drunk the milk of Paradise"

\m/ \m/

[Trip]

Originally Posted by eljay

"For I have dined on honeydew / and drunk the milk of Paradise"

When Geddy sings this line the shot is from behind him, and this guy about 4 rows back is singing this line. Damn he's into too. He reminds me of the guy on the State Farm commercial singing "Point of No Return" while drumming on his steering wheel.

Take a look. Funny as hell.

I had forgotten what a cool song Xanadu is.

[eljay]

Originally Posted by Trip

When Geddy sings this line the shot is from behind him, and this guy about 4 rows back is singing this line. Damn he's into too.

I noticed him the first time I watched the concert on DVD. He's doing what I'd probably be doing if I were in his place. I look for him every time I play that song...

I had forgotten what a cool song Xanadu is.

Yup, it's one of my Rush favourites. Definitely top five.

[KAT]

Weird. The sticker applied to the blu-ray packaging says:

---The Complete Concert Available for the first time---
7 previously unreleased performances including "YYZ", "The Trees" and "Bravado"
Extensive bonus materials include interviews and rare performance footage Shot in High Definition.

At least the concert looks and sounds good. And for a concert running at 3 hours, it is definitely worth the money.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by KAT

Weird. The sticker applied to the blu-ray packaging says:

---The Complete Concert Available for the first time---
7 previously unreleased performances including "XYZ", "The Trees" and "Bravado"
Extensive bonus materials include interviews and rare performance footage Shot in High Definition.

At least the concert looks and sounds good. And for a concert running at 3 hours, it is definitely worth the money.

YYZ

Watched about half of this tonight. Simply awesome!