What in the hell is the deal?! (music BD)

[The Lion King]

There's no point in having BCDs. Regular CDs offer very good quality audio.

[AlexKx]

Obviously you are not interested in unreleased songs, alternative versions of songs, demos, outtakes, intrumentals, remixes, various edits, b-sides, rare songs, short promotional films (music videos), making ofs, recording ofs, old interviews, new interviews, documentary on the project and recording the l.p., and some grand slam new packaging whatever that might be.

[Bobby Henderson]

The standard CD format is obsolete -at least in terms of its business model. CD Sales have been declining for years. I think one of the key reasons is customers don't feel like they are getting good value for the price.

Most music CDs, even ones that have been in stores for many years, cost nearly as much as a new movie release on DVD. Movies on DVD get discounted after three or four months. Music CD titles aren't seriously discounted unless the release was a pile of crap from an unpopular artist. Also, I've often seen concert and music video DVDs costing less than their plain music CD counterparts.

Music CDs rarely offer any exclusive content versus what can be downloaded one song at a time from iTunes or other online music distribution sites. That's a big problem.

Blu-ray can do a LOT more than music CD and deliver a lot more content and value than a music CD. Studios concerned about copy protection issues could use the tougher encryption standards of the BD format. Bundled "digital copy" discs or BD Live features on the disc could allow the customer to download portable MP3, AAC or LPCM files to a flash card in their standalone player or to various kinds of media in a Playstation 3.

[AlexKx]

Thank you for your intellegence and insight Bobby Henderson.

[CptGreedle]

I think it has already failed to MP3, but as a niche product, it could overcome both SACD and DVD-a if they play their cards right.
If enough content is out there, and more players can play them, more high end audiophiles will get this as well as regular people who just want to try it out.
It will never beat MP3, but it could beat SACD and DVD-a.

[SDon1969]

All I know is that a Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd blu-ray (of Dark Side of the Moon, perhaps) with PCM 5.1 sound would be absolutely fantastic.

[mikenike]

Originally Posted by The Lion King

There's no point in having BCDs. Regular CDs offer very good quality audio.

True, but BD can offer excellent quality audio... With the advent of BD concerts, there's no reason to have higher quality audio releases as well. CDs can only do 16-bit and samples at 44.1kHz per channel. BD can do a signifcantly better job, even for your stereo-only music, using 24-bit/192kHz.

There is the DVD-A and SACD technology, but that's a lost cause. And MP3 only hindered music quality. With BD, now is the time for high-resolution audio to shine.

[kingofgrills]

Originally Posted by The Lion King

There's no point in having BCDs. Regular CDs offer very good quality audio.

Your perception was one of a few factors that prevented SACDs and DVD-Audio from reaching mainstream consumer success. Now, Blu-ray is struggling against the "upscaled DVDs look good enough" argument too. Blu-ray as a music medium would face similar struggles against the convenience of iPods and okay sound quality of Redbook CDs.

Current technology, meaning DVDs and CDs have largely reached the "good enough" threshhold for consumers. Sure, there are more and more discerning audio and video enthusiasts, who seek out and appreciate the best possible audio and video performance they can get. However, there's a ton of people out there who can't see, hear, or appreciate the improvements that Blu-ray offers, and that will unfortunately slow down the adoption rates and acceptance of Blu-ray as the standard medium.

[Bobby Henderson]

Anyone who can't tell the difference between upconverted 480p DVD and 1080p Blu-ray either has a really crappy television set, really crappy eye sight or both. It's that simple.

I think many of the people floating arguments that upconverted DVD is good enough either haven't seen Blu-ray on a decent TV and don't know what they're talking about or they have some stupid anti Blu-ray axe they're continuing to grind.

[Mouse]

I thought the Neil Young thing was more a concert than just music meaning there is video with it? So still, it's not a BD used only for music which would really just be a waste. Nobody is going to pay $30 for a music album on Blu-ray when they can download the MP3's for $9. (The legal way) I'm one of the people that prefer MP3's because of the portability. I still buy a CD every once in a while but it's usually because they include a DVD or Bonus-CD with video footage. Anyway, just because I buy MP3's doesn't mean I don't notice the sound quality difference either. I just deal with it. You can even notice quality difference between normal over-the-air radio stations and satalite radio. I've had free Sirius Satalite radio with my car for the past year and the sound quality is far less than what normal radio provides. Sometimes it's so bad that the singers voice becomes muffled and you can't understand them. Why people pay $12 a month for that crap instead of listening to the free radio with better quailty is beyond me.

Anyway, the point for me comes to cost and portability for music. Movies on the other hand don't have to be very portable but DO have to be of good quality. Just another reason HD downloads will never take off... they will never be as good of quality as Blu-ray.

[Maxell]

Most people want their music to be under $15, preferably around $10. Blu-ray can't do that. Higher video quality can sell, sound will not.

[AlexKx]

Well for crying out loud those who want specific things can either download them off of the internet (in particular those who want just the music) or they can come up with smaller cheaper versions of l.p.s on Blu-Ray. That's easily solved.

For those saying that Blu-Ray would have a hard time selling comparing it to people who say Blu-Ray is only somewhat better than d.v.d. (which is incorrect in my opinion) do you all not read any of my posts on what all I understand that Blu-Ray music discs would have the room for in terms of special features? BOTH audio and loads of video stuff...right? Why is this so hard to understand?

[BluUrMyBoy!]

Just thought I'd post this in here if anyone is interested. I'm sure this Blu-ray music doesn't appeal to most people. But... it's a start!

http://www.switched.com/2008/05/30/f...cord-released/

[Michael.Schinke]

With higher bandwidth available on the internet and the usage of Bit Torrent and similar faster P2P programs, there is going to be little use for a physical media based music format, much less one with the storage capacity of Blu-ray. Nine Inch Nails latest, free release was available in a master quality 96/24 download that was only a coule of gigs in size as stereo files. True, there may be people who are interested in multichannel music releases, but there are very few bands or artists who are interested in that since most pop recordings won't benefit from it as either and effect or an immersive experience (not enough going on to warrant it). Also, consider the fact that the majority of people listen to their music outside the home - in the car, at work, on the bus, in the park, etc... MP3 players, iPods and laptops are capable of playing just about any audio quality level, so that really just leaves cars radios and portable disc players.

The last hurdle to overcome is the fact that most people just don't care enough. Like a precious poster stated; it's a lot easier for peopel to see the difference between SD and HD then it is for them to hear the difference in audio, which might explain why more homes don't have home theater systems.

All my music at home is stored as lossless tracks on my PC, and encoded at the highest bit rate on my iPod. I just upgraded to lossless in my HT setup, and I'm a musician and home recordist to boot. Believe me when I say I would love it if people would get more interested in investigating the differances between audio types but it just isn't going to happen. The car is a crap environment to listen to music in and most headphones people use aren't that great, so there is very little benefit to having master quality audio for either of these. And as we all know, it takes a mighty setup to really grasp every nuance from even the best lossless Blu-ray. Asking people to accept a new audio standard from whih they would derive little or no benefit, but would incur massive startup and upgrade costs for media and equipment, is simply not an option.

[davcole]

As someone who has collected SACD and DVD-A, i'm all in favor of a next generation music disc format such as BD. I'm really curious what will be included with the music only profile.

This is what i'd love to see in a next generation music format:

24/192- 5.1 or 24/96- 7.1
24/192- Stereo
CD layer
Authored to chose music mix without turning on the television
When turning on television, the choice of having text, photos, video, graphics
Video commentary that can be mixed with the main audio program
Downloadable music files


for starters. Anyone else with suggestions?

[marzetta7]

Here's a link regarding this if it hasn't been already posted...

http://www.audioholics.com/news/indu...e=520520080530

...the only reservation I have is...make it 7.1 for crying out loud! You got the room!

As long as they come out with some 311 and Linkin Park on Blu-ray Audio...I'll be just peachy...

[Beta Man]

couple things.....

I wasn't here when people were pushing for Blu-Audio-only discs....

I like what Neil Young is doing, but then again, I like Neil Young, and from what I can tell, it's NOT audio only.... I like stuff like "The Last Waltz" or other DVD concerts and documentaries ( I have 70 or so on DVD)

I don't think 2-Channel is 'obsolete' and if you think it is, you're probably listening to a different style of music than me, and you're probably using your Blu-Ray Player, or PS3 to play your Audio CDs through.... and I hate to tell you, but you're using an inferior player for CDs.

If you think CDs sound better on a 5.1 system, as opposed to 2-channel, again... you're missing the point.


If you think Vinyl is a dead format, you should research more, and find that it is still one of the best formats available.


Audio is my first passion..... Video is secondary. I wish I could afford better gear, but I have what I have, so I'm just dealin' with it I guess.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Michael.Schinke

With higher bandwidth available on the internet and the usage of Bit Torrent and similar faster P2P programs, there is going to be little use for a physical media based music format, much less one with the storage capacity of Blu-ray. Nine Inch Nails latest, free release was available in a master quality 96/24 download that was only a coule of gigs in size as stereo files. True, there may be people who are interested in multichannel music releases, but there are very few bands or artists who are interested in that since most pop recordings won't benefit from it as either and effect or an immersive experience (not enough going on to warrant it). Also, consider the fact that the majority of people listen to their music outside the home - in the car, at work, on the bus, in the park, etc... MP3 players, iPods and laptops are capable of playing just about any audio quality level, so that really just leaves cars radios and portable disc players.

The last hurdle to overcome is the fact that most people just don't care enough. Like a precious poster stated; it's a lot easier for peopel to see the difference between SD and HD then it is for them to hear the difference in audio, which might explain why more homes don't have home theater systems.

All my music at home is stored as lossless tracks on my PC, and encoded at the highest bit rate on my iPod. I just upgraded to lossless in my HT setup, and I'm a musician and home recordist to boot. Believe me when I say I would love it if people would get more interested in investigating the differances between audio types but it just isn't going to happen. The car is a crap environment to listen to music in and most headphones people use aren't that great, so there is very little benefit to having master quality audio for either of these. And as we all know, it takes a mighty setup to really grasp every nuance from even the best lossless Blu-ray. Asking people to accept a new audio standard from whih they would derive little or no benefit, but would incur massive startup and upgrade costs for media and equipment, is simply not an option.

You claim to hold audio in such high regard, but then you mention Downloads, and iPod????