Blu-Ray Music DVDs

[OberonOz]

I know there are a number of music titles out on Blu-Ray - Elton60, Queen Rock Montreal, Rattle & Hum, The Song Remains The Same etc - but my question is does anyone have these and are they really worth buying if you already have the original dvd releases? Are there any Blu-Ray music releases that are particularly worth buying? Im eventually planning on getting a Blu-ray player so Im trying to work out which titles are really worth picking up.

Oh... and if we could avoid arguing about Neil Young and his archives here that would be a plus!! :righton: :D :winkgrin:

Steve

[SamS]

I have all the ones you mention above, except for Queen.

The Elton 60 has great picture, but terrible, compressed sound. Just like a bad, modern remastering job. Zeppelin sounds very good, I also recommend The Last Waltz. Rattle And Hum is weak in picture, and the sound is nothing spectacular. Stick with DVD. AC/DC Donnington has good picture, and acceptable sound.

The best Blu-ray/HD DVD release IMO is Nine Inch Nails "Beside You In Time". The flashing concert effects are rendered perfectly on Blu-ray, and the lossless 5.1 sound is very nice. I have hundreds of concert DVDs and this is my absolute favorite presentation. If you enjoy the music, pick this one up!

[OberonOz]

Thanks for that! Im hoping to get a real sense of what is good out there. I really wanted the Elton to be good, but if the sound is not that great then perhaps I wont bother as the DVD picture is already really good. Hopefully there will be some reviews of the other BD music titles in the thread pointing to ones really worth picking up.
Cheers

Steve

[Kayaker]

I really hope the Gorts don't roll this thread into the current BlueRay thread as was done with a similar thread a few months ago. I don't watch many movies and Blueray is apparently key to the future of hi-rez music.

Anyone have the Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds blueray?
Are there any BlueRay music titles that don't have a hi-rez soundtrack?

[Taurus]

What's the most common audio format - i.e. 48kHz/16bit, 96kHz/24bit etc - that music titles use?

Are there any in stereo?

[51nocaster]

Anyone have the Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds blueray?
Are there any BlueRay music titles that don't have a hi-rez soundtrack?


I have the Dave Matthews Blu Ray and it does have demo quality audio and video. I just don't like Dave Matthews enough to warrant ever watching it again. As for Rattle and Hum, I really don't get the constant criticism of that disc. I have it on HD DVD (same transfer as Blu Ray) and the picture is often grainy--purposely grainy as was the original movie shown in the theaters. As for the audio, it isn't demo quality, but "Angel of Harlem," for example, sounds great in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sound, and the guitar and drums really stand out nicely in the mix.

[SamS]

I really hope the Gorts don't roll this thread into the current BlueRay thread as was done with a similar thread a few months ago. I don't watch many movies and Blueray is apparently key to the future of hi-rez music.

Anyone have the Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds blueray?
Are there any BlueRay music titles that don't have a hi-rez soundtrack?

We can keep it seperate, as long as we're talking about music-specific titles. Virtually all music Blu-rays have hirez PCM or Dolby TrueHD. Rattle And Hum is the only exception I can think of off-hand, but I'm sure there are others.

What's the most common audio format - i.e. 48kHz/16bit, 96kHz/24bit etc - that music titles use?

Are there any in stereo?

All BD music titles that have hi-rez 5.1 also have hi-rez PCM. The most common format IMO is 24/48kHz 5.1.

[Dave G.]

Ken at Laser's Edge wrote a rave review of the Pat Metheny 'Way Up Live' Blue-Ray. I don't have a player yet so I can not comment, but Ken knows his stuff music & equipment-wise so I take his word for it when he calls it a reference disc.

http://www.lasercd.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=EVBRD33301-9

[filper]

I can't find a copy of 'Rattle And Hum' anywhere.

[SamS]

I can't find a copy of 'Rattle And Hum' anywhere.



http://www.amazon.com/U2-Rattle-Hum-Blu-ray/dp/B000IOM0WO/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1212530150&sr=8-4

Should be a ton on ebay cheap too, it was an option for the 5 free titles promotion a while back.

[Pinknik]

As for Rattle and Hum, I really don't get the constant criticism of that disc. I have it on HD DVD (same transfer as Blu Ray) and the picture is often grainy--purposely grainy as was the original movie shown in the theaters. As for the audio, it isn't demo quality, but "Angel of Harlem," for example, sounds great in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sound, and the guitar and drums really stand out nicely in the mix.

Agreed. Looked fine to me. Apparently there's a new generation of folks, like the black and white haters, who believe that film grain is somehow a fault that should be banished. Look out for the new NoNoise, folks, it's gonna be digital grain removal, and every thing's gonna be as smooth as a baby's butt. It just ain't gonna look like film.

HOWEVER, the David Gilmour Blu-Ray has a grainy blown out look, that the producers obviously went for, that I don't care for. Highlights are blown out and wide shots are kinda fuzzy. It's not all bad, but I hoped for more. To me, purposefully degrading the HD signal on this disc is different than preserving the look of Rattle and Hum. Could just be me.

[filper]

http://www.amazon.com/U2-Rattle-Hum-Blu-ray/dp/B000IOM0WO/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1212530150&sr=8-4

Should be a ton on ebay cheap too, it was an option for the 5 free titles promotion a while back.

Thanks for the link.

R&H wasn't an option for the 5 free when I bought my PS3.

[SamS]

Agreed. Looked fine to me. Apparently there's a new generation of folks, like the black and white haters, who believe that film grain is somehow a fault that should be banished. Look out for the new NoNoise, folks, it's gonna be digital grain removal, and every thing's gonna be as smooth as a baby's butt. It just ain't gonna look like film.

Right, but my point is that, because of the grain, it does not offer a dramatic clarity improvement over the SD-DVD.

HOWEVER, the David Gilmour Blu-Ray has a grainy blown out look, that the producers obviously went for, that I don't care for. Highlights are blown out and wide shots are kinda fuzzy. It's not all bad, but I hoped for more. To me, purposefully degrading the HD signal on this disc is different than preserving the look of Rattle and Hum. Could just be me.

Almost forgot about that one, I have it too. Yes, it is blown out, and detail is lacking in many shots. Very strange for such a high profile release for one of Sony Music's biggest artists. However, the sound is quite nice.

[filper]

R&H has the best DD soundtrack I've heard yet.

I can only imagine how good the dts track is.

I love the grain in the movie.

[SoundAdvice]

"U2 Chicago 2005" has been aired in HD on TV, but has yet to be released other than the regular DVD.

[Pinknik]

Right, but my point is that, because of the grain, it does not offer a dramatic clarity improvement over the SD-DVD.





Well, I can't comment on a direct comparison, but my HD-DVD definitely looks HD, if you know what I mean. I don't think grain necessarily means a lack of detail. I felt that a direct comparison of THE LAST WALTZ was very close, but the Blu-Ray was definitely better.

Anyways, old film or not, just imagine how many concert films were actually shot on 35mm (or 16mm, at least) that could be released again on Blu. They've done it with Queen, Led Zep, AC/DC. There gonna do it with Woodstock, Gimme Shelter and Monterey Pop. Just think of all the stuff out there. McCartney, Floyd (3 and 4 man), Cat Stevens, The Eagles, and I'm sure some 70's punk acts and 80's stuff as well. Makes the mouth water and I hope they do more.

[51nocaster]

R&H has the best DD soundtrack I've heard yet.

I can only imagine how good the dts track is.

I love the grain in the movie.

I actually compared the Dolby Digital Plus track to the DTS track on my HD DVD copy and the Dolby Digital Plus (somewhat surprisingly) sounded significantly better. Admittedly, it could have been a volume issue as the Dolby track was louder than the DTS--but even after I adjusted volume, the DD plus track still sounded better on this one.

[Taurus]

All BD music titles that have hi-rez 5.1 also have hi-rez PCM. The most common format IMO is 24/48kHz 5.1.Thanks Sam.

What's the difference between "hi-rez 5.1" and "hi-rez PCM"?

[wayneklein]

I liked Gilmour's recent one.

From wiki-Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a digital representation of an analog signal where the magnitude of the signal is sampled regularly at uniform intervals, then quantized to a series of symbols in a numeric (usually binary) code. PCM has been used in digital telephone systems and 1980s-era electronic musical keyboards. It is also the standard form for digital audio in computers and the compact disc "red book" format. It is also standard in digital video, for example, using ITU-R BT.601. However, straight PCM is not typically used for video in standard definition consumer applications such as DVD or DVR because the bit rate required is far too high. Very frequently, PCM encoding facilitates digital transmission from one point to another (within a given system, or geographically) in serial form.

Adequate explanation.

[balzac]

I only have a few HD music titles. I think the only Blu-Ray I have is "The Last Waltz." It looks better than the standard DVD, but that film is kind of inherently grainy and dark, so it's not quite demo material.

I have "Cream - Royal Albert Hall 2005" and Roy Orbison's "Black & White Night" on HD-DVD (that latter of which is due in July on Blu-Ray, the former of which I don't believe has been announced for Blu-Ray release thus far), and both look great. The Orbison one is obviously older, was shot on 16 and 8mm film, and has been cropped for 16x9, so it's far from perfect. But it looks and sounds good, much better than the standard DVD (aside from the cropping, which is very aggrivating). The Cream title was shot in HD, so it looks great. I'm not sure anybody has rated it as demo/reference material, but it looks and sounds great, easily surpassing the standard DVD.

[Taurus]

"World's first Blu-ray music only disc announced" (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/14321.cfm)TrondheimSolistene (The Trondheim Soloists) is one of Norway's most exciting young ensembles and they're celebrating their 20th anniversary with a recording that is said will surpass anything you've ever heard before in sheer sound quality......and is paired with a hybrid sacd.

And for some reason the BD disc includes three versions of the same hi-res recording, all in 192kHz/24bit form: linear PCM, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Isn't that a little redundant? :confused: If the disc has space for the uncompressed (PCM) version, why bother with the two other losslessly compressed versions??

[blind_melon1]

Right, but my point is that, because of the grain, it does not offer a dramatic clarity improvement over the SD-DVD.



Almost forgot about that one, I have it too. Yes, it is blown out, and detail is lacking in many shots. Very strange for such a high profile release for one of Sony Music's biggest artists. However, the sound is quite nice.

Is this like the white stripes live dvd? I think it works for them, don't know why gilmour would go for it though... I always associate pink floyd/dg with perfect/clean visuals and audio (Syd era excluded) :)

[SamS]

Is this like the white stripes live dvd? I think it works for them, don't know why gilmour would go for it though... I always associate pink floyd/dg with perfect/clean visuals and audio (Syd era excluded) :)

I haven't seen the WS DVD (but will certainly check it out now!), so I can't compare.

I don't know if it's so much "artistic", it's just lazy to me. You don't watch it and say "cool effect!", it's more like "why isn't it sharp"?

[Ken_McAlinden]

...The Elton 60 has great picture, but terrible, compressed sound. Just like a bad, modern remastering job. The somewhat dynamically compressed PCM 5.1 sound on the Blu-Ray is still better than the DTS 5.1 sound on the SD DVD which is compressed in both the dynamic and lossy digital senses of the word. Both versions sport a 2.0 PCM track as well.

On the other hand, the SD DVD has some fantastic extras including lots of archival performance footage that is not available on the BRD version. It also comes with a 36 page booklet that is not replicated for the Blu-Ray packaging.

On a technical note, you need a pre-amp or receiver that handles HDMI audio or accepts 5.1 analog inputs if you want to hear the 5.1 surround track as there is no surround format besides PCM on the disc. Most Blu-Ray adoptees have this, but just in case you do not....

Similarly, the 5.1 surround track on the SD DVD is available via DTS only, so if you are one of the few people left with a surround set-up that is Dolby Digital only, you will not be able to hear that mix.

Regards,

[Pinknik]

I haven't seen the WS DVD (but will certainly check it out now!), so I can't compare.

I don't know if it's so much "artistic", it's just lazy to me. You don't watch it and say "cool effect!", it's more like "why isn't it sharp"?

I wish they'd release the David Gilmour in Concert on blu-ray. It has a much better look, and the DVD is compromised, compression wise, since they used an uncompressed PCM stereo track.

I think the White Stripes disc MIGHT have been shot on Super 8, but I can't swear to my recollection on that one.