Another format...SuperDisc from the M guy
F1nut
Posts: 50,718
"Limited-edition SuperDiscs, some of which will be specially remastered, will feature either DVD-Video discs or CD/DVD packages, the first of which are street-priced at $19.98 to $24.98. The DVD will be encoded with 96kHz/24-bit PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS 96/24 5.1 playable on any DVD-Video player. Some of the DVDs will offer music in surround sound, and others will feature full-length music videos, some of concerts. The music DVDs will also include video features such as interviews and explanations on setting up a home theater system.
The DVDs also feature unprotected Windows Media Audio (WMA), AAC and Apple lossless-compression tracks. On top of that, the WMA and AAC tracks will be encoded in surround and in Dolby Headphone so that listeners can enjoy a virtual surround experience through headphones when the tracks are transferred to a portable device.
Most surround discs will also give consumers the opportunity to change their "audio angle" in much the same way that they use their remote control to change camera angles on a DVD, Lee said. Listeners will be able to move from the audience seats to a spot in the middle of the band, he said.
All DVD discs will play in a DVD player like a CD, making it unnecessary to use an on-screen DVD menu to initiate playback. The DVDs will default to Dolby Digital, but an on-screen countdown will give users time to select a different format.
Although multichannel music isnt new to the industry, its new to consumers, Lee lamented, in part because of a lack of demonstrations at retail and music labels that didnt support the DVD-Audio and SACD multichannel-music formats with up-to-date releases.
"The project got started as a search for good surround music," Lee said. The DVD-Audio and SACD formats featured "obscure titles" and a lack of the "latest up-to-date music," he said. Consumers also had to buy special DVD players, and the need for six analog cables to connect them to a multichannel sound system "confused people."
The six-cable requirement also contributed to a lack of consumer awareness because dealers couldnt easily wire DVD-Audio and SACD players into component-audio switching systems. "It was hard to find one hooked up in a demo room," Lee said.
"The failure of surround sound music has been the lack of the ability to demonstrate," he continued.
Many consumers were also unimpressed when they heard the music, he said, because audio engineers "put very little information in the surround channels, but with Monster Music, its five channels all the time."
SuperDiscs also offer a "broader appeal" because consumers wont have to hook up six analog cables to transfer the music to a surround-sound receiver. The content fits through a DVD players single coaxial or digital SP/DIF audio output.
Monster chose not to offer music in DualDisc format, which features CD audio on one side of the disc and DVD (usually DVD-Video) on the other. The CD side of a DualDisc isnt always compatible with all CD players because the CD layer is not at the CD-standard depth. The discs are also thicker than CDs, causing them to jam in some slot-load players and changers, he said. Based on an informal survey of CD players and changers, Lee estimates that DualDiscs cant be played in 10 percent of home and car players currently available in stores. DualDisc promoters, however, believe the percentage is much smaller.
Five SuperDisc titles shipped to dealers by Thanksgiving. They include Ray Charless Genius Loves Company, Three Doors Downs Away From The Sun, the Vince Guaraldi Trios A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Peter Cincottis Live In New York."
I love this line, "put very little information in the surround channels, but with Monster Music, its five channels all the time."
Hmmmm.....seems like a step back to the old days of Quad. Is there anything that he won't do for a buck!?! :rolleyes:
The DVDs also feature unprotected Windows Media Audio (WMA), AAC and Apple lossless-compression tracks. On top of that, the WMA and AAC tracks will be encoded in surround and in Dolby Headphone so that listeners can enjoy a virtual surround experience through headphones when the tracks are transferred to a portable device.
Most surround discs will also give consumers the opportunity to change their "audio angle" in much the same way that they use their remote control to change camera angles on a DVD, Lee said. Listeners will be able to move from the audience seats to a spot in the middle of the band, he said.
All DVD discs will play in a DVD player like a CD, making it unnecessary to use an on-screen DVD menu to initiate playback. The DVDs will default to Dolby Digital, but an on-screen countdown will give users time to select a different format.
Although multichannel music isnt new to the industry, its new to consumers, Lee lamented, in part because of a lack of demonstrations at retail and music labels that didnt support the DVD-Audio and SACD multichannel-music formats with up-to-date releases.
"The project got started as a search for good surround music," Lee said. The DVD-Audio and SACD formats featured "obscure titles" and a lack of the "latest up-to-date music," he said. Consumers also had to buy special DVD players, and the need for six analog cables to connect them to a multichannel sound system "confused people."
The six-cable requirement also contributed to a lack of consumer awareness because dealers couldnt easily wire DVD-Audio and SACD players into component-audio switching systems. "It was hard to find one hooked up in a demo room," Lee said.
"The failure of surround sound music has been the lack of the ability to demonstrate," he continued.
Many consumers were also unimpressed when they heard the music, he said, because audio engineers "put very little information in the surround channels, but with Monster Music, its five channels all the time."
SuperDiscs also offer a "broader appeal" because consumers wont have to hook up six analog cables to transfer the music to a surround-sound receiver. The content fits through a DVD players single coaxial or digital SP/DIF audio output.
Monster chose not to offer music in DualDisc format, which features CD audio on one side of the disc and DVD (usually DVD-Video) on the other. The CD side of a DualDisc isnt always compatible with all CD players because the CD layer is not at the CD-standard depth. The discs are also thicker than CDs, causing them to jam in some slot-load players and changers, he said. Based on an informal survey of CD players and changers, Lee estimates that DualDiscs cant be played in 10 percent of home and car players currently available in stores. DualDisc promoters, however, believe the percentage is much smaller.
Five SuperDisc titles shipped to dealers by Thanksgiving. They include Ray Charless Genius Loves Company, Three Doors Downs Away From The Sun, the Vince Guaraldi Trios A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Peter Cincottis Live In New York."
I love this line, "put very little information in the surround channels, but with Monster Music, its five channels all the time."
Hmmmm.....seems like a step back to the old days of Quad. Is there anything that he won't do for a buck!?! :rolleyes:
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
Post edited by F1nut on
Comments
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Notice the artificial road-blocks, put up for "Content Protection" with DVD-Audio. Which are the significant differances between DVD-Audio and DVD-Video.F1nut wrote:
...The (Monster) DVDs also feature unprotected Windows Media Audio (WMA), AAC and Apple lossless-compression tracks.
...Consumers also had to buy special DVD players,
...and the need for six analog cables to connect them to a multichannel sound system "confused people."
...The content fits through a DVD player’s single coaxial or digital SP/DIF audio output.
Personally, I hope Monster succeeds, and gets many more titles. Monster is just utilizing the capabilities of DVD-Video which have always been there. But the record labels have refused to use.
SACD is a different format, so I can forgive needing a speceial player. But the restriction to analog output, without a standard for digital output format, is BS.
PS. Current content protection schemes, can not distinguish between legitimate and illegal uses. So your number of legitimate uses are artificially restricted. As well as you end up paying more, to support content protection schemes, which are not well thought out.Win7 Media Center -> Onkyo TXSR702 -> Polk Rti70 -
i hope they suceed.
What they said about DVD-A and SACD and why they failed/failing is absolutely spot on.
I don't care if it sounds good or not (stereo "everywhere" bleh...) i still hope it suceeds to a point so that it will raise consumer awareness about multi-channel music.
still, they won't suceed because they've admitted it's a 'limited edition' thing, and $20.00 is too expensive. The customer is just not willing to pay over $15 for a single disc. So I guess we're back to square one. -
Jesse,
This is something that I am curious too:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35321
and the fact that they put on of my favorite jazz artist on it (I guess kinda the guinea pig of the new format), it gives me reason to test it out. I'll report back once I test it out. The proof is in the...I am sorry, I have no opinion on the matter. I am sure you do. So, don't mind me, I just want to talk audio and pie. -
People pay over $20 for DVD's. If they advertise the features of the disc, such as audio, video, and audio files so you don't need to rip and convert anymore, peopel might be more willing to drop $20 on a disc they like. Plus, it sounds better.
