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takeshi666
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 21 Feb 2018, 18:56 |
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Joined: 01 Feb 2018, 02:41 Posts: 2001 Location: Finland Has thanked: 186 times Been thanked: 391 times
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I can kind of relate - there are certain artists/songs I'd love to own physical copies of, and let's say they're not some big name whose name is still remembered after all these years, so you can forget about there being any sort of a re-release, so the only place to look is the artist's heyday, which in this case is in the 80's. There's just one problem; CD singles weren't a thing until the 90's, so although you can find the full album on CD, if you prefer a different version of a song, whether it's simply an extended version (12" singles usually had those) or a remix, the only place you're gonna get it on is vinyl. Which, unlike CD, is affected by the device it's played on, so buying them in the second hand market is a bit of a crapshoot.
And in a more modern example, all this time I thought the 3- and 4-disc "deluxe" editions of Black Sabbath's Paranoid album were the same apart from the one disc, but turns out, apart from disc 1, they all have completely different contents!
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admin
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 22 Feb 2018, 05:59 |
Site Admin |
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Joined: 07 Aug 2002, 23:37 Posts: 4569 Location: Tokyo Has thanked: 300 times Been thanked: 1166 times
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In my case... I love physical formats (otherwise I wouldn't be running this website!) but also would rather go for audio quality/durability over "special edition". Right now this is my pecking order for buying music: - Physical: SACD or BD Audio or DVD Audio
- File: Hi-Rez (24bit/44.1Khz to 24bit/192Khz) FLAC files -- below that a CD would be good enough
- Physical: Well mastered vinyl
- Physical: Japanese CD release (if including bonus tracks) because the paper and plastic quality are better
- Physical: Standard CD (over 16bit/44.1Khz FLAC files)
- File: Some exclusives iTunes releases
Everything else I'd skip unless the MP3/AAC version is a free download coming with the purchase or an Amazon AutoRip. + review forums such as AVS or Stevehoffman.tv for reviews + check for existing analysis on http://dr.loudness-war.info/+ I'm not a fan of compilations or best-ofs, I respect the work an artist put in an album production to listen to the whole album in the intended track order + Not a big fan of recent POP music How about other people here? Julien
_________________ HARDWARE DATABASE HLD-X0/9 LD-S9 OPPO 105/205 SL-1200G LDD-1 MSC-4000 R2144 PONTUS II C45 MC257
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admin
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 22 Feb 2018, 09:29 |
Site Admin |
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Joined: 07 Aug 2002, 23:37 Posts: 4569 Location: Tokyo Has thanked: 300 times Been thanked: 1166 times
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forper wrote: I also have many CDs that I believe sound better than many SACDs. That will require instantiated examples with technical exhibits. Julien
_________________ HARDWARE DATABASE HLD-X0/9 LD-S9 OPPO 105/205 SL-1200G LDD-1 MSC-4000 R2144 PONTUS II C45 MC257
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laserdisc_fan
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 22 Feb 2018, 13:57 |
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006, 20:05 Posts: 2266 Location: United Kingdom Has thanked: 0 time Been thanked: 25 times
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admin wrote: In my case... Right now this is my pecking order for buying music: - Physical: SACD or BD Audio or DVD Audio
- File: Hi-Rez (24bit/44.1Khz to 24bit/192Khz) FLAC files -- below that a CD would be good enough
- Physical: Well mastered vinyl
- Physical: Japanese CD release (if including bonus tracks) because the paper and plastic quality are better
- Physical: Standard CD (over 16bit/44.1Khz FLAC files)
- Physical: Some exclusives iTunes releases
Julien SACD is all but dead as a format - people are offloading their SACD discs on Ebay before the bottom falls out of the market. It never caught on as a mainstream replacement for CD so the number of SACD releases is tiny. DVD audio is not convenient if you want to be able to play the discs everywhere. For example don't know too many cars with a DVD player built-in. Most new laptops don't even have one now! So it sounds like you're going digital based on your pecking order which is precisely my point. Last one you list is Physical - some exclusive iTunes releases. I didn't know iTunes did any physical releases. Any examples? Also, if you are downloading files - what 'version' of the album do you go with? If you like albums in their entirety there isn't really a clear definition of which version is the album anymore as there are so many different versions. As I mentioned some of the best tracks are exclusive bonus tracks not included with what most people might regard as the core album. If you don't download those you're missing out. Also these bonus tracks are often not added at the end of a CD, but sometimes in the middle just to mix things up, so which version is the real album?
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takeshi666
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 22 Feb 2018, 19:01 |
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Joined: 01 Feb 2018, 02:41 Posts: 2001 Location: Finland Has thanked: 186 times Been thanked: 391 times
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laserdisc_fan wrote: Even the cassette is back! I'm not willing to consider compact cassette as having made a full comeback until they start licensing the dolby noise reduction to new decks again. And start selling tapes besides Type I.
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admin
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 23 Feb 2018, 02:43 |
Site Admin |
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Joined: 07 Aug 2002, 23:37 Posts: 4569 Location: Tokyo Has thanked: 300 times Been thanked: 1166 times
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laserdisc_fan wrote: A few people had high end cassette walkmans still and there were even some younger ones with some new thing called minidisc which they had just purchased from Japan. That would have been me! Fond memories of my beloved MZR-50, and horrible ones of the MRZ-55. I still have a "mixed MD tape" a girl gave me on my birthday (with tons of heart stickers)... You can't beat Japan to be ahead of the technology curve in the 90's Always wondered how high-end MD decks would perform in terms of audio quality. I kept a few MD discs for show... most people don't know what they are but movie buffs will recognize the "contraband software" Neo is selling in The Matrix or the replayed memories from Strange Days -- I spooked a few people lying about the fact that I got a real-life memory replay device and that these discs had all kind of twisted memories in them! Julien
_________________ HARDWARE DATABASE HLD-X0/9 LD-S9 OPPO 105/205 SL-1200G LDD-1 MSC-4000 R2144 PONTUS II C45 MC257
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forper
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 23 Feb 2018, 07:00 |
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Joined: 01 May 2016, 06:38 Posts: 2040 Location: Australia Has thanked: 334 times Been thanked: 222 times
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admin wrote: forper wrote: I also have many CDs that I believe sound better than many SACDs. That will require instantiated examples with technical exhibits. Julien Well I don't rely on science and nominal data to tell me what sounds good. I rely on my good ol analogue ears..maybe it's my gear too. I have a good condition, pretty well regarded mid-range '80s CDP (Sony CDP-991) and a cheapo SACD player (Sony SCD-XE800). Good amp (Sony DA-50ES with all processing turned off) with a Sony JB980 QS MD deck cleaning up my sound acting as my DAC. All this goes to some very nice Sony SS-AL5 Mk IIs made in UK. Anyway Asia - Asia and Mariah Carey Music Box sound better on redbook off the top of my head. My Dusty in Memphis sounds unbelievable on SACD tho so I guess it all depends on the master really but if the people working on the SACD aren't given superlative masters to work with, what's the point?
_________________ SONY MDP-355GX, DVDO iscan VP50, SONY KVHR-M36
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forper
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 23 Feb 2018, 07:02 |
Absolute fan |
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Joined: 01 May 2016, 06:38 Posts: 2040 Location: Australia Has thanked: 334 times Been thanked: 222 times
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admin wrote: laserdisc_fan wrote: SACD is all but dead as a format Japan is quite healthy still I'd say and they stopped BD Audio to re-release them on SACD instead. Yep, noticed the other day you can still get high-end Sony SACD decks at Japanese electronics stores like Yamada Denki
_________________ SONY MDP-355GX, DVDO iscan VP50, SONY KVHR-M36
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forper
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 23 Feb 2018, 07:05 |
Absolute fan |
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Joined: 01 May 2016, 06:38 Posts: 2040 Location: Australia Has thanked: 334 times Been thanked: 222 times
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laserdisc_fan wrote: I don't think SACD caught on in general. SACD are not cheap. I just think people are selling them now they know the format is pretty much dead. By way of example the first 3 Genesis boxsets were issued as SACD discs but only in Europe. Nobody cared in the USA so they only got normal CD releases there. By the time of the next 2 boxsets it seems even Europe didn't care so they were not issued in SACD their either. Those were probably some of the bigger sellers compared to many less known SACD titles issued.
In 1986 I remember some guy holding what was obviously his first CD up in the air in amazement outside a record shop in Belfast. I guess it was special back then because virtually no one owned a CD player or had seen a CD up close. The worlds first yuppie?..perhaps!
Fast forward 10 years to 1996 and almost everyone in the office I was working with had a personal rack of CDs and a portable CD player on their desk or were using the CD player built into their work PC! A few people had high end cassette walkmans still and there were even some younger ones with some new thing called minidisc which they had just purchased from Japan.
Fast forward another 10 years to 2006 and those racks of CDs were thick with dust with the office cleaners complaining like mad! Most people were now listening to their music on ipods. Minidisc was well and truly dead.
Fast forward another 10 years to 2016 and there isn't a CD in sight in the office. They have been thrown out or taken home and stashed in the attic. The smartphone has become the means by which most people listen to music and/or via the internet through their PC. Certainly no sign of anyone listening to music from any physical media.
So how in 2018 do we arrive at a situation where vinyl is now considered the best format to listen to music and we have not 1 but maybe 10 different versions of an album on CD? It's almost like we have come full circle again. Even the cassette is back! Good summation of the mainstream. However a lot here, including myself have had multiple MD decks and portables, Hi-MD gear (God, my MZRH-1 with EX700 IEMs was the best sonic experience of my life) and threw their ipods away in disgust when they realised MD was the truth and much better sounding compressed music done by people that understood music, not the computer dorks who created MP3.
_________________ SONY MDP-355GX, DVDO iscan VP50, SONY KVHR-M36
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admin
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 23 Feb 2018, 07:09 |
Site Admin |
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Joined: 07 Aug 2002, 23:37 Posts: 4569 Location: Tokyo Has thanked: 300 times Been thanked: 1166 times
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forper wrote: admin wrote: forper wrote: I also have many CDs that I believe sound better than many SACDs. That will require instantiated examples with technical exhibits. Julien Well I don't rely on science and nominal data to tell me what sounds good. I rely on my good ol analogue ears..maybe it's my gear too. I have a good condition, pretty well regarded mid-range '80s CDP (Sony CDP-991) and a cheapo SACD player (Sony SCD-XE800). Maybe buy high(er) end equipment and run A/B tests before jumping to global conclusions? "Some CD seem to sound better than SACD on my setup" is what you meant. "Many CDs I believe sound better than many SACDs" is a rough generalization without substantiated supportive elements. Be precise, words are important. Julien
_________________ HARDWARE DATABASE HLD-X0/9 LD-S9 OPPO 105/205 SL-1200G LDD-1 MSC-4000 R2144 PONTUS II C45 MC257
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takeshi666
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 23 Feb 2018, 08:09 |
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Joined: 01 Feb 2018, 02:41 Posts: 2001 Location: Finland Has thanked: 186 times Been thanked: 391 times
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forper wrote: Good summation of the mainstream. However a lot here, including myself have had multiple MD decks and portables, Hi-MD gear (God, my MZRH-1 with EX700 IEMs was the best sonic experience of my life) and threw their ipods away in disgust when they realised MD was the truth and much better sounding compressed music done by people that understood music, not the computer dorks who created MP3. ipods should be thrown away on the account of having been made by apple alone
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forper
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Post subject: Re: Insane number of limited/exclusive versions of albums Posted: 23 Feb 2018, 08:27 |
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Joined: 01 May 2016, 06:38 Posts: 2040 Location: Australia Has thanked: 334 times Been thanked: 222 times
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admin wrote: "Some CD seem to sound better than SACD on my setup" is what you meant. "Many CDs I believe sound better than many SACDs" is a rough generalization without substantiated supportive elements.
Be precise, words are important.
Julien Okay maybe but some SACDs sound significantly better to me on the same setup as well. My claim that many SACDs probably sound worse than many CDs still holds true I think. Regarding ripping and storing and organising files of music? Not me, I put the disc in the tray and press play, just like the good ol days.
_________________ SONY MDP-355GX, DVDO iscan VP50, SONY KVHR-M36
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