UMe prepping Blu-ray Audio titles for Europe*

I have the SHM SACD. It sounds pretty good but not as good as the original vinyl; either UK or US press.

 

I wonder if they are making any "audiophile adjustments" for the Blu-Ray discs. There have some positive reviews of Breakfast in America, which surprises me given the poor CD mastering. Of course, opinions vary.

 

very true! all this fuss made over a programme of discs that hasn't even seen proper release beyond a trial of 39 titles in one store in France... so its still the "wait and see" approach from me that I've had all along when discussing these blu-ray's on forums such as sa-cd.net & quadraphonicquad.. its too early to tell..!

on that note, I got put in my place on another forum when I suggested sales of these blu-ray's would be sluggish and the whole thing would fail dismally when I got told that in actual fact they were flying off the shelves of the FNAC stores by someone based in France who was in a FNAC buying some.. so the trial may well have gone well.. who knows!? -- the misinformation/lack of information on these releases is staggering!

FWIW, I now have 7 of these HFPA discs (Stevie W SITKOL, Supertramp BIA, Bob Marley Legend, Grr/Stones, Pierre Henry, Serge Gainsbourg/Melody Nelson & the Getz/Gilberto just arrived this morning)
..and while they vary in quality, for the most part they're certainly worth your while picking up.

the Stevie Wonder sounds absolutely incredible, the Supertramp is very good with more detail and low-end clout than the old A&M Master Series CD (393 708-2), the Bob Marley's way too heavy-handed in the bass department and volume level varies from track to track which is a bit of a PITA on a compilation album if you ask me... as for the French-only titles (Pierre Henry/Bejart: Messe Pour Les Temps Present & Serge Gainsbourg: Histoire de Melody Nelson) well they both sound superb, with Serge Gainsbourg being the lone FNAC title with a 5.1 mix.. however both French titles sound overloud/maximised to my ears so can't be cranked.. seems to be a trait of these HFPA discs, in the main they're lacking DR but fidelity is great.

I've got the Getz/Gilberto (that only arrived earlier today) playing right now and on first listen its rather lovely, chock-full of detail, vocals & so on have great in-room "presence".. sadly its also a bit "loud" and it can't be cranked, like several of the other HFPA's. hmm..

 

BTW, just my experience but I have not seen any of these discs at my local FNAC store.
Granted, I am not in Paris and I haven't been looking specifically for them, but I didn't see them next to the CDs and LPs.

 

...Interesting! IIRC this fella was in Limoges, can't recall if it was on QQ or sa-cd.net now but they said they were literally flying off the shelves in the FNAC there!

well, they certainly aren't flying off record store shelves here in swingin' old London towm - not only have these HFPA blu-ray's not been released over here (officially, yet) but we don't have any record stores left for them to fly out of, even if they were out already!

 

They were probably in the movie section

 

Ah ah, probably. I'll take a better look next time.

 

haha.. probably not too far from the truth! the one FNAC I saw a display of for these HFPA's (someone posted pics online) there was a TV setup with a small stand of these HFPA's, with the TV displaying one of the HFPA disc's onscreen menu's... quite why you'd have a demo installation complete with TV when one of the formats' main tag-lines/selling points is "NO VIDEO CONTENT" and all the "pure audio" hoopla, I don't know..

 

CD Japan is reporting the September batch of titles has been cancelled.

 

It should be a requirement for them to release the DR numbers of each release.

 

My first BD-A from Universal (I already have some from Naxos and 2L) will be the Mahler 5 with Karajan.

Then I will rip the disc, so I can play the full resolution through my DAC, Blu-ray digital output being limited to 48kHz.

 

I strongly hope that the postponement of many titles is the result of UMe coming to the realization that the viability of this format is STRONGLY tied to the availability of surround sound mixes.

 

I don't think that surround sound has anything to do with this format.

 

It doesn't but what LennonCobain is saying is that it should... and I tend to agree with him. These discs would be much more appealing with 5.1 mixes.

 

I just want to make an "aside" comment. From reading different posts here and elsewhere, including different reviews, it seems that these French UMe Blu Ray Audio discs might not be getting fresh, high resolution masterings. Instead, it seems that a lot of these titles are just recycling the latest remaster off the shelf. Over in Japan, UMe is giving us SHM SACDs with guaranteed new masterings; in many instances straight from the original master tape to a high resolution DSD file. This seems to me to be a "purer", more audiophile way to give us the titles that we want. Since I have a cheap universal disc machine, I will be buying the Japanese SHM SACDs of the titles that interest me, as I think many other internet-savvy audiophiles will also be doing. Another blow against Blu Ray Audio.

 

Out of curiosity: Since these Blu-Ray audio disks only seem to be getting released in Europe, I take it that this means that they will not play on a US region player?

 

Audio-only discs are usually region-free.

 

Too much investment required by the label.

 

I've decided to pass on the Breakfast in America Blu-Ray disc and will get the SHM-SACD for the reasons you stated.

 

Then I wonder why nobody in the US seems to sell any of these...

 

Apologies for the slightly off-topic nature of my reply, but I wondered if you know if it's possible to write to the producers of the Japanese SHM-SACDs you mentioned above - is there a contact address? I'd like to suggest some titles, if indeed that's possible. Thanks for any help on this.

 

It is my understanding that they got an exclusive release through one retailer in France for a period and are supposed to be distributed more broadly in time.

 

So the November,12 2013 Blu-Ray Audio discs are the following:

1. Mahler Symphonie n.8 - Blu-Ray Audio Mahler, Georg Solti
2. Mozart, Berg, Liszt Résonances - Blu-Ray Audio Hélène Grimaud
3. Ludwig van Beethoven Symphonies 3 & 4 - Blu-Ray Audio, Herbert von Karajan
4. Antonio Vivaldi les quatre saisons - Blu-Ray Audio Janine Jansen
5. Rachmaninov Piano concerto 2 - Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini - Blu-Ray Audio Lang Lang Voir Gergiev
6. Berlioz La symphonie fantastique - Blu-Ray Audio Berlioz, Colin Davis
7. Mozart Piano concertos K271 K503 - Blu-Ray Audio Mozart, Brendel, Mackerras
8. Nick Drake Five leaves left - Blu-Ray Audio Nick Drake
9. Chet Baker Baker's holiday - Blu-Ray Audio Chet Baker
10. Bob Marley Kaya - Blu-Ray Audio Bob Marley
11. Lionel Richie Can't slow down - Blu-Ray Audio
12. Nirvana Nevermind - Blu-Ray Audio
13. Feist Metals - Blu-Ray Audio
14. Eddy Mitchell Sur la route de Memphis - Blu-Ray Audio
15. Amy Winehouse Back to black - Blu-Ray Audio
16. The Rolling Stones Exile on main street - Blu-Ray Audio
17. Nirvana In utero - Blu-Ray Audio
18. Marvin Gaye What's going on - Blu-Ray Audio
19. Queen A night at the opera - Blu-Ray Audio
20. Michel Sardou La vieille - Blu-Ray Audio
21. La dernière séance - Blu-Ray Audio Eddy Mitchell
22. Renaud Morgane de toi - Blu-Ray Audio
23. Dalida 40 succès en or - Blu-Ray Audio
24. Léo Ferré Eté 68 - Blu-Ray Audio
25. Johnny Hallyday A la vie à la mort - Blu-Ray Audio
26. Yodelice Tree of life - Blu-Ray Audio
27. Carla Bruni Little french songs - Blu-Ray Audio
28. Eddy Mitchell Sur la route de Memphis - Blu-Ray Audio
29. Amy Winehouse Back to black - Blu-Ray Audio
30. Jacques Brel Brel 67 - Blu-Ray Audio
31. Johnny Hallyday Insolitude - Blu-Ray Audio
32. Zazie Cyclo - Blu-Ray Audio
33. Jacques Brel Bourgeois - Blu-Ray Audio
34. Calogero Calog3ro - Blu-Ray Audio

http://recherche.fnac.com/Search/Se...2.1525&PageIndex=1&ItemPerPage=60&ssi=2&sso=2

 

Your list is outdated. You are showing titles that have officially been cancelled.

 

That's right, they were only available through the FNAC stores at first, but now you can order them worlwide.