Resissues / SACD / DVDA
We all see the continuos stream of issues from our favourite artists (especially true for those of use with 30 years of listening under our probably expanding belts).
These reissues are often reviewed in the usual music magazines / web sites etc etc but it seems to me they are reviewed in the context of the album alone - i.e. much as a new release is reviewed and are the songs on it any good.
Given that a significant proportion of the target market of these are likely to be people that already own / know / love these albums are the reviews somewhat missing the point - i.e I know I like the album but do the "remastering", "new digital transfer", extra tracks etc etc make this a worthwhile purchase / re-purchase or are the record company just fleecing me of my hard earned cash.
To the second point of this post - and without wanted to come across all What HiFi - do the reissues on SACD / DVDA (i.e. multichannel or better sound quality) add anything to these reissues and why don't any reviews ever seem to cover this (unless I read What HiFi). I recently replaced my DVD player and the new model I got happened to have SACD / DVDA capability and as I had a surround system, I have dabbled in some of these reissues.....
I actually thought the Genesis SACD's did add something to the original albums (although the new standard CD mix sucks), I love the multichannel version of Avalon / Roxy Music (no whizz bang effects, just a wonderful sonic landscape....) and thought Peter Gabriels "Up" really benefitted (although I heard that it was recorded as multi channel and then down mixed for the standard release).
Any other examples where mutichannel / re releases add to the original and make it worth re purchasing and should Word et al cover this aspect in the review......
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There's a practical issue here
Magazines can't equip themselves, let alone their army of contributors, with the appropriate equipment to audition these new formats on. And if they did they would have to get into a "compare and contrast" game with the original, which would consume more space than a magazine can afford. Add to that the fact that new formats generally arrive in twos - usually competing non-compatible ones from rival companies - and you've got further complications. After about a year one of them quietly withdraws from the market and then the other one gives up the ghost a year after that. Having seen quite a few come and go - is DVD audio still happening or not? - I tend to say let's wait until they're fully established until we cover them.
A couple of noteworthy mixes
I don't have an SACD player, but about five years ago Columbia/Sony released many of Bob Dylan's albums in this new format, most of them remixed as well. They then very kindly issued those versions on regular CDs, and in some cases - Blonde On Blonde, particularly - the new mix is nothing short of astounding. It isn't just a new spin on the album, but the culmination of years of confused and confusing different editions. Most of us don't have time to investigate these multiple differences, and fortunately that's what the internet is for:
http://www.rdf.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Blonde.htm
Also, when The Beatles' Love came out, I got the two disc edition, with a 5.1 mix on DVD. It's really superior, even played through my TV.
I have some of them...
...mainly most of the Genesis ones. The remixes sound great in surround sound which is why I bought them anyway (and the excellent DVD special features on them) but in 2 channel, I find some of them unlistenable- the mastering is overegged and too loud, in my opinion.
I think David Bowie's 'David Live' and 'Stage' were re-mixed for DVD-A but then downmixed to 2 channel as well when the remasters came out a few years ago. I only have the 2 channel ones.
Stereo, schmereo
The 5.1 Rory Gallagher compilation Big Guns is simply disastrous in stereo - so bad that I haven't even bothered to transfer it over to my iPod (down, lawyers, down - non-profit copies are legal in Spain).
Sony BMG have made a lot of peculiar and wrong-headed decisions in recent years, and now that Blu-Ray has won the HD war, we can probably expect quite a few more.
Porn
Isn't it the story that VHS won the video tape format over Betamax or V2000 (??) because the porn industry decided to standardise on VHS to simplify and streamline production?
No one's
going to admit to knowing the answer to that puzzler.
I don't know about that...
...but I do know that ever since Phillips made the music cassette the standard format Sony have been desperate to win one of the format wars. Hence Betamax. Hence the Mini Disc. Hence the various attempts they've made to launch a competitor to the ipod.
DVDA...
...is also the name of Trey Parker and Matt Stones's hobby band.
On the basis of what DVDA means in this case, I would say that they could probably give a definitve answer to Twangothan's question.