Surroundablog

Switchfoot: Nothing Is (Surround)Sound in 5.1

NEW YORK, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Records is set to release Nothing Is Sound, the fifth studio album from the multi-platinum San Diego- based rock band Switchfoot, on September 13.

"Stars," the first single from Nothing Is Sound, is this week's #1 Most Added record at Modern Rock radio.

Nothing Is Sound will be available as both a traditional CD and as a DualDisc featuring the entire album in 5.1 Surround Sound plus exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the band on-the road and in the studio.

The new Switchfoot album arrives two years after the release of the group's major label debut, the RIAA double-platinum The Beautiful Letdown, which yielded two Top 5 hit singles: "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move."

Another sign of the Apocalypse...plus 3 new Can-ned SACDs

Just when you thought things were gonna better....the man pulls the rug out from under us. News today has Virgin skipping town leaving the entire Canadian market in the hands of HMV. Virgin, despite earlier claims of superstore expansion to Topronto, has announced that they are pulling out of Canada and focussing their attention on the U.S. Earlier this year, HMV shut down its last U.S. store thus abandoning the lower 48.

Where does this leave us....the Hi Rez fans hungry for new stuff? I popped into HMV's flagship store on Yonge yesterday to pick over their once impressive Hi Rez section. The section has been eliminated. Staff in the DVD section didn't know what happened to it. The Marilyn Manson lookalike dude said all those sneaky formats had been reintegrated into the regular sections. I don't know about you...but I never even heard a Nektar song until they remastered some of their titles in multi-channel sound. (They're quite impressive...sort of a Syd Barrett era Pink Floydian business). So much for rediscovering old music.

Virgin was slated to start construction of a superstore on the corner of Dundas and Yonge. I used to journey to the Vancouver store and spend hours scanningh every section looking for that "Gun" import...or "Bubble Puppy" reissue. I was hoping that the second coming of Virgin (never mind) would result in a little head to head competition with the bully on the Canadian block. Alas...its HMV or nothing...but wait just a damn minute...

Sam's lone store on Yonge has 3 new remastered titles from "Can" that are stealthily labelled as SACD. You have to examine the back of the cd and read the fine print to realize what you have. Talk about stealthy...the back reads, "Remastered Edition...this CD is also compatible with SACD players" and in smaller print, "This release is a Hybrid SACD designed to play in stereo on both CD and SACD players..." Best news...the 3  are available at 18.99 each(!). I'll let you know how they sound in the coming days...

As an aside...Spoon Records, in collaboration with Warner Music for Germany/Austria/Switzerland and Mute/EMI Records London for the rest of the world, is releasing remastered versions of the classic CAN albums. All remastered 14 albums will play on CD players, SACD players and SACD compatible DVD players and will include exclusive unseen photos from the time and new sleeve notes.

The release of the first four albums Monster Movie, Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi and Soundtracks on is scheduled for October 2004. The release of the rest of the catalogue is scheduled for 2005 and 2006. Tuesday saw the release of "Future Days", "Soon over Babaluma" and "Unlimited Edition"

The albums were all remastered from the original master tapes and were overseen and attended by Holger, Irmin and Jono Podmore, so that they finally sounded on CD how they were always intended to sound. These releases follow the recent success of the DVD release, CAN DVD, which marked the 35th anniversary of the founding of the group.

Anyhow...I guess that's why I started this site...to help you and myself track down the latest and greatest rumours surrounding (heh) surroundsound audio releases. Know of any.....Bueller....

MFSL steps up with 2 new SACDs for September

On June 21st 1965 The Byrds released the album "Mr. Tambourine Man", which changed folk rock forever. This album was produced by Terry Melcher and engineered by Ray Gerhardt at Columbia Studios Hollywood between January and April 1965. The singles released from this breakthrough album are "Mr. Tambourine Man", "I Knew I'd Want You", "All I Really Want To Do" and "Feel A Whole Lot Better". Hear the Byrds like they sounded back in 1965! Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab used the mono masters for the original album. And as an added bonus utilized Bob Irwin's and Vic Ancicni's stereo remixes for previously unreleased tracks and alternate versions. For the first time in history, "Mr. Tambourine Man" will be released in its entirety via The GAIN 2™ System on the Audiophile Limited Edition ULTRADISC UHR™ Dual Layer Hybrid SACD format.

Thirty Years ago in March of 1975 the landmark album "That's the Way of the World" by Earth, Wind and Fire was released and catapulted the band into super-stardom. "That’s the Way of the World" features the title track as well as the pop ballad “Reasons”. During the Caribou Ranch recording sessions, Maurice White so was overwhelmed by all the beauty of the stars in the clear mountainous skies of Colorado. It inspired him to write the bands first crossover Number 1 Hit “Shining Star” which White co wrote with Philip Bailey and Larry Dunn. This GRAMMY® Award-winning album was produced by the bands founder Maurice White and Charles Stepney and engineered by the legendary George Massenburg. This newly remastered Audiophile Limited Edition will be the first time "That's the Way of the World" will be available on Dual Hybrid SACD featuring original master tape transfers on the GAIN 2™ System and available on the ULTRADISC UHR™ Dual Layer Hybrid SACD format.

OLP DD

Canadian rockers Our Lady Peace, who'll be appearing at the as yet unannounced Live 8 show in Barrie, Ontario, will release Healthy in Paranoid Times on August 30. The album is the group's first new studio release since 2002's Gravity. In additional to the conventional CD release, a DualDisc edition will also hit stores, featuring an in-depth look at the making of the LP. Don't know yet whether it'll be stereo or multi-fun...imagine Raine whining at you from all recesses of yer home... 

See Emily Playstation

Dark Side Of The Moon BEING RELEASED ON UMD FORMAT FOR PSP!

Eagle Rock Entertainment have announced that they will be releasing a bunch of titles for the emerging new format for portable entertainment - the Universal Media Disc (UMD) format for the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) game device - and amongst these will be the excellent "Classic Albums: Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon".

Whilst no release date has been set for this title, it is expected to be one of the first to be released from their range, joining the currently limited range on the shelves. Other companies are now preparing their catalogues for release on the format.

In addition to gaming, the Sony PSP allows owners to view movies and music video programs, listen to music and download files. The PSP features a high resolution screen, and the UMD’s themselves, housed in a lightweight plastic disc sleeve, have a high data capacity (1.8 gigabytes) that makes the most of the handheld player's capabilities. Sound is presented in stereo through the built-in speakers, or through headphones.

Eagle Rock Entertainment's Executive VP Mike Carden said: “As soon as we saw the quality of the image produced on the PlayStation Portable, we knew it could be a very successful vehicle for our products and we wanted to be the first-to-market with visual music titles.” The Sony PSP has sold extremely well since its release on March 24, and the Wall Street Journal reports that Sony expects to ship 12 million units worldwide this year.

Whilst the quality isn't as good as the equivalent DVD, it provides a convenient format for entertainment while out and about, travelling to work, and so on.

As soon as we have the release date and order details for the Dark Side Of The Moon UMD, we'll let you know.

Convert vinyl Into Beautiful 4-Channel Surround Sound

MAGIX Announces Audio Cleaning Lab 10
Friday June 10, 3:22 pm ET

MIAMI, FL--(MARKET WIRE)--Jun 10, 2005 -- MAGIX, the worldwide leader in music and video editing software(1), announced today MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 10, which restores music from old scratchy vinyl albums, cassettes and old CDs turning them into beautiful four-channel surround sound masterpiece CDs and DVDs. Featuring crystal-clear 24-bit sound, new surround transitions and fully automated de-hissing capabilities, MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 10 cleans and polishes up one's favorite music, burning it onto CD, DVD, and now even DVD Audio. The latest version of the best-selling audio restoration program(1), MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 10 records music up to 7 CDs of your favorite band onto a single DVD, which is playable on any conventional DVD player for non-stop music enjoyment. Available June 16th, MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 10 is priced at only $39.99.

Spectral Cleaning & Surround Sound

MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 10 uses "Spectral Cleaning" to remove background noise or comments from recordings of Internet radio or classic live concerts without affecting the music. For users of Surround Sound systems, the software even lets you burn discs in DVD Audio format; and because of the Surround Editor and new Surround Transitions, MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 10 users can take advantage of DVD players and Dolby Pro Logic compatible systems, as well as create a smoother sound experience with automatic fading at the end of tracks.

Listening nirvana

Taken from the New Zealand Herald online addition..

12.06.05

by Richard Thorne

Having previously sought to explain why there are so many different types of blank DVD discs, variously appended +R/-R/RW/RAM etc, to choose from, it's time to consider yet another significant DVD variable - the DVD-A. DVD-Audio is a separate entity from the DVD-video format we commonly think of and refer to simply as DVD. Like SACD (Super Audio CD, which came under this column's spotlight a fortnight ago), DVD-A is a high-definition music format, delivering better stereo sound than standard CDs and, more to the point, much better multi-channel sound than ordinary DVDs. At the risk of repetition, from an audiophile viewpoint CDs have two main problems. One is that they have a dynamic range restricted to only 96dB and the second is that high-frequency response is limited to 22kHz. Sure, there is no scientific proof we can hear above that level, anyway, but the argument is that the absence of higher frequencies negatively affects the listening experience. Music enthusiasts wanted a better audio format and it seems very much in the major record companies' interests to encourage as many alternative format purchases as possible. Would you like your Springsteen served on vinyl, cassette, CD, MD, DVD, SACD, DVD-A, Dual Disc or etc, sir? The first DVD-A players weren't seen until 2000 and, with the added confusion brought by its competitor SACD, the format remains little understood. Some key points, then. All DVD-A players can play normal DVD and CD discs. DVD-A discs can also play on any DVD player showing the appropriate logo, but probably not on your machine if you were keen enough to buy before 2000. They most likely won't, however, play on a CD player - surely the greatest handicap to the format's growth. Most DVD-A discs contain both stereo and surround-sound versions of the music. They do not contain video, though they can include a little bit. They can and do contain still images linked to tracks, as well as lyrics, liner notes and other information including navigation instructions requiring, obviously enough, connection to a TV screen. They do sound convincingly better than either CD or DVD-Video in stereo or surround sound. There are only a few thousand titles available on DVD-A, like SACD mostly orchestral or re-releases, and they cost $5 to $10 more than CDs. Stereo recorded onto a CD is standardised at 16-bit chunks of information sampled at a frequency of 44,100 times a second. This is typically written as 16-bit/44.1kHz. DVD-A discs, in comparison, have the ability to hold stereo info recorded at up to 24-bit/192 kHz. You can see that there is significantly more musical information being captured. To fit on ordinary DVD discs, all multi-channel audio has to be compressed, and that compression noticeably affects the audio quality. For high-definition DVD-A, the multi-channel audio still requires compression, but the algorithm used is MLP, standing for Meridian Lossless Packing - emphasis on loss-less. With a multi-channel (surround sound) recording, DVD-A discs can (disconcertingly) have you feeling you are in the middle of the orchestra or studio, which can be magnificent. Remember that you will need to have quality multi-channel cabling from your DVD-A player to the receiver and some decent speakers to achieve such listening nirvana.

Upgrade...Yes!

Editor's note: Here's an excerpt from the online addition of Alabama's the Gadsen Times. Essentially; its the whys or why-nots of upgrading your home electronics..

High-End Audio

.....Compared with the rapid changes in television, home audio appears sedate. Even some music fanatics can argue for keeping an old stereo.

That is not because technology has not progressed, but because most of the recorded music has not. According to a 2004 market survey by the research firm IDC, CD's and FM radio - two sources of stereo music - are the preferred formats for most American consumers. Their popularity dwarfs that of the two high-definition sound formats - Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio discs - which provide up to six channels of surround sound, versus the two (right and left) channels for stereo sources. No one denies that SACD and DVD-A offer better quality. Along with providing additional audio channels that spread music around the listener, they use better encoding technologies and pack more data to produce higher detail. But according to Susan Kevorkian of IDC, the improvement may not be distinctive enough to pull in many converts - especially compared with the perceived benefit of upgrading from records and tapes to CD's in the past.

Partly because of a lack of consumer interest, record companies are not releasing a great deal of content in the high-definition formats. Only about 4,200 titles are available in the SACD and DVD-A formats. It is hard to estimate the total number of CD titles, but the online retailer CD Universe (www .cduniverse.com) provides a rough indication of the magnitude. It carries 250,000 titles, a spokesman said.

Stephen Clay, who runs the online marketplace audiogon.com, suggests upgrading by pairing a newer CD player with an existing stereo, because he says he believes CD players have improved significantly in quality over the years. He cautions against purchasing all the equipment required for the SACD or DVD-A formats, which he expects not to survive - a view disputed by many analysts.

For many people, changes in video technology provide the compelling reason to upgrade audio equipment. Most new DVD movies have surround-sound tracks in at least the 5.1 format (five speakers and a subwoofer to handle low, rumbling tones). Some newer DVD's support the 6.1 format. "There is nothing wrong with surround sound for movies, and it can be quite enjoyable," said Bill Robertson, owner of Uptown Audio, a store in Roanoke, Va. "However, most people who also want to use the same system for music find that there are compromises."

Twisted Sister and Eagle Rock Entertainment to Release First DVDplus in U.S. on June 28

Wednesday June 8, 8:33 am ET
Revolutionary Double-Sided DVDplus Disc Features Full DVD Video and Full CD Audio

NEW YORK, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Jun 8, 2005 -- Eagle Rock Entertainment and Twisted Sister, the legendary multi-platinum metal band, are teaming up to bring the ultimate combination of DVD and CD technology to metal fans everywhere. On June 28, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release "Twisted Sister's Live at Wacken The Reunion," on DVDplus. The revolutionary DVDplus format offers music fans a full-length DVD video program and a full-length audio CD on opposite sides of the same disc.

Unlike the DualDisc format, which is marketed as an enhanced audio CD, DVDplus uses the full capacity of the disc to give consumers a double dose of entertainment. The unique mastering techniques of DVDplus can include up to two hours of video on the DVD side, plus a full-length CD program. Packaged in a jewel box, the disc has magenta printing on one side and a clear coat scratch-resistant finish on the other, making it easier to identify its content than the DualDisc. It is also backwards compatible with all CD and DVD players. List price for "Live at Wacken The Reunion" will be $19.98.

Hiatt details...

Editor's note: John Hiatt's newest effort is scheduled for release on the 21st. It is coming at ya as an SACD multichannel hybrid. Hiatt is no stranger to Hi Rez...his "Bring the Family" project was released as an SACD and DVD-Audio disc while "Slow Turning" also came out on 24kt gold.  This bit was sussed out on Amazon...

Roots and groove mark this teaming of John Hiatt and the North Mississippi Allstars. On Master of Disaster, legendary Memphis producer Jim Dickinson and his sons Luther and Cody (the Allstars' guitarist and drummer, respectively) team with veteran bassist David Hood to give Hiatt's music a slow simmer rather than the high voltage fans might have expected from the collaboration. Yet the airy, organic interplay of the band provides the perfect complement for Hiatt's songs of folkish simplicity and lyrical grace. With the title track, he addresses the artist's midlife crisis and finds creative renewal in the process, a theme revisited in the country balladry of "Old School." There's a ragtime spirit to "Wintertime Blues" and "Back on the Corner," the insistence of a tom-tom's thump on "Love's Not Where We Thought We Left It" and "Find You At Last," a slide guitar that slices and dices through "Ain't Ever Goin' Back." With "When My Love Crosses Over," Hiatt returns to the soulful, soaring romantic balladry that remains a signature specialty, while "Cold River" tells a story that probes the coldest resources of the human heart. The result is his richest and most consistently satisfying release since the late 1980s. --Don McLeese

Album Description
John Hiatt recorded Master Of Disaster with the North Mississippi All Stars as his backing band. The CD is being released as a Hybrid Super Audio CD. This CD plays on all CD players, including CD players with SACD/5.1 Surround Sound.