What's new

End of an HT era for Rob (1 Viewer)

Rob Gillespie

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 17, 1998
Messages
3,632
Today I've packaged up and posted the final three LaserDiscs I owned. Pink Floyd's Pulse, the DTS edition of The English Patient and the big one - the DTS LD of Titanic.

Also last Sunday, my Japanese model CLD-HF9G LaserDisc player (complete with heavy-duty 110v downconverter) also went off to it's new owner along with a small assortment of discs I couldn't get rid of by other means. The player's last mission was to provide the source for my LD video captures of the original Star Wars movies. An expensive player - it cost me a cool £1400 back in 1997, it walked out the door for a slightly less-cool £200. It did, however, need some care and attention as well as an overall service.

SO that's that. Rob's days of LaserDiscs are now gone for good. The format I ploughed so much money into since getting interested in HT as long ago as 1994, and which in some ways always impressed me more than DVD, has left the building. The Millennium DTS decoder is next to go on eBay.

The renovation of my flat is nearing completion (though the new bathroom will have to wait as the quote has come in a lot higher than expected) and that means one thing - less volume and less bass. The Boston VR2000 THX certified subwoofer which has scared the living crap out of many a visitor to my current address just isn't going to work out in the flat, so that's been sold to, with no plans for a replacement. The Boston would have taken the plaster off the walls of the guy downstairs, I'm sure.

So now I'm left with the TV, my trusty Denon AVC-A1 which has performed fearlessly since '98, the recently bought Denon 2900 DVD, and the Kef Q speakers. And a pile of interconnect cables that I no longer have use for.

It just wont be the same.
 

Christ Reynolds

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 6, 2002
Messages
3,597
Real Name
CJ
any reason to let go of the LDs? i was a newcomer to the LD scene, but i can definitely see the benefit of them. good luck getting adjusted :)

CJ
 

Adam Barratt

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 16, 1998
Messages
2,345
Real Name
Adam
Wow, that's really the end of an era (as long-standing members will recognise). It seems old-school laserphiles are getting rarer and rarer these days.

Are you using the 2900 instead of the Milly for DTS duties now? If so, how does it compare? I wouldn't be so hasty with your subwoofer; I took my Velodyne with me to my current apartment with no major issues.

Adam
 

Rob Gillespie

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 17, 1998
Messages
3,632
The LDs were getting used less and less and the player needed some work, which I wasn't prepared to spend money on.


I think the 2900 is better for audio. It sounds more open a bit more alive. The Milly is a fantastic sounding unit, but I just have no use for it now and it takes up a power supply and shelf space.

As for the sub, the Kefs do pretty well for bass. The Boston does take up a fair bit of floor space and I know from how I used it at my current address that the rooms underneath do get a good share of wallop.
 

Hartwig Hanser

Second Unit
Joined
Oct 9, 1998
Messages
301
Well, I still have all my 100+ LDs. While weeks may go by without watching one of them (having now some more DVDs), I like the feeling, that they are there to wait for me, if I want to see a movie, I do not have on DVD. I have to add, that I have only replaced a few selected LDs by DVDs. The majority of my LDs are still single inventory for me, and most will stay this way until HD-DVD is reality. Or I see a really extraordinary bargain on the DVD....

Somehow the main point for me is nostalgia. No DVD ever gave me the pride of ownership like my large LD boxes, or DTS LDs. With them I knew I had something, that only relatively few people in the world had. I know, I am a snob...
 

Kevin Alexander

Screenwriter
Joined
Apr 17, 1999
Messages
1,365
Honestly speaking Rob, I felt the same as you when I got rid of my LD player and discs. You will feel a deep sense of loss for a short while, but your recovery will be surprisingly quick.
 

alan halvorson

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 2, 1998
Messages
2,009
Rob: I envy you - I still have 700-800 LDs and, while I keep saying I am going to sell most of them, I have only taken baby steps in doing so. I could make quite a nifty bundle too, which I need right now.

Did you record LDs supplements also? CAV discs with a lot of stops and stills don't copy well to dvd - at least I haven't figured out a good process with my Panasonic E80 recorder. Do you use a PC burner instead?
 

Bill Slack

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 16, 1999
Messages
837
My modded CLD-97 is eyeing retirment as well. It used to be the vast majority of the discs I had simply weren't availible on DVD. But, that's no longer the case, the the LDs take up an awful lot of room. I just don't watch them anymore... I bought my first LD player, a CLD-505 when I was a sophmore in college, back in 1998. It was great having a high quality copy of movies I couldn't otherwise have. And it was great seeing peoples faces when you pull out a laserdisc! ;)
 

ChrisHeflen

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 9, 2002
Messages
912
Rob, you have more courage than I.

I have a CLD79 that I can not part with, but I haven't used it for like 2 years.
 

Shane Martin

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 26, 1999
Messages
6,017
I have a distinct feeling that we'll never see the original Star Wars discs on dvd and we'll get the SE stuff. For me it's worth keeping my player and even looking for a replacement player just in case. They are pretty cheap nowadays.

That said I can understand why some are getting rid of their collections.
 

Walter Kittel

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 28, 1998
Messages
9,770
Wow Rob, kind of surprised to be reading this on the HTF. ( I bet Rachael felt a brief stabbing pain when you concluded the transaction. :) )

While I understand your decision, esp. in terms of finances and wish you all the best in your post-LD HT endeavors; I couldn't imagine selling my primary Pioneer player. There are simply too many titles that I still watch that aren't out on DVD or in some cases have better LD versions.

Anyway, I hope you don't experience any long term effects from this separation. :)

- Walter.
 

Rob Gillespie

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 17, 1998
Messages
3,632

No, I only had the CLV editions. The captures were done on an Canopus ADVC-1394 card and then encoded with TMPGENc. I still have a lot of work to do on them before I'm happy but in all fairness, they don't look or sound that different to the LDs at high bitrate.

I got rid of the bulk of the discs in 2002 and many I had to sell in groups just to move them. The ones I kept were the few I had not available on DVD or that would just not sell. There is simply no market now for LDs unless you have something rare or unusual.
 

Seth_L

Screenwriter
Joined
Apr 5, 2002
Messages
1,553
Rob,

I think you'll find that CinemaCraft Encoder has much better quality at DVD bitrates. Specifically in the "flat" areas of the picture.
 

Rob Gillespie

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 17, 1998
Messages
3,632
Yeah, but I ain't spending $2000 on a bit of software and I've heard the cheapy version isn't up to much.
 

Grant B

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2000
Messages
3,209
You can take away my CLD 79 when you rip it from my cold dead fingers (whatever the gun nuts say)
 

andrew markworthy

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 30, 1999
Messages
4,762
Rob, you've done it all wrong. Keep the sub, buy a couple of bull terriers, play your system really loud, and make a mint appearing on TV documentaries as the neighbour from hell.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top