Alan_Horner
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2001
- Messages
- 232
I was out shopping for a friend's gift yesterday and went to a few different stores, casually looking to see if local retailers like Best Buy and Tower were carrying DualDiscs yet. Despite the recall, the local Best Buy did have The Donnas DualDisc, but the price was $15 so I skipped it since I don't really know the band. Looking for DualDiscs at Tower was a bit of an afterthought -- I was already in line with my friend's gift -- so imagine my surprise when I went looking and actually found a copy of the the new Blondie DualDisc.
Some of my impressions:
The disc is housed in a standard jewel case with a clear plastic slip cover clearly featuring both the DualDisc name (in big letters) and the logo. The back cover does a nice job of explaining the CD / DVD side. However, there is no indication anywhere that the 5.1 surround mix is presented in a hi-rez mode. I bought the disc not knowing whether I was going to get a simple Dolby Digital surround mix or an Advanced Resolution mix. Grrrr.
As I discovered when I got home, there are three audio offerings on the DVD side: 5.1 DVD-A, 5.1 Dolby Digital, and 2.0 Dolby Digital (I was not able to switch audio tracks on-the-fly). The DVD-A tracks are 48/24, which is a bit surprising since there's only a single video presented ("Good Boys"). Onscreen lyrics are apparently available only with the DVD-A tracks. Different still photos accompany the title card of each track; lyrics are presented on a generic background. The DVD side also contains credits and a brief explanation about multi-channel set up, including a brief audio test for speaker balance. Unlike the early days of SACD, the CD booklet has been reprinted and updated to include information about the mixing of the 5.1 tracks.
The 5.1 DVD-A mix is a very different beast from the regular CD. The mix strikes a nice balance between those mixes that leave everything in the front channels and those mixes that bounce the sound all around. Vocals and "primary" instruments do remain up front in this mix, but second instruments and background vocals/effects are prominently spread to the rear channels. As I said, I think it's a nice balance and it really opens the album up. It also highlights some of the deficiencies in the original recording (a very weak drum sound on occasion), but that's not a major problem.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix was just a muddled mess and much louder than the DVD-A tracks. I'm sticking with the DVD-A tracks.
I paid full price for the disc ($20), but I don't regret it; this was the only Silverline DualDisc that I was interested in and I'm pleased I got it. Unfortunately, this was the only copy I saw on sale there.
Some of my impressions:
The disc is housed in a standard jewel case with a clear plastic slip cover clearly featuring both the DualDisc name (in big letters) and the logo. The back cover does a nice job of explaining the CD / DVD side. However, there is no indication anywhere that the 5.1 surround mix is presented in a hi-rez mode. I bought the disc not knowing whether I was going to get a simple Dolby Digital surround mix or an Advanced Resolution mix. Grrrr.
As I discovered when I got home, there are three audio offerings on the DVD side: 5.1 DVD-A, 5.1 Dolby Digital, and 2.0 Dolby Digital (I was not able to switch audio tracks on-the-fly). The DVD-A tracks are 48/24, which is a bit surprising since there's only a single video presented ("Good Boys"). Onscreen lyrics are apparently available only with the DVD-A tracks. Different still photos accompany the title card of each track; lyrics are presented on a generic background. The DVD side also contains credits and a brief explanation about multi-channel set up, including a brief audio test for speaker balance. Unlike the early days of SACD, the CD booklet has been reprinted and updated to include information about the mixing of the 5.1 tracks.
The 5.1 DVD-A mix is a very different beast from the regular CD. The mix strikes a nice balance between those mixes that leave everything in the front channels and those mixes that bounce the sound all around. Vocals and "primary" instruments do remain up front in this mix, but second instruments and background vocals/effects are prominently spread to the rear channels. As I said, I think it's a nice balance and it really opens the album up. It also highlights some of the deficiencies in the original recording (a very weak drum sound on occasion), but that's not a major problem.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix was just a muddled mess and much louder than the DVD-A tracks. I'm sticking with the DVD-A tracks.
I paid full price for the disc ($20), but I don't regret it; this was the only Silverline DualDisc that I was interested in and I'm pleased I got it. Unfortunately, this was the only copy I saw on sale there.
