OT: Blu-Ray CD's

[The Sushi Hunter]

I've heard of Blu-Ray DVD's but didn't know about Blu-Ray CD's until I went to Japan recently. I went into one of the largest music stores in Japan and found that they have pretty much re-released nearly all albums on this new format. There were about four different Journey CD's that were on that format. Obviously the Japanese have a great market for Blu-Ray CD's. I didn't listen to any. Has anyone heard of Blu-Ray music cd's and if so, do they really sound any better then the standard CD's that we already have? I'm asking cause if they are something special, I wouldn't mind picking up a few when I go back in a few months from now.

[Don]

They might gve yu more sound options if the material was remastered I guess. The SACD was supposed to do the the same thing but didn't really take off. Dgital distribution is where the money is at for artist. Blue Ray CD will just be another last gasp effort by major music publishers to cut an artist's royalties by charging for manufacturing and packaging.

[WalrusOct9]

I think this is a manufacturing process rather than a new, higher-resolution format. I imagine the differences in sound will be minimal unless you're paying really close attention and using a ridiculously expensive CD player.


It's a dying format anyway, but hey, at least vinyl is making a comeback.

[The Sushi Hunter]

Thanks for the information. In order to use these Blu-Ray cd's to the fullest, is there a special Blu-Ray cd player that is needed, or do these things work on regular cd players? I think that in order to use Blu-Ray DVD's you need a Blu-Ray player. It's funny how some products are a huge success in Japan while the same products fail outside Japan. Like I recall a number of years ago there were those mini cd's in Japan. Those are still very popular in Japan but no one in their right minds in the U.S. like those things.

What was amazing to me though was how many re-issued cd's were out on sale in Japan on this Blu-Ray format. It was like all the 70's and 80's music was brand new releases again from what selection they had out. I was thinking of picking up a few of the albums I don't have anymore but used to have. But if there really isn't a difference in sound quality or if I need a special Blu-Ray cd player to play them on, I think I'll just pass on it. My wife is still in Japan with our daughter but they will be returning in a few months from now. I was thinking to have her pick me up some albums before she came back, but maybe I won't afterall from what your telling me in regards to this. It was funny that they did have quite a few Journey albums for sale on this format. There were roughly four different Journey albums I saw on Blu-Ray. None were the Revelations album, they were all SP fronted albums. SP is still the ichiban frontman to most of the Japanese today. But they also admit that AP is the very next best thing to SP and don't hesitate to purchase tickets to the shows.

[Arkansas]

Read once where this is just a marketing ploy. A lot of people play CDs in their DVD player as part of the greater home system. If they have a blu-ray DVD player, then maybe they can't play some of their old CDs in it, thus the (implied) need for blu-ray, or blu-ray compatible CDs.


later~

[Don]

These Blue discs are supposed to be hybrid where they'll work on a regular player also. The improvement in performance is beyond the range of a normal person's ability to hear anyway so it's pretty much worthless like SACD was.

[WalrusOct9]

SACD was a legit format tho, and you CAN hear the difference on quality speakers or headphones. It's subtle to casual listeners, but for really dedicated listening of well-recorded music, there is a huge difference, especially with older recordings...the 24/96 capabilities of SACD more closely approximated the sound of the original tapes or the original vinyl, IMO. Not to mention most had 5.1 surround mixes, which kick ass. It's a shame the industry was too stupid to make this format work, at least for hardcore fans.