Following on from the Rush "Moving Pictures" on BD thread http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/music-on-blu-ray-rush-moving-pictures, I've now picked up the above concert film, which also has both 24/96 stereo and DTS-HD MA 5.1 sound on the main feature. Even the 'bonus', the "Less is More" album on which the live show is based, is 24/96 stereo (only).
Although neither the band nor its catalogue are of the same status, everything positive I said about the lift that 24/96 gives the material on the Rush BD also applies here; the audio even sounds fine via HDMI from the notoriously audiophobe PS3 (which I had to use to check the bitrates) with decoding in my TV; I tried CD that way afterwards as a control, and it was awful!
The negatives — ill-considered static video elements on the audio-only sections, and bright fixed logos on the 'Marillion TV' items — also apply, but are less important given that the disc is primarily a movie rather a record; and at least my set has a "Display Off" mode...
This really ought to be the way forward for audio on physical media, and IMNSHO the record companies are (not for the first time) missing a trick in not making more use of the option. Even Marillion themselves have just re-released 'marbles' and 'somewhere else' as deluxe CD packages rather than as HD audio BluRay ;(
The questions from the original thread still stand, though, including whether this HiFi section should have a separate "HD audio" subsectionf...
Although neither the band nor its catalogue are of the same status, everything positive I said about the lift that 24/96 gives the material on the Rush BD also applies here; the audio even sounds fine via HDMI from the notoriously audiophobe PS3 (which I had to use to check the bitrates) with decoding in my TV; I tried CD that way afterwards as a control, and it was awful!
The negatives — ill-considered static video elements on the audio-only sections, and bright fixed logos on the 'Marillion TV' items — also apply, but are less important given that the disc is primarily a movie rather a record; and at least my set has a "Display Off" mode...
This really ought to be the way forward for audio on physical media, and IMNSHO the record companies are (not for the first time) missing a trick in not making more use of the option. Even Marillion themselves have just re-released 'marbles' and 'somewhere else' as deluxe CD packages rather than as HD audio BluRay ;(
The questions from the original thread still stand, though, including whether this HiFi section should have a separate "HD audio" subsectionf...