Special AVS Deal From AIX Records - Page 14

I'm sorry for the delay in getting back to this thread...I spent the last couple of weekends our of town. Last weekend was the inaugural AXPONA show in Jacksonville, Florida...finally a high end audio show that encourages HD surround music in both the exhibit rooms and during the seminars.

We had a really spectacular system thanks to the Oppo BD-83 SE, three Boulder 1012 stereo preamps, Boulder power amps, HD Labs cabling, 5 Thiel CS3.7 speakers and 2 SS2 subs. The HD video was run HDMI from the Oppo to an incredible video projector from Wolf Cinema (the DCX-1000) onto a Greyhawk screen from Stewart Filmscreen.

John Atkinson of Stereophile put us at the top of his blog on the event...worth checking out. We played nothing but the High Definition AIX Sampler IV from a Blu-ray disc. THe mixes were all 5.1 in lossless DOlby TrueHD...and it sounded amazing in the 3700 sq ft ballroom!

As to your question about the use of dipoles in the surrounds...I don't recommend it because of the way I mix the stage perspective mix. I use a lot of stereo pairs of mics and mix the L and R tracks to pairs of speakers. THis gives the sense of depth that many recordings lack. If you direct one side of stereo pair to a dipole you get phase issues and a lack of spatial accuracy. For the audience mixes, it probably sounds fine...but I would watch out for the stage versions.

The Blu-ray discs are coming...we've got the first two almost finished. Stay tuned.

John Atkinson's piece (mentioned earlier) goes into the multiple mixes that we put on our discs. We're the only label that chooses to do this on every release. He was surprised that I told him that most of the feedback I get favors the stage perspective. One of the visitors to the room thought differently. Anyone care to chime in on this issue? I'd love to confirm what I'm been saying.

John Gorka is one of my favorite artists...his voice, his songs and his presentation are perfect for the intimate, personal performance productions that we create.

I'm please to let everyone know that the Lisbeth Scott DVD-Audio/Video disc will be available in about a week...after a prolonged drought in new AIX Records releases. The blame for the pace of new production is entirely my own. With three full time jobs, there is not as much time as there used to be. And I've focused on getting the Blu-Ray samplers finished for Oppo and Dolby Labs.

However, things are looking better for the next few months. The Chamber Music Palisades - Shostakovich, Debussy and Brockman BD disc is coming out in about 2 weeks and will be followed by 6 other Blu-Ray productions.

We're also planning three days of new shoots in June that will incorporate 3D production in Blu-Ray. I've got some major artists on line for those sessions. The hope is to have 3D BD Albums available from AIX Records later this year.

It's very exciting to see where the technology is going...HD Downloads and the BD physical format are only a piece of the puzzle. The iPad, Apple and the purchase of EMI for their catalog is going to transform the way we consume music. This is all good for HD Surround music as well.

On a personal note...I ran the LA Marathon on my 57th birthday last month! I didn't set any records but I trained for a very long time and reached a personal goal. BTW 26.2 miles is a very long way!

It would be great if the major labels or artists could get behind real HD surround recordings...but I doubt it will happen. The music business is struggling just to survive and have proven that doing things the same old way is their mantra.

It would be great to have major artists or bands on my little label and I am making some headway, but it will take a while.

I'm finishing my first BD title...which is a classical piece with HD audio and Video. Stay tuned for more.

The first of our line of BD titles will be coming back from the replicator in less than 10 days. It is the Chamber Music Palisades disc featuring the Piano Quintet of Shostakovich Op 57, the Debussy Trio for Flute, Viola and Harp and Jane Brockman's Feast of Fives. It was the only DVD-Audio selected as a "Top 100 Recordings" by TAS...and now you can see it with HD Video AND listen in Dolby TrueHD audio.

Coming soon behind this one are John Gorka, Lisbeth Scott and Pachelbel Acoustica.

BTW The Lisbeth Scott DVD-Audio/Video discs will be here on Monday...our first new DVD in a long time.

I'm hoping to get a newsletter out this weekend!

Jonathan...I think I need more information. Are you talking about the AIX Records web site? If you linked to our dedicated DVD-Audio/Video and now Blu-ray site, you will not find the Rachmaninoff product because we do not have the rights to sell the CD...nor would I on the AIX Records site.

If you visited the iTrax.com, HD digital music download site...you will find the Rachmaninoff product and a dedicated page that allows you to select the album in stereo HD or surround...by album or by track.

I'm the webmaster (as well as a lot of other things for our little company) and am always interested in ways to make the experience of purchasing our titles easier. From the main page of the AIX Records web site, clicking on the cover art takes you to the product page which has a "Buy Now" button at the very top. Is this what you experienced.

On the iTrax.com page there is an article about the title AND a link to the product page that lets you purchase whichever mix or encode you are interested in. Because I usually don't write about specific products, I didn't think to include a link from the Rachmaninoff article to the product.

I'm very please to announce to the group that our first BD title has arrived back from the replicator. The Chamber Music Palisades ensemble plays Shostakovich, Debussy and Brockman in the HD Video and HD Music release.

Stay tuned...there are more coming.

The Chamber Music Palisades is done...the Pachelbel left today for replication. I decided to implement the colored buttons to directly access the three mixes on the disc (audience, stage and stereo) akin to what the Pure BD Audio discs from 2L.

Unfortunately, there was a bug in the DoStudio authoring tool and the yellow button didn't work. We go the fix just this week...so the delay. Sorry.

Pachelbel is being replicated right now. I expect to have finished discs sometime next week. Thanks for you interest.

The Pachelbel discs are finished and I have received them. All back orders are being processed and sent.

By the way to see an article on the 3D shoot that we did a week ago visit the following link:

http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/ultima..._music_albums/

For those of you who are interested, we shot 6 new projects in full 3D for Blu-ray release back in June. The first one is now completely authored and replicated...another in our series of Acoustica titles. This one is on the Bach Goldberg Variations.

I also received the John Gorka Blu-ray discs back from the replicator.

It's been a real struggle to get the new stuff through the post production pipeline this summer...but our new 3D Music Album is the first of its kind and only the 2nd Blu-ray 3D disc available from any company.

The Goldberg 3D Music Album received an incredible review over at Blu-ray.com. I was thrilled that the reviewer went right for the musical/sonic aspects of the disc rather than focusing on the innovative use of 3D technology for a music session.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Goldbe.../15570/#Review

As for the rest of our 3D projects, the quick story is that I'm finishing a 3D Music Album sampler that will be delivered to the replicator next week. This one will contain 8 music tracks AND a bunch of 3D footage I shot around southern California. There's also a 3D introduction shot in my control room that has some inset 3D imagery and videos...very tricky to construct. But if you want to see and hear from me, it's pretty cool.

That disc will be featured at the upcoming 3D Demo Days at a whole bunch of retailers around the country. The CEA is promoting 3D at home and this is the disc that they chose to feature during the weekend promotion (September 10-12). Check out your local Best Buy or Fry's.

The next disc will be the Mozart project performed by the Gold Medal Winners of the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, the Old City String Quartet. This one will be the first classical 3D project in 3D and it looks and sounds incredible. These terrific young musicians are actually in the room playing for you.

Others on tap will be Rita Coolidge and Mark Chesnutt, big names that have strong followings and amazing talent. The others are a solo piano project by Bryan Pezzone and a classical jazz crossover project featuring flutist James Walker and Free Flight.

I'll post information on the AIX Records web site when I can. It's going to be a long weekend.

Thanks for the encouraging comments. I spent the entire Labor Day Weekend watching progress bars and putting the finishing touches on the booklet for the 3D sampler. It's going into replication next week.

It's the 3D equivalent to the Oppo bundled sampler and calibration disc. There are 8 pieces in 3D, an intro by your truly in 3D and a 10 minute survey of interesting places in Los Angeles.

Next up will be the Old City String Quartet playing a Mozart Quartet, the Clarinet Quintet and Horn Quintet. That should be done by the end of the month. I'll posted them on the web site soon.

I've just returned from Bogota, Columbia where I was honored to present the keynote address at the 4th Annual Latin American AES Conference. Bogota is a beautiful city, at least the parts near the university where I was occupied. I didn't have much time given the brief duration of my stay and the schedule of the conference.

I spoke on 3D Audio at the request of Andre Mayo, a prominent audio engineer and former head of the Latin American AES.

Now I'm back at work on the Old City String Quartet Blu-Ray title (this one will also be issued as a 3D disc although it will be compatible with 2D players and displays).

Also Rita Coolidge was here last week working with us with the production of her project. I hope to have it completed before the end of the year. For those that want a sampling of our recent 3D shoots, the new 3D AIX Sampler is available on the web site...it will start shipping in about a week.

Thanks so much for the kind words on the John Gorka Blu-ray project. As I've stated before in this thread, he is one of my absolute favorite artists and I'm thrilled that he agreed to work with us on this project. His voice, the band and the quality of his songwriting are very rare.

There's some more projects coming down the pipe in Blu-ray with HD Video. This format is a winner for those that enjoy HD audio and HD video together...or you just sit back and listen. HD Surround Sound is the future.