Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBanditking
So I put the blu-ray disc into my PC and copied the compressed ZIP off the disc. the MP3 files say they are 300kbps...are you saying these are higher quality MP3's from a audio fidelity standpoint? to be blunt whats better, CD's ripped at FLAC, or these converted MP3's based on the Blu-ray audio files Square put on the disc? Thanks
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You are comparing apples to oranges. You cannot just blanket state one is better than the other because it depends on a multitude of things like how the Bluray was mastered, how the Bluray audio was extracted, how the MP3s on the disc were created, etc. We can state that in the specific cases linked above, the Bluray audio is definitively *worse* than the MP3s in the zip on the disc
because the Bluray audio is upsampled and some tracks have clipping issues. That doesn't mean Bluray audio is worse, it just means someone did a poor job with it and/or took shortcuts.
Generally speaking, you're not going to have good enough equipment to notice the difference between the audio extracted off the Bluray and the mp3s on the disc. You will be able to notice clipping issues and though they exist, they so far seem to be pretty uncommon.
Bluray Positives:
- Fits more data on a single disc compared to CD. Your 3+ CD OSTs can easily fit on a single Bluray.
- Typically comes with some kind of visual presentation (i.e., still image slideshows or videos), if you're into that kind of thing.
- May be easier or cheaper to acquire than long out of print versions of CDs
Bluray Negatives:
- Requires additional hardware to play, though perhaps less of a negative in the video game music industry since I would assume most people interested in video game music have some kind of console that can play Blurays.
- Requires additional software for extraction and encoding and isn't as intuitive as putting in a CD and ripping it with EAC
- Specifically with video game music and (most) of the music SQEX has released on Bluray, the source material doesn't really gain anything from the medium. You're sometimes talking about 8 and 16 bit sound sources so ultimately what's the point of having the ability to do higher quality stuff? Note: This does not apply to things that properly leverage Bluray capability, like some of the live concerts, 5.1 tracks, and generally higher quality source audio (like most of FFXIV).
Bluray Neutrals:
- May sometimes be the only version of a release
- Has the potential for higher audio quality, if done correctly
So for all intents and purposes, just stick with whatever you have. Buy the Blurays if you're a collector, want the visual presentation, or just want the soundtrack for something that's been out of print for a long time.