SQEX-20010: FINAL FANTASY Orchestral Album

[Don]

I have no idea why it is so expensive... from what I've gathered... the format even confuses me... Blu-ray CD?

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/music/s...5th_orchestra/

http://store.jp.square-enix.com/detail/SQEX-20010

[MiLO]

Yep, Blu-ray compact disc. Why not. The future is here.

[TerraEpon]

Basically it uses the space of a Blu-ray disc to hold high quality audio.

[Arcubalis]

I was hoping it'd be that elusive Tour de Japon DVD or something. On a Blu-ray disc.

[Zanasea]

Blu-ray discs are always extremely expensive in Japan.

MP3 versions will be included on-disc but it will also be possible to download them from the Internet.

[Andrew Evenstar]

Really excited for this, especially the Eyes On Me arrangement.

[KP-X]

I'm looking forward to the Battle Medley from I up to XIV and Battle With the Four Fiends. For the time being, I could care less about the rest.

[Kapik]

Don't know how many of the arrangements are new, but a new arrangement of Opera "Maria and Draco" Full Version will most probably be awesome.

[Argentis]

I like the battle medley; I hope it doesn't mean that the pieces they used in the arrangement don't see further arrangement in future concerts. Nakayama did a really good job, but if he had elaborated on these pieces further it could have been another album in its own right.

One little thing had me puzzled;

Spoiler:

For the medley, the japanese tracklist says "I-XIV" but where is XIV's segment? It seems to cut to the prelude after XIII's track

Highlight was the Opera and, imo, to finally hear a fully orchestrated XII music at last! Hopefully more will happen in the future.

Extremely cheap to reuse orchestrations used on previous albums. The middle section of the album feels weak in comparison. They could have at least re-recorded the entire album with the FiLMharmonic Orchestra

[James O]

Originally Posted by Argentis

One little thing had me puzzled;

Spoiler:

For the medley, the japanese tracklist says "I-XIV" but where is XIV's segment? It seems to cut to the prelude after XIII's track

If you watch it via bluray player it goes through the game logos as each track plays, changing to reflect the current stuff being played.

Spoiler:

Everything after Blinded by Light for XIII is counted as FF XIV's contribution to the medley.

[_if]

Is there a surround sound mix or something on this?

[James O]

no you'd think since they put it on blu-ray there would be, but it's just linear pcm 2.0 channel stereo (96 kHz/24 bit) audio.

[_if]

Wow, that's lame.

[Sirusjr]

I guess at some point VGMDB will need a notation that can indicate when a release like this is 24 bit lossless. It would be awesome if it was somehow made available as a digital download in 24 bit lossless like Distant Worlds II was through bandcamp.

[LiquidAcid]

24 bit is pointless anyway, unless you're editing the material.

[Efendija]

It is pointless... The ear will never notice the difference unless it's... supernatural...ear

...but editing... yeah, could be of use...

[LiquidAcid]

You would first need equipment and a listening environment where you can fully use the 90dB (96dB - some headroom) dynamic range of CDDA. And now show me single recording where we even get near that value. Classical recordings tend to get near 30dB. "Area III - Sacred Mountain of Silver Wind" from Sekaiju no MeiQ⁴ *denshou no kyoshin* Original Soundtrack has 22dB, which is very rare.

[_if]

To Sirusjr's suggestion, I'd say we should just write the format in the notes section on DVD and Blu-ray releases, as is already often done, rather than having one or more new fields added at the top of the page or something. Bit depth and sample rate are of more specialized interest, but I'm sure many would appreciate that information, and number of channels is probably a pertinent question to most people who are thinking of buying an audio-only release on these traditionally video-oriented media. And if there is multichannel, it would be good to point out if it's Dolby, DTS, or something lossless.

Originally Posted by Sirusjr

It would be awesome if it was somehow made available as a digital download in 24 bit lossless like Distant Worlds II was through bandcamp.

A lot cheaper and easier too. I was pleased to see SEMO give Bandcamp an award for being so great; I wholeheartedly agree.

[James O]

If anyone's interested in what makes up the Battle Medley track here it is:

Spoiler:

Final Fantasy I – Battle Scene
Final Fantasy II – Battle Scene 1
Final Fantasy III – Battle 2
Final Fantasy IV – Battle 2
Final Fantasy V – The Final Battle
Final Fantasy VI – The Decisive Battle
Final Fantasy VII – Those Who Fight
Final Fantasy VIII – Force Your Way
Final Fantasy IX – Battle 1
Final Fantasy X – Otherworld
Final Fantasy XI – Awakening
Final Fantasy XII – Boss Battle
Final Fantasy XIII – Blinded by Light
Final Fantasy XIV – Prelude ~Remembrance~

[harvester84]

Is this bluray Region free?

[student41269]

Originally Posted by harvester84

Is this bluray Region free?

Yes it is.

[Arcubalis]

Originally Posted by Argentis

Highlight was the Opera and, imo, to finally hear a fully orchestrated XII music at last! Hopefully more will happen in the future.

Don't think I'll be happy with any arrangement of "Maria and Draco" until they include "Grand Finale?" at the end. ;D

Also loved FFXII, and the FFIV Dreadful Fight. So awesome.

Any idea how to download the stuff? I don't see a URL on this instruction card.

[Arcubalis]

Also, does anyone have a list of which tracks are reused material from previous albums/recordings?

[_if]

03 Memory of the Wind ~Legend of the Eternal Wind~ (Final Fantasy III DS Original Soundtrack)
10 F.F.7 Main Theme (Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks)
11 One-Winged Angel (Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks)
12 Aerith's Theme (Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks)
15 Balamb GARDEN~Ami (Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec)
19 Suteki da ne -Orchestra Version- (Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack)
22 Fang's Theme (Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack)

All of the ones that look like redundancies from the Distant Worlds albums ("Theme of Love", "To Dear Friends", "vamo' alla flamenco", "At Zanarkand", and "Ronfaure", plus "Maria and Draco", but this is a revised arrangement) are actually new recordings.

[James O]

Originally Posted by Arcubalis

Don't think I'll be happy with any arrangement of "Maria and Draco" until they include "Grand Finale?" at the end. ;D

Also loved FFXII, and the FFIV Dreadful Fight. So awesome.

Any idea how to download the stuff? I don't see a URL on this instruction card.

You can just stick the blu-ray disc into your drive on the computer and copy the zip file with the mp3's over to your hard drive. I tried the dload code thing and it didn't work on the website it specified to use.

[student41269]

This release also has a second playlist with OST versions of many of the tracks. What's the best way to list these on the album's page? Just append them to disc one, or create a new disc?

[LiquidAcid]

Another fine example why the dynamic range provided by Redbook is more than enough:

01 Medley 2002 [Final Fantasy I~III].flac: 17.04 LU
02 Medley 2004 [Final Fantasy I~III].flac: 15.93 LU
03 Memory of the Wind ~Legend of the Eternal Wind~ [Final Fantasy III].flac: 16.43 LU
04 The Dreadful Fight [Final Fantasy IV].flac: 10.52 LU
05 Theme of Love [Final Fantasy IV].flac: 10.36 LU
06 Final Fantasy V Main Theme [Final Fantasy V].flac: 12.77 LU
07 To Dear Friends [Final Fantasy V].flac: 13.37 LU
08 Opera 'Maria and Draco' Full Version [Final Fantasy VI].flac: 17.07 LU
09 The Mystic Forest [Final Fantasy VI].flac: 13.66 LU
10 F.F.7 Main Theme [Final Fantasy VII].flac: 8.09 LU
11 One-Winged Angel [Final Fantasy VII].flac: 14.49 LU
12 Aerith's Theme [Final Fantasy VII].flac: 19.98 LU
13 Eyes On Me [Final Fantasy VIII].flac: 11.96 LU
14 Liberi Fatali [Final Fantasy VIII].flac: 11.48 LU
15 Balamb GARDEN~Ami [Final Fantasy VIII].flac: 13.22 LU
16 vamo' alla flamenco [Final Fantasy IX].flac: 13.53 LU
17 Unfulfilled Feelings [Final Fantasy IX].flac: 16.11 LU
18 At Zanarkand [Final Fantasy X].flac: 14.42 LU
19 Suteki da ne -Orchestra Version- [Final Fantasy X].flac: 11.46 LU
20 Ronfaure [Final Fantasy XI].flac: 14.86 LU
21 The Dalmasca Estersand [Final Fantasy XII].flac: 7.53 LU
22 Fang's Theme [Final Fantasy XIII].flac: 11.18 LU
23 Battle Medley 2012 [Final Fantasy I~XIV].flac: 17.30 LU

LU = loudness units (here identical to dB)

[TerraEpon]

Originally Posted by _if

03 Memory of the Wind ~Legend of the Eternal Wind~ (Final Fantasy III DS Original Soundtrack)
10 F.F.7 Main Theme (Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks)
11 One-Winged Angel (Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks)
12 Aerith's Theme (Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks)
15 Balamb GARDEN~Ami (Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec)
19 Suteki da ne -Orchestra Version- (Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack)
22 Fang's Theme (Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack)

So we're sure that all of the ones not listed above are exclusive to this disc?

[taaniel]

harvester84 and student41269: (EDIT) disregard, my information on region was wrong.

Also, the disc appears to contain instrumental versions of two vocal tracks, in addition to to the OST tracks mentioned by student41269 (00023.m2ts through 00046.m2ts). I'm not sure how to access them through the Blu-Ray menu system; I might have missed them, or perhaps they were left on the disc by mistake.

\BDMV\STREAM\00052.m2ts -- Eyes On Me from FF8, same as track 13 but no vocals
\BDMV\STREAM\00053.m2ts -- Opera from FF6, same as track 8 but no vocals

Also, the FF5 main theme and the 2002 Medley have audio-only duplicates (00051.m2ts and 00054.m2ts, respectively.)

[LiquidAcid]

The region coding of a BD is a joke since it's not implemented in hardware. And most (if not all) ripping software (like e.g. MakeMKV) doesn't care about it anyway.