Some Facts on DVD Audio

mahiruha

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Hello Guys,
I was just trying to educate myself regarding DVD Audio and came across this useful information. Have a look might interest you also.

DVD-Audio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has a very interesting quote

"There is controversy regarding the audible fidelity improvement when listening to a stereo DVD-Audio disc compared to a CD-disc, even when conditions and content are optimal. In a peer-reviewed blind listening test published in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, the authors were unable to find any proof that stereo DVD-Audio as a format sounds different from CD.[8] The author suggests that differences in the mastering for particular DVD-Audio and CD may explain perceived differences."

I am very much interested to this test myself in my setup.
Thanks.
 
I feel its first to do with mastering. If source material is poorly mastered and recorded, having it in on a DVD-A also wont make much of a difference
 
My source plays redbook-CD, SACD and DVD-Audio (also MP3 which I never use) pretty decently, all in 2-channel stereo only. I have a reasonably good collection of CDs, SACDs and a few DVD-As. There is no doubt from my experience that the SACD and DVD-A sound much much better than CD. I have a few discs both in CD and SACD versions (eg: Miles Davis) and the difference is significant. This is more evident when you listen to big orchestral music like Western classics where the CD never comes even close to SACD in reproducing an extensive wide and deep soundstage. The same is true for DVD-A though unfortunately I don't have the same music both in CD and DVD-A for a 1:1 comparison.

P.S. I have yet to come across an Indian music SACD or DVD-A. Any information is welcome.

cheers.
murali
 
Hi Mahiruha:

For all your queries related to DVD-Audio, please read carefully this link below that will give you clearcut answers as its from the people who decided to give up CDs in favor to this route.

Burning downloaded music onto DVD-A

regards

Hi audio,
thanks for the link. Well I am not too sure about the 540d's capability to spin DVD-audio discs. The CA site spec says it can't but I have come across few reviews where people are happily playing DVD -audio discs.
Cambridge Audio Azur 540D Reviews

Mine is unlocked to play all region DVD's, MP3 and probably DVD audio. Have never eally tried since I don't have one.Have to give it a go.
 
As simple as it might sound, this is a very difficult question to answer because of too many variables. Some of which are

Mastering techniques
Compression of the material on the disks
stereo vs. multi-channel repro
storage formats (ac3 vs. pcm)

Once all the stars align in terms of creatign the DVD-A or CD for that matter will it sound good.

The current trend which is bastarised by ipods and crappy mp3 players as such is forcing the studio to compress the hell out of CDs so they they all sound simialr on radio or mp3 formats. It is just a sad state of affairs.

This is also the reason people are going back to securing older recordings esp. on vinyl.
 
Hi audio,
thanks for the link. Well I am not too sure about the 540d's capability to spin DVD-audio discs. The CA site spec says it can't but I have come across few reviews where people are happily playing DVD -audio discs.
Cambridge Audio Azur 540D Reviews

Mine is unlocked to play all region DVD's, MP3 and probably DVD audio. Have never eally tried since I don't have one.Have to give it a go.

Please read the following:

Is Your Transport Giving You All The Bits? is the title of a new whitepaper published by the folks at Benchmark.

"Surprisingly, many DVD transports currently on the market fail to transmit the exact digital audio data bit-for-bit as it appears on the DVD. Of the DVD transports Benchmark has tested (8 as of this writing), all of them modified high-resolution audio data before sending it to the digital output (although they did pass 'Redbook', CD-quality 44-kHz, 16-bit data without modification). Let's examine what all of this means to your playback system."

and

"Most DVD transports reduce 24-bit digital recordings to 16 bits by truncating the 8 'least-significant-bits' (LSB's). In other words, these 8-bits are simply removed without dithering. This type of truncation adds quantization errors that result in significant levels of distortion."

Assuming for a moment that Benchmark is correct in their assessments, it seems to put the lie to ability of some DVD players to output digital data better than CD quality. In fact they seem to suffer from the issue of bit truncation similar to how the Squeezebox players did prior to the implementation of Sox in Squeezecenter (version 7.3.2). If this is true, it reinforces that the playback chain of Squeezecenter/Sox/Squeezebox has the potential to be superior since it can natively play 48k/24b data and correctly re-dither/re-sample higher bit rates to the native 48k/24b.

Getting your answers???

cheers.
murali
 
Hi Murali,
you have a very valid point. In a way it seems an audio pc with very good soundcard will become will become a integral part of a good audio rig. It saves all the hassle of burning a cd or DVD and then if a hardware is missing any bits or not.I am moving in that direction. Lets see how it turns out to be.
Thanks.
 
Hi guys,
after some research and wasting 6 blank DVDs there is some success. After downloading high resoultion files 24 bit 88 Khz from linn audio I wa trying to burn them in a DVD to create DVD audio so that I can play it in my CA 540 D dvd player. First I tried with HD audio solo ultra 2.4 which is available on a trial version from Solo DVD-Audio authoring - Author DVD at the best audio quality which allows free creation 5 full dvd audio. The process is pretty simple and it creates a dics which has a blank video_Ts folder a loaded auio_TS folder and folder called data. My other dvd player simply refused to read it the CA player read it but didn't play. I am still not sure why perhaps it got confused what is the folder called data doing there. I think but not too sure any DVD audio or DVD vdieo dsic primarily should contain only video_TS and audio_Ts folder. Can any DVD audio owner confirm what are folders in a DVD_aduio disc.

Then I tried with another software which I got from friend called disc welder. It is a very interesting piece of software it just allows to create a DVD_Audio disc with a mirrored video_Ts folder as if it is a dvd video disc. Then any dvd player just plays the music from the disc as if it is a dvd video and we don't need to switch on tv or things like that. For that matter we can store huge amount of music in a dvd disc that can played be thorugh any dvd player like a normal cd. The music sounded really good and definitely better than normal cd with the high resolution files.Of course with normal resolution cd it will be just like a cd with bigger storage.
Thanks.
 
Hi Mahi
I am sure you will be able to improve the SQ by having an external DAC which would be way better then one found in budget DVD players
 
Hi Rikhav,
We I don't find any difference in the music produced by CA 540D and the from asus xonar essence stx sound card from PC. may be later I will get a Beresford Caiman DAC and attach it to the DVD player to see what is the difference like. The problem to get a Beresford here in Calcutta to test. I will probably call up the CA dealer and ask him to bring the DAC magic over so that I can do a A/B test.
Thanks.
 
P.S. I have yet to come across an Indian music SACD or DVD-A. Any information is welcome.
'Dhoom 2' is the only Indian title to have been released on DVD-Audio. --> Dhoom:2 DVD-Audio

In an industry first, the music of Yash Raj Films Dhoom 2 has been released on the DVD-Audio format. All the tracks have been mixed in London in 5.1 Surround Sound and audiophiles can choose the format from the audio menu.

The album makes use of the DVD-Audio format in other ways as well. The lyrics can be viewed on-screen as the music is playing, thus enabling Karaoke sing-along. The theatrical trailer of the movie is also available on the DVD, as well as a credits page that can be viewed optionally.

The lyrics for which are also available on screen. Rounding up the package is a gallery of pictures from the movies, as an optional feature, states an official release .Additionally,four tracks have also been include:
Chand Sifarish (Fanaa), Kajra Re (Bunty aur Babli), Salaam Namaste (Salaam Namaste) and Halla Re (Neal 'n' Nikki).
 
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