[smeagol]

Hey there
I am asking about the dvd-audio format. The questions I have are the following:
1. The high resolution stereo featured on a dvd audio...does it bring a major improvement? Or it is just marketing to sell more? By example I saw Metallica-1991 on a DVD audio and the mastering is done by the same guy who mastered the cd.

2. Can I play DVD-audio on Foobar2000? If I can...how? I don't know anything about this format...

3.Can DVD-audio be ripped ?? How?

4. Generally, is it worth to buy smth like this?

Thanks

 

[saturnine]

#1) Can be better quality. Usually is.

#2) Not that I'm aware of.

#3) Not that I'm aware of.

#4) Depending on your system. High end = yes. Low end = probably not.

 

[smeagol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saturnine #1) Can be better quality. Usually is. #2) Not that I'm aware of. #3) Not that I'm aware of. #4) Depending on your system. High end = yes. Low end = probably not.

ok then, so how can i play that on a computer with a dvd rom? i don't want to get any dvd player

does it have tracks like a cd? what is it? i saw it's got a lot of features, must be like data cd's.....i assume. ??

 

[S_Dedalus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeagol ok then, so how can i play that on a computer with a dvd rom? i don't want to get any dvd player does it have tracks like a cd? what is it? i saw it's got a lot of features, must be like data cd's.....i assume. ??

It would be pointless to go DVD-A with a computer for the high rez stereo layer. If you want the special features and multichannel layer, then it would be okay, but the multichannel layer won't sound as good as on any decent dvd-a player. The only cards capable of playing the stereo layer at full resolution are audigy cards, and everything will end up resampled to 48khz anyway by kmixer, unless someone's figured out a hack to bypass it with creative cards. Also, the analog section of the audigy cards isn't in the same class as the better stereo sound cards.

 

[evil-zen]

Powerdvd 6 deluxe has MLP decoding for DVD-A. I tried it on my computer and it works. Of course the limitations here will be your soundcard.

 

[smeagol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by evil-zen Powerdvd 6 deluxe has MLP decoding for DVD-A. I tried it on my computer and it works. Of course the limitations here will be your soundcard.

what will the soundcard must be capable of to read dvd -a? and didn't anyone find a possibility to rip them? that's weird..there must be a way. not for piracy, for my convenience. i have all my cd's in ape format on my hdd....

 

[Captain]

I have been looking into DVD-audio and see that some disks are advertised as 5.1 and others 24 Bit 96 khz. Are they the same thing. I have a DVD player that plays 96 khz and a DAC-1, through a stereo set up not 5.1. Will I still get be able to play the 5.1 and get the benefits of 96 khz stereo.

Thanks

 

[smeagol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain I have been looking into DVD-audio and see that some disks are advertised as 5.1 and others 24 Bit 96 khz. Are they the same thing. I have a DVD player that plays 96 khz and a DAC-1, through a stereo set up not 5.1. Will I still get be able to play the 5.1 and get the benefits of 96 khz stereo. Thanks

dunno bro, i am trying to figure it out here...let's see

 

[Welly Wu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain I have been looking into DVD-audio and see that some disks are advertised as 5.1 and others 24 Bit 96 khz. Are they the same thing. I have a DVD player that plays 96 khz and a DAC-1, through a stereo set up not 5.1. Will I still get be able to play the 5.1 and get the benefits of 96 khz stereo. Thanks

Yes, 5.1 or 6.1+ 96kHz/24bit multi-channel DVD-Audio discs also come with a 48-192kHz/20-24bit stereo two-channel layer that can be played back through a headphone or traditional stereo loudspeaker system. In fact, a good portion of DVD-Audio discs that can support up to 5.1 or 6.1+ channels have 96kHz/24bit multi-channel and stereo layers on the same disc and the same side of the disc.

 

[smeagol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Welly Wu Yes, 5.1 or 6.1+ 96kHz/24bit multi-channel DVD-Audio discs also come with a 48-192kHz/20-24bit stereo two-channel layer that can be played back through a headphone or traditional stereo loudspeaker system. In fact, a good portion of DVD-Audio discs that can support up to 5.1 or 6.1+ channels have 96kHz/24bit multi-channel and stereo layers on the same disc and the same side of the disc.

i see that, but does anybody know why it can't be ripped? is it copy protected? how? in the same rude manner like copy controlled cd's?

 

[S_Dedalus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeagol i see that, but does anybody know why it can't be ripped? is it copy protected? how? in the same rude manner like copy controlled cd's?

The data is encrypted, like in dvd video, but I don't think anyone's figured out how to crack it yet.

 

[smeagol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by S_Dedalus The data is encrypted, like in dvd video, but I don't think anyone's figured out how to crack it yet.

heheheh....maybe the hackers didn't really care about this

)
let's bring a hacker in to do it

)))

 

[noir]

i'd be interested in ripping dvd-a as well.
the only reason why i haven't got a player yet is because stand-alone players just output 48khz digitally. Whereas i could send tracks ripped to my computer over my soundcard to my DAC at max resolution. I'm well aware that that won't work for multi-channel audio, but i'm only interested in stereo tracks anyway.

If power-dvd decodes MLP, then it shouldn't be all too hard to intercept the decoded PCM stream and move it into a wav? hope someone will find it out

 

[JaZZ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeagol Hey there I am asking about the dvd-audio format. The questions I have are the following: 1. The high resolution stereo featured on a dvd audio...does it bring a major improvement? Or it is just marketing to sell more?

Of the 11 audio-DVDs I found that were passably musically interesting to me, only four are (passably) sonically satisfying and really worth the higher data rate: ELP's «Brain Salad Surgery» as well as three DVD-As from the MDG label: orchestral works from Debussy, symphonies No.5&9 and 10 from Shostakovitch, the latter three with a bit high hiss level, but otherwise pleasing. Björk's «Vespertine» sounds good too, but not clearly better than the CD (and the SACD). The same applies to Donald Fagen's «The Nightfly» (which is an improvement over the CD, but mainly due to better mastering), and Steely Dan's «Gaucho». Interestingly the latter's multichannel track sounds much better and shows the format's true potential. So the music industrie doesn't seem to direct its DVD-A strategy to the audiophile (mostly two-channel oriented), but rather the videophile and multichannel-oriented clientele and treat the two-channel section quite stepmotherly, in contrast to the SACD. That's a pity, because I consider DVD-A the better format (theoretically)

Quote:

2. Can I play DVD-audio on Foobar2000?

Most likely not -- although I don't know Foobar.

Quote:

3.Can DVD-audio be ripped?

No. Its copy protection hasn't been cracked so far, and AFAIK there are no corresponding ripping programs available.

Quote:

4. Generally, is it worth to buy smth like this?

It depends. There is a decent amount of mainstream titles available, so if your musical interest is covered by these, it may be worth exploring the format, which certainly has greater sonic potential than redbook CD.


Quote:

Originally Posted by noir I'd be interested in ripping dvd-a as well. The only reason why i haven't got a player yet is because stand-alone players just output 48 kHz digitally. Whereas i could send tracks ripped to my computer over my soundcard to my DAC at max resolution. I'm well aware that that won't work for multi-channel audio, but i'm only interested in stereo tracks anyway.

The best you can do is make your soundcard record through the digital connection between its digital input and the DVD-A player's digital output. In most cases you'll get a signal downsampled to 48 kHz (and 24 bit), but after all that's still better than redbook.

 

[Enverxis]

edit: misread post.