Question:
I've been searching the forums and the web for answers but getting a bit baffled so could someone clear this up for me?
I have an ordinary DVD player hooked up to a surround sound amp and speakers. Can I play DVD-Audio disks on my player and get 5.1 playback or do I just get a stereo version? And are some disks only in stereo anyway?
Thanks ...
Hi Richpoyle,
There is no set format for DVD Audio discs. That is to say, some discs only have a DVD Audio track, others have a DVD Audio, a DTS and a stereo track. The best way to tell is check the specs of the individual discs.
To answer your question. On your set up, you would not be able to listen to either a stereo, or surround DVD Audio track, as you need a DVD Audio player for this. However, if you chose a disc such as Queens 'A Night at the Opera', you could listen to DTS surround version which is almost as good as the DVD Audio version on the same disc.
I hope this makes sense :)
Thanks for that Urban Tiger :)
For DVD-A do you need a special amp or can all the current AV amps support the extended frequency range?
The new Arcam A75 stereo amp (that I'm thinking of getting) says it has been designed for the frequency ranges of DVD-A/SACD.
Originally posted by kiran_mk2
For DVD-A do you need a special amp or can all the current AV amps support the extended frequency range?
The new Arcam A75 stereo amp (that I'm thinking of getting) says it has been designed for the frequency ranges of DVD-A/SACD.
I'm no expert, but the player does the decoding. You connect the player to the amp with 3 pairs of phono leads, into the EXT1 sockets. The amp simply amplifies.
One word of warning re DVDA, unless you have a top spec amp, you will have no bass management when you play discs i.e. a full range signal is sent to all speakers. This means, when you play something like the 1812, you may suffer a mass of uncontrollable bass which makes the listening experience a bit poor
Originally posted by Urban Tiger
One word of warning re DVDA, unless you have a top spec amp, you will have no bass management when you play discs i.e. a full range signal is sent to all speakers. This means, when you play something like the 1812, you may suffer a mass of uncontrollable bass which makes the listening experience a bit poor
I can't identify with this at all - I don't regard my amp (a Yamaha 620) as "top spec", but it seems perfectly capable of coping with DVD-Audio. That said, my player does the actual decoding, so I suspect the amp is merely playing what it's told to play!
Originally posted by Michael Brooke
I can't identify with this at all - I don't regard my amp (a Yamaha 620) as "top spec", but it seems perfectly capable of coping with DVD-Audio. That said, my player does the actual decoding, so I suspect the amp is merely playing what it's told to play!
Its only a problem when the material is bass heavy. Neither your player or amp have bass management so the problem only occurs during discs like the 1812.
Most DVD-A discs also have a DVD-Video 5.1 track so you will be able to get 5.1 surround a lot of the time without having the DVD-A decoding facility. Obviously the quality is still short of the 192KHz DVD-A but it should represent an improvement on CD material.
My amp, Sherwood 6095RDS, has the DVD-A signal passed from the Pioneer 656 via the 6 phono connects. The Pioneer does the decoding and the amp passes the signal out to the speakers. The frequency management is available via the player. I would have thought most players could do this where the signal is passed via the analog outputs.
Have a look at this link on Outlaws site in the US they make a high end base management separate but give a very good account of why you may need it.
http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/icbm_about.html
I personally don't have an issue with it. I would think Missy Elliott's Dvd-a is bass heavy and my system handles it very well although I'm fortunate with my equipment.
Pioneer DVD 747A
Pioneer VSXG-859RDS Amp
Monitor Audio Silver Series Speakers
I believe bass management would benefit systems that have been built unit by unit and where the components are not well matched e.g.
Not having the same brands and / or full range speakers.
Originally posted by shaun
Most DVD-A discs also have a DVD-Video 5.1 track so you will be able to get 5.1 surround a lot of the time without having the DVD-A decoding facility. Obviously the quality is still short of the 192KHz DVD-A but it should represent an improvement on CD material.
This really depends on what you mean by "an improvement" – what you gain in terms of extra channels you might well lose in terms of lower sound quality.
For instance, with the solo piano that makes up Teldec's <I>Messiaen: Vingt regards</I> DVD-Audio disc, the results are very noticeably poorer not only than the high-resolution DVD-A tracks but also the CD equivalent. This doesn't come as that much of a surprise, though, as Dolby Digital is the only format of those three that uses lossy compression, so one would expect the sound quality to suffer accordingly.
Listening on headphones to each version cruelly revealed the Dolby Digital track's limitations, particularly at the top end – though, by the same token, this made the DVD-Audio tracks sound still more miraculous (easily the best solo piano recording I've ever heard).
My amp, Sherwood 6095RDS, has the DVD-A signal passed from the Pioneer 656 via the 6 phono connects. The Pioneer does the decoding and the amp passes the signal out to the speakers. The frequency management is available via the player. I would have thought most players could do this where the signal is passed via the analog outputs.
To be honest, I'm still not at all sure what Urban Tiger is talking about – I don't have the Tchaikovsky disc that he mentions, but I do have others that make medium to extensive use of the subwoofer (<I>Koyaanisqatsi, The Bluegrass Sessions</I>), and I couldn't detect any problems at all. Then again, my amp is barely involved in the process – it gets fed six separate channels from my player and merely diverts them to the speakers.
I have an ordinary DVD player hooked up to a surround sound amp and speakers. Can I play DVD-Audio disks on my player and get 5.1 playback or do I just get a stereo version? And are some disks only in stereo anyway?
Thanks ...
Answers:
Hi Richpoyle,
There is no set format for DVD Audio discs. That is to say, some discs only have a DVD Audio track, others have a DVD Audio, a DTS and a stereo track. The best way to tell is check the specs of the individual discs.
To answer your question. On your set up, you would not be able to listen to either a stereo, or surround DVD Audio track, as you need a DVD Audio player for this. However, if you chose a disc such as Queens 'A Night at the Opera', you could listen to DTS surround version which is almost as good as the DVD Audio version on the same disc.
I hope this makes sense :)
Answers:
Thanks for that Urban Tiger :)
Answers:
For DVD-A do you need a special amp or can all the current AV amps support the extended frequency range?
The new Arcam A75 stereo amp (that I'm thinking of getting) says it has been designed for the frequency ranges of DVD-A/SACD.
Answers:
Originally posted by kiran_mk2
For DVD-A do you need a special amp or can all the current AV amps support the extended frequency range?
The new Arcam A75 stereo amp (that I'm thinking of getting) says it has been designed for the frequency ranges of DVD-A/SACD.
I'm no expert, but the player does the decoding. You connect the player to the amp with 3 pairs of phono leads, into the EXT1 sockets. The amp simply amplifies.
One word of warning re DVDA, unless you have a top spec amp, you will have no bass management when you play discs i.e. a full range signal is sent to all speakers. This means, when you play something like the 1812, you may suffer a mass of uncontrollable bass which makes the listening experience a bit poor
Answers:
Originally posted by Urban Tiger
One word of warning re DVDA, unless you have a top spec amp, you will have no bass management when you play discs i.e. a full range signal is sent to all speakers. This means, when you play something like the 1812, you may suffer a mass of uncontrollable bass which makes the listening experience a bit poor
I can't identify with this at all - I don't regard my amp (a Yamaha 620) as "top spec", but it seems perfectly capable of coping with DVD-Audio. That said, my player does the actual decoding, so I suspect the amp is merely playing what it's told to play!
Answers:
Originally posted by Michael Brooke
I can't identify with this at all - I don't regard my amp (a Yamaha 620) as "top spec", but it seems perfectly capable of coping with DVD-Audio. That said, my player does the actual decoding, so I suspect the amp is merely playing what it's told to play!
Its only a problem when the material is bass heavy. Neither your player or amp have bass management so the problem only occurs during discs like the 1812.
Answers:
Most DVD-A discs also have a DVD-Video 5.1 track so you will be able to get 5.1 surround a lot of the time without having the DVD-A decoding facility. Obviously the quality is still short of the 192KHz DVD-A but it should represent an improvement on CD material.
My amp, Sherwood 6095RDS, has the DVD-A signal passed from the Pioneer 656 via the 6 phono connects. The Pioneer does the decoding and the amp passes the signal out to the speakers. The frequency management is available via the player. I would have thought most players could do this where the signal is passed via the analog outputs.
Answers:
Have a look at this link on Outlaws site in the US they make a high end base management separate but give a very good account of why you may need it.
http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/icbm_about.html
I personally don't have an issue with it. I would think Missy Elliott's Dvd-a is bass heavy and my system handles it very well although I'm fortunate with my equipment.
Pioneer DVD 747A
Pioneer VSXG-859RDS Amp
Monitor Audio Silver Series Speakers
I believe bass management would benefit systems that have been built unit by unit and where the components are not well matched e.g.
Not having the same brands and / or full range speakers.
Answers:
Originally posted by shaun
Most DVD-A discs also have a DVD-Video 5.1 track so you will be able to get 5.1 surround a lot of the time without having the DVD-A decoding facility. Obviously the quality is still short of the 192KHz DVD-A but it should represent an improvement on CD material.
This really depends on what you mean by "an improvement" – what you gain in terms of extra channels you might well lose in terms of lower sound quality.
For instance, with the solo piano that makes up Teldec's <I>Messiaen: Vingt regards</I> DVD-Audio disc, the results are very noticeably poorer not only than the high-resolution DVD-A tracks but also the CD equivalent. This doesn't come as that much of a surprise, though, as Dolby Digital is the only format of those three that uses lossy compression, so one would expect the sound quality to suffer accordingly.
Listening on headphones to each version cruelly revealed the Dolby Digital track's limitations, particularly at the top end – though, by the same token, this made the DVD-Audio tracks sound still more miraculous (easily the best solo piano recording I've ever heard).
My amp, Sherwood 6095RDS, has the DVD-A signal passed from the Pioneer 656 via the 6 phono connects. The Pioneer does the decoding and the amp passes the signal out to the speakers. The frequency management is available via the player. I would have thought most players could do this where the signal is passed via the analog outputs.
To be honest, I'm still not at all sure what Urban Tiger is talking about – I don't have the Tchaikovsky disc that he mentions, but I do have others that make medium to extensive use of the subwoofer (<I>Koyaanisqatsi, The Bluegrass Sessions</I>), and I couldn't detect any problems at all. Then again, my amp is barely involved in the process – it gets fed six separate channels from my player and merely diverts them to the speakers.
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