SACD and DVD-Audio, Doomed Formats?

[JerryDelColliano]

Originally Posted by pws442

Ah, the Acura TL and its DVD-A player. I only have 20 or so discs, but the sound is truly fantastic. I will be sorry to see the disks disappear.

The car is THE PLACE to listen to music in surround. Multi speakers, affordable multichannel amps. No video in most cases. Emotional tie ins with the excitment of driving.

20 discs wont cut it however. If this format was ever to make it - they needed to launch with 250 out of the gate and 1000's within 6 months. With 5000 titles by two years. The wait and see aproach wasn't going to work especially with SACD sitting out there deflecting attention.

[ncpl]

Originally Posted by David DelGrosso

Not to worry.

.......So all you have to do, is swap out your Acura player for a new HD or BD version, whenever they start releasing music-only discs... and your system will sound even better!!

Hi DD,

BUT...will a new HD or BD player play my existing 80+ DVD-A discs ?

If it will then great....I'm happy.
If it won't then I'm not buying as I don't want to see the investment in those discs orphaned because the format is ignored in future hardware. And I don't want to be trapped into running at least two machines doing the same job...spinning discs.

Like I said before, when the price you pay for hi-end players on new formats is not small, it rubs me the wrong way to find myself suckered by the format war.

Will it happen with HD/BD ? Who knows. You wouldn't bet your house on it.

[pws442]

Originally Posted by David DelGrosso

So all you have to do, is swap out your Acura player for a new HD or BD version, whenever they start releasing music-only discs... and your system will sound even better!!

The day when a swap in an Acura occurs will be momentous indeed. The 6-disc player seems quite tightly integrated with the rest of the center controls.

[David DelGrosso]

Originally Posted by ncpl

Hi DD,

BUT...will a new HD or BD player play my existing 80+ DVD-A discs ?

If it will then great....I'm happy.

No problem.

In addition to the 5.1 MLP tracks, every DVD-A disc includes a 5.1 Dolby or DTS soundtrack, so that it is playable on every DVD-compatible player!

And while SOME of these discs may sound a little better in lossless MLP (the so-called DVD-A technology), you will forever be able to enjoy these great 5.1 re-mixes without having to purchase yet another new version.

DD

[ncpl]

DD,

I think we may come from different schools of listening approach. With the vast majority of DVD-A that I have that are 96/24 or higher, the difference between MLP and DTS or DD is quite significant. It's fidelity I chase here above the 5.1mix - which in many cases (but not all) is more of a novelty.

Besides, you didn't really answer my question. I know what formats are on the discs. Tell me which HD-DVD players will play the DVD-A (as opposed to the DVD-V) tracks. Out of curiosity, have you tried to play one yet ?

I'll be delighted to hear that members here are happily playing MLP tracks from DVD-A on their HD machines......

[David DelGrosso]

Originally Posted by ncpl

I think we may come from different schools of listening approach. With the vast majority of DVD-A that I have that are 96/24 or higher, the difference between MLP and DTS or DD is quite significant. It's fidelity I chase here above the 5.1mix - which in many cases (but not all) is more of a novelty.

Actually, the audible difference between MLP and DTS 96/24 is quite minimal on MOST recordings. But if "fidelity" is truly your passion, than the Linear PCM tracks on future HD formats, will represent yet another step closer to perfection.

Besides, you didn't really answer my question. I know what formats are on the discs. Tell me which HD-DVD players will play the DVD-A (as opposed to the DVD-V) tracks.

Most likely, NONE of the HD players will include MLP decoding.

The primary reason why Dolby Digital (AC-3), DTS (Coherent Acoustics) and MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing) were created in the first place, was to accomodate the limited space available for 5.1 channels of audio, when video content is sucking up most of the available space (eg. DVD, Broadcast TV, etc.)

For new "disc" formats with plenty of "room" for Hi-Rez PCM audio, there will no longer be a need to offer compressed audio (whether it be lossy OR lossless.)

Out of curiosity, have you tried to play one yet ?

Yes... I've listened to a few of them.

In my previous position as VP of Mktg for DTS Digital Surround, I was one of the architects of the DTS Entertainment label... and served as the Creative Director for over 150 5.1 surround releases (many of which were in the DVD-Audio format.)

During my tenure, I also had the good fortune to hang out with Brian May, as Elliot Scheiner created the Queen re-mix... introduce Graham Nash to the press, as he raved about the incredible 5.1 tracks that Nathaniel Kunkel created from his master tracks... and MANY more joyful experiences.

And my experience was (and still is) that MLP sounds really good, but the PCM Masters are even better... in terms of "fidelity."

DD