DVD-A in denial?

Oh, it's fun to speculate.

I'm so glad that all the music I like is available in vinyl and that I don't pay attention to new artists.

Imagine a world where all new music is only available in gimmicky 5.1 SACDs with fold-down 2-ch, and in 2-ch (resampled fold-down) MP-1984.

Hold on to your records and the good CDs!

 

Oh, *I* know SACD is encrypted! I think a few people were concerned that SACD encryption would compromise the sound in some way, but from what i've read, this can't happen. I understand that the same is not so with DVD-A.

For the record, I no longer download music off peer-to-peer web sites.

 

I hope for encryption to be harmless. Watermarking is a very stupid idea that I hope will go away as other means of piracy protection are introduced.

I think users have no need to access the Hi-Rez bitstream if the player/decoder gives all the potential of the medium.

In this scenario, legal music downloads will be not only encrypted but fully traceable.

One could expect several years of planned obsolescence for the products to mature. It is happening currently with HDTV/progressive DVD.

 

Re: SACD vs. DVD-A vs. CD

Oh boy, why do I sense a 'religious' war coming on? I won't even bother to state my feelings on this issue.

 

Re: Re: SACD vs. DVD-A vs. CD

Is there something equivalent to a full-moon phase on this website?

 

Quite possibly Grant, quite possibly.

 

As a consumer, these format wars make my butt tired. I would prefer the best sounding format and stick with that. This crap about owning three machines just to play cds is ridiculous, especially if one has a high end system.

 

What, don't you have a separate CD-4 turntable for listening to Aqualung and War Child in Quad?

 

Re: Re: SACD vs. DVD-A vs. CD

I would like to hear about your feelings on this issue

Besides, starting a religious format war is not my intention. For the record, I own an SACD player, still I am convinced that DVD-A is better. But that´s for the reasons I stated: More versatility built into the format, and PCM instead of DSD.

Actually, I dislike both SACD and DVD-A because they were designed so that one would run into trouble trying to copy these.

In fact, the best option for an audiophile label is (in my opinion) what we call a DAD, that is an audio DVD that doesn´t require a special DVD-A player, but rather can be played on regular DVD players, still it delivers hi-res PCM. No watermarking, and the signal will be seen at the digital output of the player.

 

Re: Re: Re: SACD vs. DVD-A vs. CD

Please don't get me wrong, I didn't mean to imply in anyway that you were trying to start a format war. It has just been my experience that statements such as yours usually lead to that sort of thing.

 

Anything can lead to a 'religious' war on this forum!

 

Strange Feelin'

It seems to me that the negativism insofar as DVD-Audio to be found in this forum is strangely reminiscent of the doubting Toms at the advent of DVD-Video. Soon enough, DVD-V became the norm because of its technical possibilities. I have no doubt that the same will soon happen for DVD-A.

 

Is your room really 80x30?

Lawrence,

I looked up your profile to see why you were so gung-ho on DVD-Audio and noticed the size of your room. Is that accurate?

Regards,
Geoff

 

mmmmm !!!

 

Are dual-format players just not possible?

-D

 

If you are talking about SACD and DVD-A in the same player I believe that I saw on here that Pioneer makes a player that plays both though at this time it is pretty expensive.

 

Geoff,

I am not gung-ho for DVD-A because of room size. I just think it is the far superior softwear. I also think that for psychological reasons it is the way the wind is blowing. I wrote about this in an earlier post.

 

I have the Pioneer DV47-A combo player. It plays DVD video, DVD-A, SACD and mp3 CDs (doesn't decode HDCD unfortunately).

Since I don't have a separate listening room, my home theater and audio system are all part of the same setup. Therefore, I wanted something that would introduce SACD and DVD-A capabilities into my rather modest system (I am still trapped in the receiver world).

I got the Pioneer for about $800 from one of the online stores (can't remember which). Overall, I am pleased. I think it does a better job with DVD-A than SACD. DVD picture is great. Like most of the other lower priced DVD-A systems, it doesn't offer bass management.

Obviously, I would get better performance with a dedicated SACD player. This just isn't an option for me right now, given space and budgetary constraints. The DV47-A has given me a good entree into the DVD-A and SACD world.

 

DVDA is not dead yet.

Coming up in September is Yes Fragile and REM Automatic For The People. Not too shabby IMHO.

 

Not too shabby at all, but when you realize that CCR and The Stones are coming on SACD, labels like Telarc, Bis, and Rounder have all backed SACD (some, albeit, have backed DVD-A as well), Universal is said to be moving toward SACD, and that Sony has Springsteen, Miles, Dylan, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Yo-Yo Ma, Billy Joel, Indigo Girls, Bernstein, Aerosmith, Michael Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus and whole wealth of other pretty large artists, be they young or old, I don't think the catalogue war is quite over yet. With that said, I have to say that there are a few DVD-A releases that I really wish I could see on SACD like Natalie Merchant's Tigerlilly, Bjork's Vespertine and Metallica's Black Album - all of which I own on DVD-A, but it's not my prefered format. I also wouldn't mind that REM release one bit.

 

Actually, the size of Lawrence's room is a big plus in terms of listening environment. If he places his speakers in the right area, the room's tremendous size would be almost like having no room at all!!!

Some reviewers go as far to listen (or at least measure) speakers in their backyards because of the absense of room boundaries.

- Gabe

 

Re: Re: Re: SACD vs. DVD-A vs. CD

I am of a similar opinion regarding the two formats. Although I like SACD a lot, I am not always convinced it is superior to good PCM. Having both in my home gives me the chance to hear anything available and I sometimes feel that many SACDs have a pleasant sameness to them.

But a good SACD can be wonderfull (just as a good DVD-A or DAD can be). I just wish people could see that instead of trampling the format they don't like without a fair shake.

- Gabe

 

I'm not trampling anything. I wish they would get it straight. We need both High End and Low End universal players.

 

I agree. My statement about trampling was about audiophiles in general - not anyone specifically. If they were more readily available, I think all but the most zealous members of both camps would be VERY happy because both formats sound good.


- Gabe

 

WOW!! YOu mean that those artists REALLY insist on having the crusts cut off of their sandwiches? My favorite bread for a sandwich is the crustiest bread I can find. I like the crust on pizza, too.


Guess I'll nver be a famous artist who makes DVD-As.

I'll have to stick to the art I'm good at, i.e., drawing flies.