Is DVD Audio dead?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by ocd1, Nov 2, 2015.

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  1. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    A universal player perhaps? I decided not to bother with DVD-A from day one and have accumulated a few hundred SACD's ...
     
  2. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Some of Sony's new higher-end Blu-ray players will also play DVD-A discs.
     
  3. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Aren't they essentially universal player?
     
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  4. jeffmackwood

    jeffmackwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ottawa
    I guess "universal" is very much era-dependent. And eras come and go rather quickly nowadays.

    A player that handles DVD and Blu-ray, along with SACD and DVD-Audio, could perhaps be considered "universal." But with DVD-Audio being almost extinct as far as new releases go, the question is whether support for such legacy systems, today, is required to earn the "universal" badge, today. How far do you go back? What about laserdiscs? (Some laserdisc-capable players were also "universal" - back in their day - handling DVD, laserdisc and CD.)

    And while I applaud Sony's addition of DVD-Audio capability to their new players (several years too late!) I see it as a pure marketing exercise: it remains a must-have if you want to have any chance of competing with the likes of Oppo, even though DVD-Audio use is likely but an extremely tiny fraction of what a player will see today. (And yes, I have a collection of DVD-Audio discs myself, as well as SACD, CD, Blu-ray (Audio), and, of course, laserdiscs. :) )

    Jeff
     
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  5. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Yes, they'll play SACDs, too.
     
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  6. DVD-A is a niche product with recent releases and I believe planned future releases, for a digital disc player to be considered universal today, it still needs to handle DVD-A. I can't see how that is up for debate.
     
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  7. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    What it it's all lumped-in with SACD, FLAC downloads, hi-rez abilitiy, Quad, HDCD and Blu-Ray...NOW what happens to your "niche" argument? Looks to me more like a "Swiss Army Knife" of audio embellishment!
     
  8. jeffmackwood

    jeffmackwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ottawa
    I pretty much agree. But as I said, I don't think the driver is the number of new releases, but rather the marketing-driven requirement to keep up with the Joneses - as your post so ably demonstrates.
     
  9. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Do you still have a functioning Pioneer laser disc player? :D
     
  10. I still have two working Pioneer Laser Players and yes they are used every now and then. One plays DVD's and CD's too.
     
  11. jeffmackwood

    jeffmackwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ottawa
    Timely question...

    I have two laserdisc players.

    The Toshiba XR-W75C is still going strong. I believe it was a Pioneer design / build, rebranded to Toshiba. Its limitation is that it cannot provide an AC-3 signal for those "newer" laserdiscs, so...

    I also have a Pioneer CLC-D504 laserdisc player which has an RF output, which a Kenwood DEM-9991D RF Demodulator (say that in a Marvin The Martian voice!) then turns into an AC-3 (DD) output. I said "timely" because the Pioneer is in the shop right now being refurbished. It needs a new control circuit and the usual recap and power supply work - with perhaps a new laser. Budget is $300-400C. Why would I ever do that? (Very good question!): because I can; for nostalgia sake; and for ****s and giggles (literally; the player also has Karaoke capability, I have some karaoke laserdiscs, and my wife and her friends sometimes like to drink and do karaoke.)

    Jeff
     
  12. jeffmackwood

    jeffmackwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ottawa
    Seriously! The Forum software censors ****s and giggles? Wonder if it handles poops and giggles. Or numbertwo and giggles? :)
     
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  13. Norco74

    Norco74 For the good and the not so good…

    Too many formats not enough output and few players that are compatible with all.

    I kinda like the HDCD in its days. DVD-A sure, getting all of the King Crimson catalog. SACD, have a few but not running after them. These formats are dedicated to a niche market anyway and will appeal to either fans or audiophile.

    Best solution will be hires download but again we are never sure of the source used.

    Got an Oppo 103 a few months back. Will play all + PAL encoded DVD and BD. At $300 in a NM condition, it was the deal of the year!
     
  14. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I buy DVD-As and SACDs. By just going with SACD I would have missed out on a lot of excellent music that's only on DVD-A
     
  15. Norco74

    Norco74 For the good and the not so good…

  16. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    I had numerous DVD-As from Rhino for years before I had an Oppo that could play them....Talking Heads brick, Doors "Perception" set, Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty", David Crosby's "If Only I could Remember My Name".... So wonderful when I could finally play them
     
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  17. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    It was nice that there were not many classical music titles I really liked that were on DVD-A and that spared me from falling into that BetaMax trap ...
     
  18. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    No "trap" here :). If one has a universal player that plays DVD-As and doesn't own a single one there is no "trap".
     
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  19. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    SACD is the "trap" - difficult to rip, so you'll always be dependent on having a player that can decode them. In contrast, it's fairly easy to rip DVD-Audio discs, and many computers and devices can play back their high res and multichannel audio these days, encoded as FLAC files or whatever.
     
  20. gd0

    gd0 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies

    Location:
    Golden Gate
    ^ On the nose-y.
     
  21. ti-triodes

    ti-triodes Senior Member

    Location:
    Paz Chin-in
    "Dead" formats that I still play---

    Vinyl- but there's a lot of life in the old girl yet.
    Cassettes- making a bit of a comeback thanks to vinyl.
    Reel to Reel- also a bit of a comeback.
    Laserdiscs- well, OK, it's over.
    HD-DVD- ditto.
    DVD-A- not really dead but on life support.

    There are a bunch of DVD players that also do DVD-A but not SACD. Check the thrifts and eBay for old Sony's and Panasonics.
    But why would you want to if you can get an universal player like Oppo's, newer Sony's and recent players like Denon and Marantz?

    I don't care if it's on an Edison cylinder. Whatever is mastered the best, I'll get.
     
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  22. Kal Rubinson

    Kal Rubinson Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Eh. They are now pretty easily ripped and, imho, easier than can DVD-As.
     
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  23. progrocker

    progrocker Senior Member

    It's still alive and well in my apt. and automobile.
     
  24. Norco74

    Norco74 For the good and the not so good…

    Why everything needs to be ripped?
     
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  25. Kal Rubinson

    Kal Rubinson Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    First, there is no requirement that everybody needs to rip everything but.........................
    1. some are concerned that there will be no practical hardware disc players for some formats in the looming future.,
    2. many of us prefer to listen to files from storage over playing the physical discs for many reasons.
     
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