Any problems with Springsteens DualDisc?

I got the DualDisc "Kind of Blues" by (you know who) and it played 3 songs on my Sony XA777ES and then just stopped. I gave up after that. Thom_y, I understand your frustration, but what the h#ll are we going to do. Business rules and we are peasants. We can't even put Michael Jackson away.

Rob

I agree completely with Thom_y. It's a travesty that they release something like this, without at least giving us the PRACTICAL option of obtaining a regular CD version. I say "practical", because I understand there are some CDs somewhere (i.e. they are hardly readily available). I think some day these companies will be forced to learn what they ignore now. In the meantime, I suspect they are making more and more enemies.

Yes, I agree:

Here is a statement Meridian made regarding these DualDiscs. I believe Sony made similar warnings for some of their machines:

Meridian Issue Statement On DualDisc Compatibility

Meridian has issued a statement on the compatibility of the new DualDisc format and their own players. It is as follows:

Meridian has been fully aware of DualDisc since its inception, having carried out extensive tests on the new music carrier from the test-market stage onwards. Meridian endorses DualDisc, which offers wide compatibility across the vast majority of our players. This statement is being issued to give guidance to Meridian owners who wish to play the discs on their systems.

DualDisc is a two-sided music disc that aims to provide the maximum flexibility to those wishing to access or collect high-quality music on DVD. DualDisc has one or more DVD layers on one side, and a CD-compatible layer on the other.

On the DVD side, the majority of discs carry DVD-Audio content, which uses Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP) to provide state-of-the-art high-quality sound. The DVD side also carries a DVD-Video zone with the music in either stereo PCM and/or lossy-compressed stereo/surround formats. All DualDiscs must have, at minimum, a DVD-Video zone with high-quality music and some video content. Most titles include significant added-value material such as movie-clips, liner notes, interviews, concert footage, and other content. For more details, visit: http://www.dualdisc.com/

The DVD side of a DualDisc is 100% consistent with the DVD specification and will play in all Meridian’s past and present DVD-Video and DVD-Audio players.

The other side of the DualDisc contains a layer that is intended to be compatible with the majority of CD players. This layer is not compliant with the Red Book CD specification because it is thinner than a normal CD (typically 0.9mm rather than 1.1mm). This is primarily to keep the overall disc thickness below 1.5mm so as to minimise potential issues with slot-loading and caddy-based multi-disc players. DualDisc market tests showed that a small percentage of CD players, and especially DVD players, were unable to play the CD-compatible side reliably.

Because the CD side is not compliant with Red Book physical parameters, Meridian does not guarantee that the CD-compatible side will play without audible errors in all players. However, attempting to do so will cause no harm or damage whatsoever to our players.

Sony Japan posted today Q&A about the DualDisc format...

The text below comes from a Japanese->English translation, so there might be errors...

"...DualDisc is a new disk that consists of the side (non-DVD side) only for music that records respect (DVD side) in accordance with the DVD standard put on the market by the music industry in the United States on October 26 last year and digital audio information. The side (non-DVD side) only for the music of DualDisc doesn't conform to compact disc (CD) standard.

Inquiries concerning notes and this case of the DualDisc use in the Sony product were published in the much more, and refer, please.

Moreover, please inquire of each music label company in sales companies that sell DualDisc or the sale origin about details and the how to buy etc. DualDisc.

Q&A concerning DualDisc use

Q1. Isn't DualDisc CD?

A1. The side (non-DVD side) only for the music of DualDisc doesn't conform to compact disc (CD) standard. Therefore, the CD logo is not put.

Q2. Can DualDisc be reproduced with PC equipped with the recorder or DVD player/DVD drive made by Sony?

A2. Because the side (non-DVD side) only for the music of DualDisc doesn't conform to compact disc (CD) standard, the reproduction on the side (non-DVD respect) only for the music of DualDisc is not guaranteed in the DVD drive made by Sony present for the recorder and PC DVD player/The DVD video contents recorded in DVD respect of DualDisc can be reproduced by the DVD drive made by Sony for the recorder and PC DVD player/However, because the digital versatile disc audio format is not supported in the DVD drive made by Sony for the recorder and PC DVD player/contents recorded by the digital versatile disc audio format in DVD respect of DualDisc cannot be reproduced.

When I played this disk the CD portion sounded in parts like there smudges on it, with some crackles & low pops. There were no issues when using with the car CD player. I burned a copy of the CD side onto a Maxell CD-R and now am experiencing none of the anamolies present on the dual disk.