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DVD-A question

I'm relatively new to DVD-A. I love the sound, but don't like the format itself, for various reasons:

1) You need a TV to play the disc. There is no TV in my music room (and never will be!), so SACD/CD/Vinyl rules there. Is there a DVD-A player out there that can be EASILY used without having to use the onscreen menus to select between 2CH/MCH, etc.?

2) Some DVD-A discs play a little snippet of music over and over again until you've done your setup and hit PLAY. For instance, I have "Monster" by R.E.M., and it plays about 30 seconds of "What's The Frequency, Kenneth" over and over until you stop it. It does this before you do your setup, AND after the disc ends. This is one of the most annoying things I've ever encountered. Is there a player out there that can essentially disable this "feature".

3) Where SACD has a discrete Stereo layer and a Multichannel layer, does DVD-A also have this? I've been reading a little bit, and it sounds to me like DVD-A in stereo is actually a mix-down of the multichannel information. Is this true? Is this something to be concerned with? Especially when choosing a DVD-A player?

I currently have a junky Toshiba player, and am thinking about getting a better DVD-A player. Or should I just keep my Toshiba because DVD-A is dead?

Thanks in advance.

Tom
tfkaudio
robm321
932 posts
 
As bad as the software selection for SACD considering how long it's been out, DVD-A software selection is dismal.

Add to that all the setup irritations and limitation, and the only thing I give it credit for is surviving.

Did they give up on the format or what? I haven’t really followed DVD-A much.

Rob
kana813
956 posts
 
Anyone who doubts the value/performance of DVD-A/HiRez PCM should listen to a Classic Records DAD. IMO- the recording industry screwed up the format by trying to capture the surround sound HT
market.
robm321
932 posts
 
I certainly don't doubt the performance of DVD-A - in fact, I think it sounds marginally better than SACD, but I had to go with SACD simply becuase DVD-A was too scarse. I'm sure someday if it is still around I'll get a Universal player.

Rob
tfkaudio OP
589 posts
 
Thanks for the responses! I think I'm gonna sit awhile on the fence with this one. DualDisc and BlueRay would seem to jeopardize the future of DVD-A far more than SACD, and since I have over +100 SACDs now and only 4 DVD-A's, I think I'll continue buying SACD's for now.
dbld
297 posts
 
Tom, Like Kr4 I put a mini mobile monitor on the back wall of my equipment closet. This keeps me from turning on my projector, even for other set-up items.

If you like the selection, perhaps you should try a HiRes two channel title [http://www.hiresmusic.com/]. They have several selections at 192/24 stereo that are really amazing. For sample tracks I have found Barnes & Noble.com has most titles available so you get an idea of what your getting before plunking down the coin.

Wow...100+ SACDs! That's impressive.

Good luck,

Dave
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