DVD Audio

The Cigarette Smoking Man

Anyone know of any good places to buy DVD-Audio in Dublin? (ie cheap)

Also is there a noticeable difference between CDs and DVD Audio?

demac

I've purchased from "http://www.euphoricsounds.com/" and http://www.play.com".

DVD Audio sounds fantastic but you do need decent Dolby Digital (5.1) speakers to hear that difference. You won't really hear any difference on stereo speakers.

Creative's new Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card is the only PC based DVD Audio solution and so might be a cheaper option than buying a standalone DVd Audio player.

shabbyroad

that sounds very interesting - I've got an old PC that I'm thinking of putting into my home cinema room.

Are you saying that if I've got a DVD-ROM drive and the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card that I will be able to play DVD-Audio at full spec. ? (96kHz etc etc)
does it come with a suitable player app ?

I've tried Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' on my DVD player and 5.1 system and it was a real treat but having heard demos of full resolution DVD Audio I'm sold on how good this sounds at full res.

The Cigarette Smoking Man

I bought a new DVD Player recently and it's got DVD Audio - I've also got a Dolby Digital amp and JBL + Mission speakers.

I tried HMV, Virgin and Tower Records and none of them had any, so I've ordered some off play.com

Samson

Was looking at the spec. of that DVD player, very tempting.
How does it handle RCE DVDs Ronan?

The Cigarette Smoking Man

There's a multi region crack for it. Once you do it it'll play all DVDs fine. The best thing about it is it has PAL and NTSC progressive scan (via the component outputs). It's also only €250 in Richer Sounds in Dublin.

Limit 9900SE DVD Player - Multi Region:

Open disc tray.
Press following keys on remote:
10+,5,3,6,7,5,1
then
9
For VCD then press 8.
40d0 will appear 'on screen'.
press 8 again.
41D1 will appear.
Player is now MR & will play VCD

BTW you have to ask for them in Richer Sounds - they haven't got them on display.

Pictures

RicardoSmith

Have you tried out the SVCD/VCD, MP3, CDR/CDRW and PhotoCD functionality on it at all?

Yeah, DVD audio, does sound great.
I was in a virgin mega store in New York recently and even there they had a very small and mostly uninteresting selection of DVD audio- a sign of a format either newly emerging or slow to take off.
Tbh, as good as it sounds, I personally prefer listening to CD's with just the main speakers on or occasionally, with a dsp mode.
mm

The Cigarette Smoking Man

Originally posted by RicardoSmith
Have you tried out the SVCD/VCD, MP3, CDR/CDRW and PhotoCD functionality on it at all?

In a word... No

I've a PC for all that stuff.

demac

Shabbyroad, make sure your DVD ROM drive is pretty recent for PC based DVD Audio. I've used 12X and 16X with no problems. Also, you'll need a 1Ghz CPU or faster.

In regard to your speakers, DVD Audio will not play through speakers which are connected digitally (i.e. via SPDIF) to the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card. They do sell a MegaWorks 550D 5.1 speakers which connect to the Audigy 2 via analogue connectors and DVD Audio sounds good with these.

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by The Cigarette Smoking Man
In a word... No
I've a PC for all that stuff.

Have say I prefer sitting in front of the TV rather than the PC when watching SVCD/VCD etc. It seems that most people don't use these features though.

The Cigarette Smoking Man

True - I've never used SVCDs before. Is the quality any good?

I got a DVD Audio in the post yesterday and the quality from it is excellent. It's one of the Beethoven classical series and the sound is much better than the standard stereo.

I also got one of the new Superbit DVDs from Columbia too - Air Force One - and the quality is excellent (on an 80 inch screen). There's none of the of the usual mpeg problems that you get at lower bit rates.

RicardoSmith

SVCD if done properly should be just a little bit better then VHS. Not close to a good DVD though.