Is DVD-A obsolete?

I appreciate the quality improvement, but seems to be a hassle. With the USB and IPOD interface, I didn't think anyone actually handles discs anymore.

Is there a way to rip a high quality MP3 that has 5.1 sound, like the DVD-A does?

 

Is it obsolete? No, at least not in terms of comparison to other formats when considering the format capabilities (both for multichannel and high resolution stereo mixes), but in terms of being a continuing viable format, yes it seems so since it never really caught on and it doesn't seem that anyone is really making titles in this format anymore. A shame, since there were some really great releases in the relatively short time it was at it's height of production.

As of now there is no way to get 5.1 audio in an MP3 file. There is (was?) some effort by some to do this, but I don't think it went anywhere either. Even if it did, it'll probably take another 10 years for Honda/Acura to license the updated codec from the OEM anyway (remember, we *just* got the ten plus year old RDS functionality last year)

One other way (although a bit lower quality and not really any advantage over DVD-A in convenience) to get 5.1 sound is via DTS format CDs.

 

The quality is not obsolete, its the medium its stored upon.

It IS a hassle.

AC3 or some variation needs to be supported by the industry. I'm not really versed in all this myself.

 

DTS CD may be a viable option. Are they special 5.1 only format or are they also compatible with regular CD players? I guess my question is how to tell them apart from other CD's when I am shopping at Walmart, Bestbuy, etc.


Do any national chain stores sell 5.1 music discs?

 

Unfortunately, I think there are even less DTS-CD titles than DVD-A!

If you do find them, a DTS-CD should play in any CD or DVD player with an S/PDIF output, but you will need to be connected that way (likely to a receiver) to play it back (stereo or multichannel) at home. Otherwise, it will sound like a bunch of digital noise (and possibly damage your tweeters).

Here's a link with some more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5.1_Music_Disc

 

I have purchased a few DVD-A discs from Amazon UK, It seems like there are still a lot of choices in the EU market but it's not clear to me that they are still being made are from old inventory.

 

I just burned a DVD-RW from my I-tunes. Is it my imagination, or does this produce a better sound than USB, CD, or HDD music stored from CDs?

 

Check out the settings in itunes, or possibly the quality of the audio you burned. Chances are you burned a 256mbps quality audio file as opposed to the standard which is usually 128. These files sound A LOT better, but they take up twice as much space.

 

DVD-A is more or less obsolete. There was a mini format war between DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD (SACD). This occurred at about the same time when digital files (MP3 players) exploded and the majority of consumers either have no interest or no knowledge in higher rate formats.

As far as re-encoding DVD-A, the best you can do is rip the files to WAV format and burn your own DVD-Audio disc. The MP3 format does not allow a higher bitrate of 320KBps, and even if the format did allow for it, the MP3 codec in the Acura system would not decode it.

There is a lossless version of WMA called WMA-Lossless (or WMAL). The Honda/Acura systems do not play this either.

You can either author your own DVD-Audio disc or encode to Red Book format (CD Quality 16-bit 44.1k) although you may notice a drop in quality.

There is no way for the system to read high bitrate files.

 

After listening to the 3 DVD-As I have amassed, it saddens me to know that there are not many more of them out there. It's hard to go back to other formats.

 

Two new DVD-Audio discs were released this month by Sony/Razor & Tie. They are the two Emerson, Lake and Palmer discs, their first album with the song "Lucky Man" on it, and also their album "Tarkus". These are available as CD+DVD-Audio packages at places like Amazon and Best Buy, and sell for well under $20 each.

There are still DVD-Audio's out there to find. WalMart has an exclusive release from the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, its a 3 disc set of their Greatest Hits. One of the discs is a 5.1 DVD-Audio mixed by Elliot Scheiner and this 3 disc set sells for $11.99.

Look for these and more from King Crimson and other artists. DVD-A's are still being made, you just have to know they exist, because they get no publicity at all