rybocf

Ok,

Now that people have had their cars for a while, has anyone confimed that you can burn audio files onto a DVD and play it in the TL's audio system?

I don't mean MP3s, I mean regular audio files from a CD, but just on the DVD format, thus allowing us to at least have disc that can hold 8 times more music than a CD.

I'm going to try this when I pick my TL up, probably on Monday. I heard it is supposed to work, because the music is in the same data format as a regular CD, but the media is just different.

Any other interesting tips/tricks/tidbits we should know about the audio system?

Second ?

Has anyone put a remote starter in their new TL yet? If so, what brand/model, any problems, likes/dislikes? It gets cold here, and I want to put one in, but a GOOD one that will work with the new electrical system perfectly.

In all my other cars, the remote starters end up doing strange stuff to my remote locking/unlocking, lights, etc. I don't want to take any chances with this car. Anyone heard of Acura certifying any products that work with the TL?

Thanks.

Ryan

dbb5255

This is a good question. If the system will play DVD-Rs you would have the ability to load nearly 50 CDs into the 6-disc changer by burning them onto a DVD.

But I don't know if the system will read DVD-Rs.

vtechbrain

Good question. Sorry, no the system will read only DVD A. The manual states that no other DVD formats, video R,Rw, and so on are compatible.

rybocf

But has anyone acutally tried it??? I bet there is a chance it will read it anyway, ignoring the media and concentrating on the file format.

Ryan

vtechbrain

No I haven't. If it works let us know!!

acura_driver

It appears to take special software to create the DVD-A format. The least expensive program I've seen is around $500. The format is too new, or has too little following to have attracted shareware or open source programmers so far.

Here is an article that talks about authoring DVD-A discs: http://www.tape.com/techinfo/dvd_audio.html

-r

rybocf

Ok, I'll burn a song onto a DVD-R and throw it in when I get my car and report back. If it works like a computer (which it is), it should just be "stupid" and look at the contents of the media to determine if it knows how to read it, and not care about the media it resides on.

The problem may be the fact that the system is unable to read a DVD-R disc at all. In this case, what media is DVD-A burned on to? Is this just a format, or a physical type of media you have to buy?

I'm betting they would have to specifically tell it NOT to read regular music off a DVD disc if the comuter is able to physically read it.

Hmm...

vtechbrain

Its a format problem not a media problem. It's just like CD's. It's one these copyright idiocies, essentially the 'format" difference is an additional line of code. In the first roxio software you had the option of keeping your cd open or closed. Only closed cds would play in audio CD. This is the same manuever.

rybocf

I bet we can "fool" it, either with something like Nero or 3rd party freebies will be out at some point. I'll report back on what I find out. It seems silly that it will play CD-Rs willingly (knowing you copied or created music to get that CD), but stops at DVD-Rs. What the heck is the difference???

Ryan

JonDeutsch

Let's keep the terminology clear because we're getting confused between DVD-R and DVD-A.

A DVD-A is NOT a DVD-R. It's a DVD disc -- like a movie disc -- that has a different format than a normal DVD-V.

I really really want to know if a DVD-R full of CD-quality (2 channel) songs will play on the TL! This would be a suitable replacement for the need for an MP3 disc player, as you probably can fit 4 hours of CD-formatted songs on a DVD-R.

One day, I'd like to find out if we can actually COPY DVD-Audio discs, because I don't want to have to buy 2 of each album (one for the home mega changer, one for car min-changer).

Let's focus on the practical one -- buring CD songs (or MP3s in CD format) onto a DVD-R.

I can't wait to hear back from rybokf!

Jon

oblio98

Let me jump in here, as an old TL veteran who misses his TL.

DVD-A is a high reolution sound format that is compatible with DVD-V (Video) players, but not the same. The bit rates are higher which allows for a better sound.

You can learn a lot about DVD-A and surround sound technologies on the web. Here is a good place to find reviews of discs:

http://www.newmusicrevolution.com/

There are some great DVD-A's out there. Just this week, they released "The Best of REM" on DVD-A. The "3 Doors Down" album is available in that format, as well as many other classic stuff from Elvis to Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Stone Temple Pilots, Everclear, etc.

As someone who knows the surround sound field very well (I run the board over at www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums ) I must warn you guys to avoid titles from the label "Silverline". These DVD-A's are not representive of the good product available from Capitol, WB, RHino, RCA, etc.

As for recording DVD-A, the only software available is from a company called Minnetonka. It is $500, as "acura_driver" says. You can read about it here:

http://www.discwelder.com/frameset.htm

I was also told that the Acura TL will also play CDs encoded with DTS surround tracks. This is cool, as you can buy DTS CDs, or find DTS wav files on the web. These are usually created from old quadraphonic tapes and records, but they would sound great in the car.

One last thing: YES, you CAN copy a DVD-A using the DVD X Copy program. Of course, this is for backing up your discs only!

Hope that helps... miss you guys!

:-jon

rybocf

Woah!

DVD XCopy supports the DVD-A format for backups???

So the copy protection is the same as video DVDs?

If that is the case, then I'm betting the player (if it can read CDs) should be compatible with a DVD-R (that has been closed) disc. Whether it has been told to ignore music that is not in DVD-A format, however, is a different story.

I swear I read a reviewer somewhere (and this doesn't mean its true, it just gives me hope) that said that although the player will not recognize MP3s, it will read regular music burned onto DVD-Rs.

I can't wait until I get my car to find out!

Ryan

acura_driver

These are the experiments I've been wanting to try, but have not had the time yet.

Can it read MP3 on CD-R? (Probably not, but I've not heard of anybody trying it.)

A copy of a DVD-A disc on DVD+R?

MP3's on DVD+R? (Probably not, but I've not heard of anybody trying it.)

How about a DVD+R with DVD-A material in reduced bit rate for more capacity? (Technically difficult and expensive.)

Or a DVD+R with wav files in a format like an audio CD has? (This might be promising.)

-r

JonDeutsch

Acura_driver,

Of all the options, the final one has the most potential. I'd call it "redbook" tracks burned onto a DVD-R.

Let us know how it works out!

Jon

acura_driver

Yes, that one is the most promising. I will try experimenting with it soon, and I will certainly post the results.

-r

svtmike

I'd also love to be able to leave DVD-R copies of my expensive DVD-As in the car, in a booklet storage case rather than the jewel cases.

I don't think it's possible to completely backup a DVD-Audio with DVDXCopy (I tried it). It grabs the video portion of the DVD-A just fine, but ignores the actual DVD-Audio section.

When I inserted a DVD-R with a DVDXCopy Backup of one of my DVD-A's, the stereo displayed "DVD" followed by the word "FORMAT" blinking.

I had previously tried using DVD Decrypter to make an ISO backup of a single-layer DVD-A. It was able to make the ISO file, and burn it back out to the disc. When I inserted the DVD-R into the TL's stereo, it displayed "DVD-A" and the track number, and went through the motions of playing, but no sound came out.

That behavior makes sense to me based on what I know of the encryption scheme used on the audio portion of DVD-As.

The only solution that I've found so far that seems likely to work is Discwelder Steel DVD-A Authoring software, and its more expensive cousins, but you can't do the MLP encoding with it. I'm not in the mood to spend $500 on the software only to find that the TL then refuses to read the DVD-R anyway.

I also have my doubts about the feasibility of burning a "RedBook Audio DVD", but if anyone can (a) burn the disks and (b) have it work in the TL, I'd love to hear about it.

DTS Music Disks, on the other hand, are just CDs and can be copied with any program that allows you to make a Redbook Audio CD. You can also mix non-DTS tracks on a CD with DTS tracks, but I've found that if the first track is non-DTS, the first DTS track the player encounters causes the stereo to switch from "CD" to "DTS" mode, and to return to the first track of the CD. So if you make one of these disks, make the first track a DTS track.

Unfortunately, I've had problems with occasional bursts of "digital noise" from the TL player when playing back DTS 5.1 Music Disks. I know I'm not alone in that regard.


These disks are expensive, and its very annoying to have to use the original disk in the harsh car environment. The best prices I've found are at www.deepdiscountdvd.com; their search facilities are poor but I've had good luck searching using the terms "DVD-A" and "Audio". If anyone knows a cheaper place I'd love to hear about it.

Mike
04 Abyss Blue/Quartz 5AT Naviless

dbb5255

Ryan,

Hope you got your car or do you have to wait until Monday? If so have you tried playing a DVD-R?

I'm suppose to pick mine up Wednesday after six weeks of waiting. I'm itching to get behind the wheel.

Dan

rybocf

I pick it up in an hour....I'll let you guys know soon!

svtmike

I'll be pleasantly surprised if it works. As far as I've been able to determine, it will only play content authored onto the DVD in the Audio_TS directory; if you've burned an "audio only" video DVD (all content in the Video_TS directory) it will not play it.

As far as I've been able to determine, it will recognize a DVD-R (in so far as the stereo gives the same message for an audio-only DVD-R as for a video DVD such as Eagles Hell Freezes Over) but I don't have a DVD-Audio authoring program to see if it would play a "DVD-R"-Audio.

Mike

need4spd

Congrats and good luck!

JonDeutsch

If it's determined that the TL can play back DVD-R based DVD-As, maybe we can all 'chip in' for a license of the DVD-A authoring software.

On second thought, that would be illegal, wouldn't it? Never mind. PM me if you have any suggestions on how to make this work.

Jon

rybocf

Ok, my first crack at DVD-R playback in the TL failed....

The goods news is that it isn't the car's fault. I couldn't get CD Audio to burn onto a DVD. Nero will not let you make an audio DVD unless it is in MP3 or WMA format.

So, I feel kind of dumb. I'm going to do a little research to see if this is possible via some sideways dvd creation. I tried "copying" a CD to DVD, but it doesn't like that. So, if anyone has any ideas, let me know. I'm going to keep trying, and I'll report back.

Ryan

JonDeutsch

Here's an idea on creating a DVD-R full of audio:

http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/userguides/154530.php

But, here's the rub: I'm not convinced that the Acura DVD player can actually read DVD-V tracks. Maybe it can... who knows? What I do know is that it does read DTS discs.... but does it only read CD-based DTS discs, or DVD-based DTS discs as well?

If it can read DVD-based DTS discs, then there's the potential of encoding all of our CDs into DTS and then burning it using DVD-V authoring software that supports DTS audio tracks.

Make sense?

Here's authoring software that supports DTS:
http://www.mediachance.com/dvdlab/

Jon

SLVR04TL6PD

but...


I did write to Panasonic and inquired about playing burned discs on the 2004 Acura TL stereo. I don't know if it will get anywhere, but maybe they can tell me what needs to be done.



just trying to help out a little..


Chad

Rocketsfan

Well, I have a couple of DVD's I bought that are DTS. The Acura plays them fine - they even display DTS on the HVAC window (or was it the Nav screen... or both? I forget.).

I have a DVD burner, so I may have to give this a try when I get the chance.

Rocketsfan

I know some of you are questioning if burned DVD discs will play in the TL system. At the Acura Owners Link it says

TL DVD-A SYSTEM WILL PLAY :

- DVD-A
- CD


TL DVD-A SYSTEM WILL NOT PLAY :

- DVD-V
- DVD-R
- DVD-RW
- MP3
- WMA AUDIO

Of course, the key here for most of us, or at least the first step would be to see if it, indeed, does not play DVD-R and DVD-RW discs. If it doesn't, then pretty much everything else is moot.

JonDeutsch

Rocketsfan,

Doesn't look good from the manual perspective. However, it's worth noting two things:

1. It doesn't even mention DTS music discs.
2. My dvd-a/cd mega-changer also says it will not play back DVD-R/RW, but it does.

Also, there's a big question mark around DTS music discs.... are these primarily DVD-V discs with a different bit set? If so, then I figure we could burn DVD-V DTS discs full of music tracks. I figure up to 20 CDs full of music would fit on a DTS music disc with no video.

Let's figure this out, guys!

Jon

just100

I think that, as a rule, manufacturers claim that their devices don't support dvd-r/+r/-rw due to the variables involved in burning discs. If they claim that they support these formats, and for some reason (brand of discs, type of burner used, software, etc) their equipment doesn't work, then they'll have to FIX it... whereas if they claim they don't support it, but it works, then everyone just considers it a bonus...

gweempose

It's all very confusing. I may be wrong, but I believe that there are two different types of DTS audio discs. The old ones are recorded on traditional CDs. The newer ones are recorded on DVDs at a higher bitrate (48 KHz vs. 44.1 KHz). These newer DTS discs are still not nearly as high resolution as a full fledged DVD-A or SACD, but they can be played in any standard DVD player that supports DTS audio (pretty much all of them these days).

It would have been really cool if we could have burned MP3's to DVD-Rs. Imagine how many songs you would have at your fingertips if the changer was loaded with these puppies. IMHO, Acura missed the boat on this one.

JonDeutsch

I'm not giving up hope that we can burn DTS songs onto a DTS music disc! That may give us as many songs as you can fit MP3s onto a traditional CD.

Jon

svtmike

DTS Music Discs are CDs with DTS encoded content. They do not have any DVD-Audio logos on the printed cards, although they are currently packaged in Super Jewel Boxes (same size as DVD-Audio) and in some stores sold intermixed with DVD-Audios.

DVD-Audio discs are DVDs, and DTS Entertainment is one of the producers of these discs. Their packaging is very similar to the DTS Music Discs, but these discs all have the DVD-Audio logo on them somewhere.


As far as DVD-V discs full of music tracks, I don't think it will work. All DVDs have a standardized directory structure to them. DVD Video content is typically in the VIDEO_TS directory on the DVD, while DVD Audio content is in the AUDIO_TS directory.

As far as I've been able to tell, the TL player looks only at the AUDIO_TS directory for the content it will play from a DVD. Most consumer grade DVD authoring programs that I know of focus solely on DVD-Video when making DVDs for use in a player.

The only DVD-Audio authoring program that I know of that's even close to consumer-level pricing is DiscWelder Steel at $500, and that can only deal with uncompressed .WAV audio tracks.

Mike

Tajam

So noone tried putting regular audio on a DVD R?

svtmike

If by "regular audio" you mean Redbook standard CD-Audio, there is no software or hardware that I know of that will write it onto a DVD-R.

And given that there's no way to write it, I doubt there's any way to play it.

Mike