frozenpenguin

I don't think this has been posted before (if it has I haven't seen it) but here is some info I've come up with for converting DVD-Video concerts to DTS-CDs in 5.1. I've tried this and it works great! My TL recognizes all these CD's I've made as DTS and they sound just like the normal 5.1 DVDs.

First of all, this may sound like a long and drawn out procedure. The bad news is that it really is a long and drawn out procedure. Although once you get a hang of the steps, it's not too bad.

Here is a list of the programs I used to do this conversion:

• DVD Decrypter
• DVD2AVI
• BeSweet
• BeSure
• HeadAC3che
• SurCode CD Pro DTS (this one is the kicker. If you're honest, you can pay $499 for this 1.5MB encoding utility. If you're dishonest, you probably know where to find a copy)
• Your favorite CD Burning Program (I used Nero)

OK, first of all, I ripped the DVD to my HD using DVD Decrypter. Then I used DVD2AVI to demux the AC3 track. Once I've got one big AC3 file, I used HeadAC3che to cut the big AC3 file into the individual tracks. (I haven't found a way to automate this by using the chapter stops. So I've just had to note the timecode for each stop and manually cut the AC3). Then I fired up BeSure and linked it to the program locations for BeSweet and SurCode. Then you just enter your AC3 files to convert, select DTS-CD and click GO. You'll end up with 5.1 DTS encoded WAV files that you can just burn as a regular audio CD in Nero.

If you don't know where to find any of these programs or don't know how to use them visit http://www.doom9.org you can find most of them there.

Teh Jatt

:wow:

Lore

Thanks for the step-by-step! I'm sure someone will find it useful.

casooner90

Whew - right over my head. I guess I'm back to Bestbuy for now.

dstackle

You can get DTS encoded WAV files? Didn't know that was possible. Wonder if it would be possible to play them via an MP3 player in DTS....

automophile

It sounds interesting! Are the new discs' channels correct to the original mix?

How long does it take?

svtmike

Any DVD player with a digital output can send the DTS bitstream to a decoder. The TL audio system has a built-in DTS decoder.

I would not expect an MP3 player to support DTS. The MP3 standard does not support anything other than mono or stereo signals.

Mike

frozenpenguin

If you try to play one of these CDs or WAV files in winamp or windows media or a stand alone player it just sounds like static. You need a DTS decoder to play them.

frozenpenguin

Yes. BeSure is a front end program that can control both BeSweet and SurCode. So when you tell it co convert an AC3 file, BeSure uses BeSweet to decode the AC3 into 6 individual WAV files (one for each channel). Then it automatically switches to SurCode and reencodes those six WAVs into one DTS WAV. You can see more about the conversion process w/screenshots here: http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/BeSure.html

The length of time it takes depends on the length of the original DVD and speed of your computer, speed of your DVD-Rom, etc. But I would guesstimate that on an average PC, to get through everything it would probably take less time than if you just watched the whole concert straight through.

marquis

Nice....thanks for the info. I'll have to give this a try.

bigdomer

I have been wondering how to do this. Thanks a lot for the steps!

zon76

frozenpenguin,

thanks a lot for posting this!
i'm going to try it.

do you burn on a CD or a DVD?
if CD, then i'm wondering how it'll fit, especially with 6X the data.

thanks again!

frozenpenguin

You burn it to a CD. What you end up with is a DTS-CD, just like you would buy in the store. The DTS encoding does a compression of the audio, so you can fit the same amount of songs on a 5.1 DTS-CD as you would a regular Stereo CD.

NOX 3.2

Sounds from his explanation, that you will be making CD-R not DVD-R, although somebody said you could burn it into DVD-R too...

It's probably a compressed DTS-CD disk.

AirlineMuseum.c

where do you get the software you mentioned? Is it all freeware? Do you happen to have links?

frozenpenguin

zon76

So frozenpenguin has created a DTS CD, and svtmike has burned WAV files on a DVD-R.

I'm wondering if I can put DTS encoded WAV files on a DVD-R. This way I can fit 4 or 5 concerts on one DVD.

Anyone know a reason why this woudn't work? I'm planning to try this on the weekend.

svtmike

It won't work because the DVD-A spec does not allow for DTS encoded streams in the DVD-A content of the disc; only LPCM or MLP lossless compression is supported.

There are ways to take DTS CDs and decode them into 6 different WAVs to put on a DVD-A (I've done it).

Mike

zon76

Managed to burn my first DTS CD (from Roger Waters - In The Flesh concert).

I followed frozenpenguin's directions with a few changes.
DVDdecrypter demuxs the AC3 stream. So I was able to skip the DVD2AVI step.
Also chapter breaks can be automated. A freeware tool called ChapterXtractor (also on doom9), extracts time codes for each song from the IFO file which you get from DVDdecrypter. This can be fed into BeSplit (also on doom9) which chops up the AC3 file.
The whole process was smooth and painless.

But..... when I played the DTS CD in the TL, I had occasional bursts of noise. (Besides this the sound quality was spectacular.) But I was afraid to turn up the volume - don't know what that noise does to the speakers.

Searching through the posts, I see many others have complained about this noise on DTS CDs, even store-bought ones. Also, sometimes the noise never shows up, or shows up at a different point in the song. All this points to read or decoding errors which I can't do anything about.

So overall it was a partial success. If the noise issue can be solved, I'll do all my concerts on DVD. Else, I might have to wait for discwelder bronze, and burn 5.1 DVD-A discs instead.

svtmike

My TL does that too. My theory is that the error correction algorithm is either poor or nonexistent in the TL player when playing DTS CDs. If the stream has errors, then the decoder translates those errors into noise. I have no proof one way or another of that, though.

I have one DTS Music Disk: Don Henley's The End of the Innocence. It plays with the noise bursts in the TL, but it plays perfectly in my home Denon DVD-Audio player. I contacted DTS Entertainment's tech support and they said they knew of no certification problems with the TL Player and offered to replace the disc for me if I mailed it to them. I figured that would be a waste of postage.

So, instead I ripped the disc to DTS-encoded .WAVs, used a technique I found on Doom9.org (which involves using the Intervideo DVD Platinum package, which has DTS decoding software) to decode the DTS into six mono PCM .WAV files, and then used DiscWelder Steel to write it out to DVD-R (along with my other Henley discs) as a DVD-A.

That plays back in the TL player perfectly.

Mike

Lore

So it'll still decode the DTS stream from your DVD-A along with the regular 2-channel stereo of your other Henley tracks?

svtmike

It's no longer a DTS stream; it's decoded into 6 mono plain jane .WAV files on the computer. DiscWelder will happily mix stereo and 5.1 tracks (built from 6 monophonic .WAVs) on a DVD-A.

Mike

jayerndl

I have only one DTS CD (Sheryl Crow) and it plays fine in my TL.

Jay

svtmike

I've borrowed another (Lyle Lovett Joshua Judges Ruth) and it plays fine too. I haven't found a rhyme or reason. But the decoding problems it does have are consistent; they always occur at the same place on the disc.

Mike

zon76

svtmike,

Thank you for that information. In the flow described in this thread to create DTS CDs, there is a step which yields 6 .wav files. I'm thinking that once I get discwelder bronze, I should be able to use these 6 files to create a DVD-A. The only thing is waiting for the software to be released.

Does anyone have any info on the Japanese software DigionAudio2? The link to this was posted in another thread, and it looks like another option to create DVD-A.

zon76

Ahh... this is different for me. On my homemade DTS CD, the error occurs at different points. And sometimes it never happens. There seems to be a dependence on ambient conditions.

One thing that consistently occurs - there is always the noise spike at track breaks. Even burnerd with disc-at-once with no pause between tracks, the noise is there. Wonder if others with homemade DTS CDs have this issue? If not, how do you get around it?

svtmike

That is exactly right.

Mike

Salden

Great thread. I managed to make some DTS CDs yesterday. "Rush in Rio", "Tool - Salival" and some tracks from "Pink Floyd - The Wall". I used the following steps:[list=1][*]Demux audio to AC3 with DvdDecrypt[*]Break up AC3 with ChapterXtractor which launches BeSplit for you.[*]Create wav files with BeSure and Surcode[*]Burn with Nero[/list=1]
I haven't heard any of the noises you guys mentioned but admittedly, I haven't listened to everything yet. I just wanted to say thanks for the info and great thread. Keep it up!

zon76

Salden,

Glad it's working well for you. I followed the exact same flow that you did, even to the Nero step, but get the noises all the time. So either they fixed the DTS decoder on later TLs, or the media you're using agrees better with the TL. Do you mind supplying the last 5 digits of your VIN, and the brand of CD-R you're using. My VIN is 07883, and I'm using old Maxell 4X CD-Rs.

Also, did you use any special settings in Nero when burning the CD? I used disc-at-once, and set gaps between songs to 0.0 secs (because my CD is of a concert, there really is no gap between songs), but consistently get a "pop" when the player goes from one track to the next track.

Thanks,
zon

Lore

zon76:

Have you tried listening to the resulting audio files in something like WinDVD or PowerDVD to ensure that the clicks are a result of burning and not of the source files?

Salden

I haven't been able to listen to the wav files on the pc once they are DTS. I have heard a few pops now that I have listened to them more. I don't have my VIN on me but I will get it later. I am using "Durabrand" CD-R which is pretty cheap stuff.

Lore

Once they're on the PC as DTS Wav files you can use a DVD player to play them back.

zon76

Lore,

I didn't listen on the PC, but I did listen to it on my home audio system. I listened for quite a while, and there was no "pop" at all. The pop heard when going to the next song was also absent. So it was flawless on my home system.

Salden,

If you're hearing occasional pops, then never mind about the VIN. I too have noticed that sometimes I can go 15 minutes in the TL with no pops (other than when switching tracks). Other times it'll pop every 20 seconds.


Thanks,
zon

Lore

I guess the point I'm trying to make is if you listen to it on your PC before burning the disc, you'll be able to isolate the variables and determine whether it's the demuxing process, the burning process, or the decoder itself that's causing the problem with the odd noises during playback in the TL.

TL_Daemon

try the betas of the software ur using i believe dsp guru fixed the click... i havnt made one in awhile but while you guys are at it you can also make a 5.1 of your favorite 2ch music

doom9 has a sticky topic on the matter.

I have made them and found nice results on my home system but not for tl yet. what is needed for tl just 44.1 vs 48?
also can u burn a dvd of (cd dts) tracks and it work?

Salden

Still static when I use windvd. So is this a problem with the TL stereo or the conversion? Someone mentioned that a sotre bought cd had the same problem. Is it possible Acura will fix this?

svtmike

Do you happen to have a Liteon burner? I seem to recall that LiteOn has a very cool utility that measures errors on a CD-R media. I still think that the TL is not using sufficient error correction on DTS playback, causing bad data to be sent to the DTS decoder and resulting in the noise.

Mike

Lore

Let me verify -- you have static when you use WinDVD to listen to the .WAV files, right? You're not playing back the resulting CD-R that you're putting into the car, right?

If that is correct, then your conversion process is causing the static and it is not the TL's stereo that has a problem decoding as your software decoder is having the same problem.

svtmike

To my knowledge, you can't play back a .WAV file and expect WinDVD to run it through the DTS decoder. You can use WinDVD to play back a DTS-encoded audio CD and have it run through the DTS decoder, though.

Burn those .WAVs out onto a CD-R and try it again through WinDVD.

Mike

Lore

Oh yeah... I think you're right. When I was testing DTS streams I think I had to create a virtual CD, mount the image as an audio CD, and then play that virtual CD (which really was just a compilation of files mounted as a Red Book audio disc) through WinDVD.

Yeah, but do what Mike says and you should be able to test whether it's the decoder in your car, your conversion process, or both.