aarsenca

I hope somebody can help me with this very frustrating problem.

My hobby is authoring and burning DVD-Audio's and play them in my car (Acura TL 2004). I have burned close to a hundred DVD-Audio DVD's, so I think I understand the process quite well. I author the images with discWelder Chrome 2.0 or Wavelab 5.0 and I burn them with discWelder or Nero 6.6.0.1.

Until a couple of weeks ago, I was burning my DVD's on DVD+R media (BenQ 4X) with an HP dvdwriter 300i. My OS is Windows XP SP2. I had practically no rejects. This burner had a problem with CD-RW and DVD+RW media (could not burn them more than once). I had a 3-year performance warranty, so I returned it to the store. I have since tried models from 4 different manufacturers (Plextor, HP, BenQ and LG) with different DVD+R and DVD-R (including RW) media and I just can't get a good DVD-Audio out of them.

The result depends on the media type. With DVD+R (and RW) media, the player just does not recognize them and spits them out. With DVD-R (and RW) media, the music plays for about 15 seconds and then goes mute while the time continues normally; if I turn off the car and restart it, the song resumes at the point it was when I turned off the car (I can hear it well) but only for 15 seconds and then it goes mute again. If I advance to the next song, I can hear the first 15 seconds only. So it looks like, on DVD-R media, the full song is recorded "properly", but the player can only play 15 seconds at a time.

Note that the DVD+R's that were burned with the HP 300i still play perfectly well, so that would rule out a player malfunction.

Note also that I am doing this work with a laptop and that the burner sits in an external USB2.0 enclosure. As part of the troubleshooting process, I connected the enclosure to another laptop and I also installed the burner internally in another computer (all running XP). The result was the same.

One of the last steps I took was to format my hard disk and reinstall my entire OS and large number of software needed to do this. You guessed it: same negative results. Note that prior to this reinstall, I was on XP SP1 and had the same issues.

I also discovered today that I could play my DVD-Audio's with PowerDVD 6.0 Deluxe (you learn something every day...). So I can confirm that the DVD-R and DVD+R that won't play in my car play perfectly well with PowerDVD. There is something that keeps them from playing correctly in my car, whereas the DVD+R media that were burned with my old HP 300i play just fine.

I find it very hard to believe that the HP 300i is the only burner out of the 5 I have tried that can burn good DVD-Audio's for my player, but based on all my troubleshooting steps, I have come to this conclusion. I have ordered another HP 300i burner and should get it in a few days, but I will return it if I can solve the problem with the last burner I got from the store (LG GSA-4160B) because it has superior specs.

On another forum (cdrinfo), someone suggested that it could be a firmware issue with the player and that I should get a firmware update from the manufacturer. Someone else suggested to burn DVD+R media as a DVD-ROM booktype to improve compatibility, but I'm not sure this is possible when you are trying to burn an iso image.

Any idea what is keeping me from burning good DVD-Audio's with the newer burners?

Regards.

DarkWraith33

ONLY -R DVD's have worked in my car... +R is a no go whatsoever... I have followed the same steps as you most likely. I've used Wavelab and Nero to burn.

Unless there is something different about the Canuck TL's radio... I don't see how you could have ever used +R DVD's in your TL????

Sorry if more of a question than an answer!

JT3

Geez!!! DiscWelder Chrome? Someday, I hope to win the lottery so I can afford this software like Mr. Howell here. (Lame Gilligan's Island reference, for those of you with the puzzled looks on your faces.)

I've been wanting to burn some DVD-A discs myself, but that DiscWelder Chrome is... uh... a little rich for my blood. Does anyone know if Wavelab, or any other title other than DiscWelder Chrome will author DVD-As with full 6-channel (5.1) sound?

aarsenca

I have burned several successful DVD+R's, but only with the HP 300i burner. This burner can only burn DVD+R and DVD+RW media, but it was doing it perfectly for the TL player. With other burners, I have had no luck whatsoever with DVD+R media.

A question for you... With Wavelab, are you authoring 5.1 surround mixes or are you using it to load as many 2-channel (stereo) tracks as possible on a single DVD? In my case, with the newer burners, I have no problem at all with stereo tracks on DVD-R media. My issues are with 5.1 surround mixes only.

Regards.

DarkWraith33

If your car plays DVD+R's, there's something in there different than my car... Hmm... Anywho.... The answer is yes to your question about simply putting as many stereo tracks on 1 DVD as possible. I've done no "home made" 5.1 mixes as of yet.

svtmike

Player not recognizing the media is exactly what others have experienced - the seems to be rarely compatible with DVD+R/RW media.

Playback stopping after 15 seconds is the result of the Verance analog watermarking copy protection scheme used on some DVD-A's to prevent people from making unauthorized copies even if they defeat the encryption. That watermarking scheme has not been defeated except in an academic experiment.

Any DVD-Audio player that you put that disc into will behave the same way.

My guess is that you never made that particular DVD-A with your previous setup.

Mike

aarsenca

Mike,

When I make a DVD-A, I am usually not copying an original DVD-A. I am creating an entirely new one starting with a stereo source and building it into a 5.1 mix.

Once in a while, I use an AC3 or DTS stream extracted from a copyrighted DVD source and convert it to a DVD-A. Actually, the iso image I have been struggling with to test my new burner is an AC3 to DVD-A conversion. When I play the DVD-A in PowerDVD, I get a couple of warnings about CPPM-protected contents; I just click through them and it starts playing fine. However, I get the same CPPM message with 5.1 conversions (not copy-protected in any way) from stereo sources burned with my old HP 300i burner. So that does not appear to be a significant factor for PowerDVD, but it could be if the HP 300i burner (which is a first-generation DVD burner) deals with this copy-protection scheme differently than the newer players and if it affects the TL player.

What is different between the DVD+R media burned with the HP 300i burner and the LG burner is that the booktype is DVD-ROM for the 300i and DVD+R with the LG. Since the LG does not seem to support bitsetting, I did a test with a Plextor set for DVD-ROM and the result was that it stopped after 15 seconds.

As I mentioned, I should have an HP 300i to test in a few days. But I would rather solve the problem with the newer LG burner, if such a solution exists.

Have you yourself burned 5.1 DVD-A's and played them in an Acura TL? If so, what burner and media have you used?

Thanks.

Achance

buying software, bwhahhahahahaha. You need to start learning about bittorrent and newsgroups. here is a website with some noobie guides http://www.slyck.com/index.php

RC51TOFUMAN

What brand media example ...sony, memorex, vertabrium, maxell???
are u using?

Tai

aarsenca

I have tried several brands in the last 2 weeks: Memorex, BenQ, Maxell, Verbatim, Mitsumi and a generic brand. All gave the same results.

With the HP 300i burner, which could only burn DVD+R(W), I never paid any attention to the media brands. Everything I used, including generic brands, worked 100%.

Regards.

svtmike

I have burned quite a few that I listen to regularly in my TL. I use DiscWelder Steel to author the DVD-A's, Fuji DVD-Rs as media (Best Buy usually has them for $.50 to $.85 a disc in spindle packs), and a Plextor PX-708A burner.

Prior to using that burner, I was having equal success with a Pioneer DVR-A04 burner in my old computer.

The Plextor came with a sample DVD+R disc, and that one wasn't recognized by my TL's audio system.

Mike

aarsenca

Mike,

That's interesting. I have access to a Plextor 712A, which would be a more recent version than your 708A, and I can't get good DVD-A's from either DVD-R or DVD+R media. With that burner, I have even tried changing the booktype to DVD-ROM when burning DVD+R media and that still didn't work.

The burner that worked for me was an HP 300i purchased in march 2003 (but which I stupidly returned a couple of weeks ago because it had problems with RW media and the dealer promptly got rid of it). It was a first generation DVD burner and it could only burn +R(W) media. I wouldn't be surprised if your 708A had been designed and manufactured at about the same time as my old 300i. My guess at this point is that something changed in the specs and the newer players have some kind of incompatibility with the 2004 TL player, but I can't prove this yet.

One last thing... When I say that I can't get good DVD-A's with the new burners, it's not totally true. First, the DVD-A's (both -R and +R) play perfectly with PowerDVD Deluxe. Second, I can play in the TL player DVD-A's that contain only stereo tracks. It is the 5.1 mixes that are the issue for me.

I put my Acura dealer on the case today. He called Panasonic and called me back to ask a few detailed questions. Panasonic told him to to expect a quick answer but they would look at the situation. Honestly, I don't expect much on that front. My best bet still is with the HP 300i that I have ordered and that I should get in a few days.

Regards.

svtmike

What is the "booktype" option and where do you set it?

I've burned a whole bunch of DVDs (data, DVD-A, and DVD-V), and have never set a "booktype" option anywhere. My primary burning programs are Discwelder Steel, EZ CD/DVD Creator 6, and Alcohol 120%.

Mike

aarsenca

Mike,

I only found out about booktypes this week, so I don't know very much about it yet. As far as I know, "bitsetting" only works with DVD+R media to ensure maximum compatibility with all kinds of hardware. Usually, you change the booktype from DVD+R to DVD-ROM. I don't see where you can do it with discWelder and I am not familiar with your other two burning programs. With your Plextor, I believe you can do it with Plextools and with Nero 6.3.1.25 and above. In Nero, you open Recorder, Choose Recorder and press the Options button at the bottom. If your burner supports it, you will see an option to change the booktype. In your case, since you are burning -R media and have no problems, you don't need to be concerned about it.

Regards.

zax123

aarsenca,

Just a question, but have you tried the DVD-As in ANOTHER TLs head unit? Maybe there's something specifically wrong with your head unit? Have you brought the discs to the dealership and tried them there?

aarsenca

Very good question. I did exactly that yesterday. I went to my dealership, sat with the service manager in another TL and popped a few dvd's into the player. The results were absolutely the same as in my car. The service manager called Honda and Panasonic and put them on the case but he was told that it could take a while before he hears back from them.

Regards.

NOX 3.2

I have to try it with my Pioneer DVD-R A05, it's an old model, but has proven very reliable and never creates coaters for me since I bought it.
Maybe older burner models work better as you said.

I would like to extract 5.1 sound out of DVD movies and make some 5.1 music disks, DTS is fine with me too. DVD-R recorders also have region settings, in the pioneer can only be changed 5 times, and that's it! - but I think this is only for video.

Try your DVD-A in other home systems that play 5.1 DVD-A and let us know.

noway77

i have tried with my sony 16x dual drive and tdk dvdr's i have used wavelab to try to create dvd-audio and i have also used audio dvd creator... neither one worked.. it just spits out the disc... can some please tell me what software they used to burn a dvd audio disc for an 05 TL ... and what options they chose to get it to work... thanks.... its been driving me crazy

oblio98

Every DVD-A that I have created in Wavelab has worked in my TL. Something is not right. Are you using DVD+R's?

noway77

in wave lab my sony drive isnt an option to use only my cdrw. i have upgraded the firmware and it sill wont show up... so i created an image and burned it with another application... that should still work... and i am not sure if they are + or - i will check... god i hope its the simple...

aarsenca

You can rip the ac3 or dts files out of a DVD, make a DTS CD or a DVD-A out of them and play them in the TL. The process involves many steps and quite a bit of software. I have done several such conversions myself.

My home system cannot play DVD-A's. I'm looking for a friend who would be able to play them. I know however that all the DVD-A's that don't play in my TL play perfectly well on my computer with PowerDVD Deluxe.

Regards.

aarsenca

oblio98,

Are you putting stereo tracks or 5.1 tracks on your DVD-A's? I have no problem with stereo tracks but I can't burn 5.1 mixes with any of 4 new burners I tried in the last couple of weeks. I successfully burned several 5.1 DVD-A's with a first-generation DVD burner which I traded for a newer model. I have ordered the old model again and should get it in a few days.

Regards.

aarsenca

noway77,

Most people have reported that the TL player just spits out DVD+R media. That's what I get with the newer burners I have tried. However, the HP 300i that I used to have could only burn +R media and they worked perfectly in the TL. Your Sony burner is certainly a newer model and I would stick with -R media, not +R.

Regards.

noway77

thank god i got it to work... i was using +r i went to best buy and got a 50 pack of -r created the iso with wavelab and burned it with nero... and success!!!! i sat in my car for a good 30 min just enjoying the sound... thanks for all of your help

DarkWraith33

aarsenca is the ONLY person I have ever heard say that they were indeed able to get a +R to play in the stock TL system...

I'm not saying it didn't necassarily, but something "weird" was going on for it to work...

It's great to hear you finally got it working... My Linkin Park compilation is nice... And I'm working on my Rush DVD currently.

csmoore

Is there any way to take the Audio_TS folder from a regular DVD and easily convert it to DVD-A? Since DVD-A plays on normal DVD player, you would think it is very similar. Do you know where I can find more info on these formats?

Carl

lmeredith

Like aarsenca, I have burned many DVD+R discs with the HP dvd writer 200i and I have never had a problem with any brand of discs. They've all played great in my 2004 TL. I've reported this on this forum a couple of times before.

--Lee

svtmike

^^^ If this is a red X, it's supposed to be the Google smilie.

The AUDIO_TS folder is where DVD-Audio is authored. On a "regular" DVD, this folder is empty. On a DVD-Audio, it contains the DVD-Audio content.

Mike

andeliz

I always have been able to burn DVD+R and play them on my '04 TL.

csmoore

What program do you use to author them?

csmoore

So is there a way to take the audio files from DVD-Video and put them
in the audio_TS folder for DVD-A? I'm basically trying to figure out if there is a way to copy the 5.1 files from DVD-video to DVD-A without having to go through some expensive program to author.

DarkWraith33

CSMOORE and I want to know... If you have gotten +R's to work... You are one of exactly 2 people I've EVER heard say they've gotten them to work. Any additional info would be great (software, etc...)

svtmike

No, that can't be done. That's one of the reasons the authoring programs are expensive!

Mike

andeliz

Darkwrath,

I use Wavelab to author and burn. +R - no problem.

DarkWraith33

HMMM.................... uh.............. HMMM..............

Don't write me back... I'll be spending my weekend wasting +R's just to try and get one to work... ROFL

Bastages.... HOW?!? LOL

Nah... J/K... cool... Why on earth would +R's work for some and not others? I wonder if there are different DVD drives in some cars. My car is only 3 months old so you THINK I would have the latest hardware. I'm stumped... C'est la vie...