Forgive me if this has been already asked (I searched before posting), but where is the best resource for finding DVD-A discs for the ELS surround system?

On a similar note, I'm surprised that Acura still builds ELS in their 2012 and 2013 models. My understanding is that the only TRUE way to take advantage of the ELS system is to play a DVD-A disc that has been mastered and mixed for the DVD-A multichannel 5.1 standard.

With the discs being so hard to come by, and with so very few titles truly being DVD-A, what's the benefit of ELS?

 

Amazon and eBay for me.

Here's the Amazon link with the DVD-Audio filter enabled.

 

Ken, that's really helpful. Thanks very much!! I'm checking out the Amazon link now, and the selection is better than I thought.

 

You may find this thread helpful.

 

If you're looking for Toy Matinee, I have one for sale so this board is also a good source to find what you're looking for.

Mugz

 

[URL="http://store.acousticsounds.com"]

Yes, says acoustic, but check links on the left.
Also look for DTS.

I happen to have loads of DVD-A and this influenced my decision to buy a TL.

Unbelievably great surround sound.

Mike

 

Mugszy, I hope you've put your disc on the Black Market for sale!

 

Yep, its there but does not seem to be attracting much attention...

 

Hotel California, $200... Eric Clapton, $400! For me at this point it's a clever gimmick to show people with the demo DVD and never get any use out of. It's too bad, too, DVD-A sounds amazing, especially compared to the MP3/MP4s that make up most of the collection at this point.

 

I guess that's why I asked my original question. Don't get me wrong....DVD-A sounds great, I love my demo disc, and the few DVD-As I've purchased, but why in the world would Acura continue to build this into their cars? I'd rather save a few bucks in the price and not have this. It just doesn't have mass appeal. My guess is that less than 2% of TL owners regularly use the heralded ELS Surround System.

• While the DVD-A resources that everyone sent through were helpful, the list of available discs is still small. I'd wager to say 0.1% or less than what you can get through iTunes or Amazon.
  
• The mass market is downloading their music these days. Or streaming through some sort of mobile app. Who buys discs anymore?
  
• Give me a system that leverages HD radio or HD satellite.
  
• Give me a system that would allow me to download high quality HD audio files to my iPhone or Android device, and play them through the car.

I'm all for great sound, but this ELS system seems like a marketing gimmick more than anything else. Unless you're highly technical (burning and mastering your own discs), or you're happy with a limited selection, you'll never see a benefit.

Example: The cassette player that Acura still made part of the system in my 06 TL. Seriously?

 

thassett, you pose an excellent question.


Honestly, the DVD-Audio format is, for all intents and purposed....dead. The new Lynyrd Skynyrd disc is a nice find, but there won't be many more coming out.


I've got a great idea....I think Acura should go into the remastering business! If they continue to go with the DVD Audio format, why not remaster them for the masses!

And you're right, they stuck with cassettes through 2008. I've never used mine-once....

 

The DVD As are obviously the best, but some of my MP3s sound pretty good on the ELS system too. If you're a Springsteen fan, try "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle," one of the Boss's earlier albums. It sounds great cranked up with the Dolby Surround activated.

 

Acura - if you're listening - please build HD Radio into future models.

See this: http://www.hdradio.com/buyers-guide/new-car

 

Is there a "free" windows APP the will create DVD- AUDIO disc out of MP3? DVD AUDIO SOLO is one of them but they charge. Thank you

 

^click the link that UCF_bronco provided.

 

I have brand new, still sealed Diana Krall "When I look in your eyes" for sale. Of course it is DVD-Audio and sounds great through Acura ELS.

 

^^ Post it in the Acurazine Black Market.

 

3 DVD-Audio's came out in the past month. The 2 Emerson Lake and Palmer discs ("Emerson Lake and Palmer" with Lucky Man, and "Tarkus"), and the Lynyrd Skynyrd Hits disc from WalMart. These can be bought for well under $20.

Two more King Crimson releases are scheduled to come out before the end of the year, "Larks Tougue" and another. There have also been other less known titles released, such as Travis & Fripp "Follow", Kataonia "Dead End Kings", and a couple of others.

Try Burning Shed to find even more releases that you probably never head about. DVD-A releases get NO publicity.

 

Hi, can you burn DVD audio disk out of MP3?
Thanks

 

Honestly, I am a "conscientious consumer" and normally never advocate piracy. I own thousands of CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays (including DVD-A and SACD) all legitimately purchased. I have friends in the music industry and know that while your mega-bands and pop acts get the headlines for being millionaires, most in the industry are not making that much money, so I support them by purchasing their products.

That said, the DVD-A aftermarket is so offensive in pricing markup, and none of that money goes to the artist, that for DVD-A I seek out...downloadable options. If you have a DVD burner, and you find the right disc images, you can burn DVD-A. Just saying. Won't point to any particular site or resource.

 

Hi FirstTL12,
let me rephrase, how can I get my "own MP3 files - burned from own CD's" to burn to a DVD A disc to make it sound "better " for my car.

 

I'm no sound engineer, but I don't believe what your looking for is possible. An mp3, while superior in quality to more "dated" forms of music delivery, is relatively speaking not a "high defninition" sound source. Even if sampled at a high rate, you still only approach CD quality.

To take that and extrapolate it somehow to sound high-def? Don't think if can happen. (I mean, the guys on CSI could do it, but that's another story).

And if you could improve the quality from the "original" mp3, you'd still have to separate the channels to get the benefit of the ELS system.

I think you're out of luck.

 

Brain Salad Surgery by ELP is also available.


You cannot burn or download DVD Audio discs. You can download the music on it, but it will not be in 5.1 surround sound.

 

With respect, I don't think this is strictly true. Without getting into a conversation that would seem to endorse copyright infringment, I'm fairly certain that full surround data can be downloaded and burned, depending on the format. I've not tested it in meaningful way, but the excellent copy of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", which someone was kind enough to remaster, shows incredible separation...and it's only available (to my knowledge) by download. Other discs that are available as iso files show similar quality.

That said, the copyright protection, and specifically the use of digital watermark, on DVD-A discs appears to exceed the protection on more conventional DVD video discs. However, I don't think that is what you were referring to.

 

While perusing the titles (and prices) of DVD-A's on Amazon, it occured to my friend who was standing next to me to check out some of the uTorrent sites (what many of us refer to as Peer2Peer) to see if they have any DVD-A files available for download. Lo and behold, they do. Not a large amount, mind you, but they really piqued my interest. So I'm currently downloading a Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here" album which claims in the description "5.1 surround sound, 4.0 96kHz - 24MLP DVD-Audio" it's also a tad under 4GB for the whole album, which seems right about the size of what a DVD-A disc should be.

I'm hoping that, should I burn this to a blank DVD (do they make burnable DVD-A's? I have not found any) that it would play in my Acura just as good as any other DVD-A. But to be honest, I won't be able to find out until I get home in December.

 

If you like Metallica and you go to their website, they are selling a dvd-a version of their black album for around $18.

 

thanks for the info needed it

 

This weekend there's a "Music Collector's Fair" in my city. Think I'll stop by. It'll be worth the $5 admission to see if I can get my hands on some DVD-A's, though I'm not holding my breath.

 

Sadly, not a single DVD-A at the Music Collector's Fair. Lot of vinyl, though. I was surprised by the smug looks of superiority I got from the vinyl aficionados when I mentioned DVD-Audio. Whatever.

On the upside, I managed to get Queen - Night at the Opera for a decent price online, so I'm looking forward to that arriving.

 

DVD-A has never become a trend. It's just a small blip in history.

So it is becoming increasing difficult to find, especially in the used market.

 

^^^ True, and now that they're so rare, the prices are really going up.

 

I just picked up ELP's first and Brain Salad Surgery on DVD-A. Newly released

 

Actually Stew, I've had that DVD Audio disc for a while. It's an excellent pickup!

 

Hearing good things about the demo disc that should have come with my '09 TL (I bought used), I almost pulled the trigger last week when someone had one on eBay. Ultimately, price went too high, once shipping was factored in (that's seemingly where they get you). I phoned my local dealership to see if it could be purchased...not the closest dealership to me, but the closest one is no good. They told me it couldn't be ordered, but that I should call the GM during the week. Called him yesterday, and he said he'd look into it. He called me back 5 minutes later saying he found one, and that I could come by and pick it up anytime. Gratis.

So now I have it, and it really showcases the system. Little touches like that make one really appreciate a dealership.

 

Finally got my hands on my “Night at the Opera”…great disc! And meant to be heard in the TL with the ELS system; particularly Bohemian Rhapsody. Garth Algar’s AMC Pacer this is not. I swear I could hear a little silhouetto of a man.

Steven, I still envy you your Foreigner 4, but I can certainly be happy with this disc for a little while.

 

^^ Thanks buddy! It's fun to listen to-especially in the car.


I've got a 7.1 surround sound at home. I've actually got a Queen's Greatest Hits in 5.1, which sounds outstanding at home! Night At The Opera is a great pickup.

 

Better than Ezra's, "How Does Your Garden Grow?" his just been remixed into a DVD Audio disc with 5.1 sound. I can't comment on the sound as I just ordered yesterday and it shipped today. Reasonably priced at $15.98.
You can order here: http://www.musicvalet.com/products/h...tter-than-ezra. The site also has a short documentary trailer explaining the release.

 

Agree completely as to Night at the Opera and especially Bohemian Rhapsody. This has become the disc I use to demonstrate ELS to first-time passengers. It's spectacular.

 

I got Blue Man Group's 1999 DVD-Audio disc from Amazon for $9.99 recently. Sounds great!

 

I agree with others that effectively the DVD-A standard is dead...just never really took off, and you can thank the battle between the different manufacturers for that....however, I do believe that Cirlinca, with a decent plugin from Waves (like this one)
http://www.waves.com/content.aspx?id=8760

Can really allow you to create some great music...even though the effect will not be as good as an original mixed 5.1 track, it comes pretty darn close, and if you start with a high bit rate encoded .mp3, the results are really, really cool.

Some downsides (like only being able to fit a few songs on a dvd-R) but such is life....


I am now trying DVD-R DL, since I have not had good luck playing DVD+R DL (on a 2012 TL with Tech pkg).


I am also thinking of creating a guide here for those that want to do this, since again, I think the results are awesome!