Can anyone recommend software (other than ridiculously expensive professional) capable of upconverting CD rips (uncompressed wav format) and creating proper DVD-audio disk structure for burning on DVD-r?

I think is prolly the most well-known:
http://www.minnetonkaaudioshop.eu/epages/61620177.sf/en_US/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61620177/Categories/discWelder

I think is prolly the most well-known:
http://www.minnetonkaaudioshop.eu/epages/61620177.sf/en_US/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61620177/Categories/discWelderThanks rdgrimes, but aside for it being quite expensive (the cheapest version – not even to mention more expensive ones), looks like that the upconversion is a no go (at least from what I was able to figure out). :(

I think you're needing two programs: one to upmix stereo to 5.1, and the other to author a dvd-audio. Here's a guide (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=106500) to using adobe audition with the free V.I. Suite plugins to upmix to 5.1. As far as dvd-a authoring, the cheapest route would be to use DVD-A Solo (http://www.cirlinca.com/) for about $45.

Thanks rdgrimes, but aside for it being quite expensive (the cheapest version – not even to mention more expensive ones), looks like that the upconversion is a no go (at least from what I was able to figure out). :(
$99 is a pretty average price for authoring software of any kind.

AFAIK, you need to feed it high-res audio, it does not upsample or convert formats. Not that upsampling is going to get you anything, but you do need other software for creating 5.1 PCM audio that this program will accept.

You can use high-res 2-ch PCM in most any DVD-video authoring program.

That company also sells software for creating DTS 5.1 at 1.5Mb for use in DTS-CD or DVD video. I think it is also restricted to accepting 5.1 PCM.

$99 is a pretty average price for authoring software of any kind.

AFAIK, you need to feed it high-res audio, it does not upsample or convert formats. Not that upsampling is going to get you anything, but you do need other software for creating 5.1 PCM audio that this program will accept.

You can use high-res 2-ch PCM in most any DVD-video authoring program.

That company also sells software for creating DTS 5.1 at 1.5Mb for use in DTS-CD or DVD video. I think it is also restricted to accepting 5.1 PCM.

The base version (Bronze) does not include MLP, so it's limited to 96/16 I believe. (Limited by the amout of data the drive itself can stream without packing.)

Thanks for all the advice.
As all I really want is 2ch, DVD video authoring should work (as rdgrimes pointed out).
I tried something called Music DVD Creator (http://www.blazevideo.com/dvd-creator/index.html), and while it does what I want (even upconverts) it creates loud pops between the tracks.
I got something called R8BRAIN (http://www.voxengo.com/r8brain/) for upconversion and I am going to try VELDER or SOLO to see how that works.

I think you're needing two programs: one to upmix stereo to 5.1, and the other to author a dvd-audio. Here's a guide (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=106500) to using adobe audition with the free V.I. Suite plugins to upmix to 5.1. As far as dvd-a authoring, the cheapest route would be to use DVD-A Solo (http://www.cirlinca.com/) for about $45.

There's a new RC1 of HD-Audio Solo Ultra 2.0 that includes the upmixing from stereo to 5.1. This may be more of what you're looking for and it's all in one. I've a current user of DVD-A Solo and it works great (use the music in my car that supports DVD-A music).

Sorry to hijack the thread, but, is Music DVD Creator the same as Audio DVD Creatror? I use Audio DVD and its has the clicks sometimes. I've always wondered if it was the program or something going on while burning. Is there another inexpensive program to do 24bit 2 channel on video DVDs similar to Audio DVD Creator? I don't need 5.1 or DVD-A support.

FYI... The Bronze version of Disc Welder will do 96/24 in 5.1 or up to 192/24 in stereo. I use it and convert all my new vinyl to 192/24 2ch DVD-A discs. I also sample them at that rate, so there is no upconversion.

FYI... The Bronze version of Disc Welder will do 96/24 in 5.1 or up to 192/24 in stereo. I use it and convert all my new vinyl to 192/24 2ch DVD-A discs. I also sample them at that rate, so there is no upconversion.

So it's not limited to 16b at 5.1 in PCM. That's good to know. So I guess MLP is really only required for 7.1 or for 5.1 at 24/192.

What MLP will give you, is more capacity on the disc. 5.1 PCM eats up a lot of data real fast.

What MLP will give you, is more capacity on the disc. 5.1 PCM eats up a lot of data real fast.

MLP is necessary on DVDs due to the limited bit rate that DVD's impose. A 5.1 24/192 stream runs something on the order of 20Mb/sec, which exceeds the capability of DVD.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pH0xnpvq8TFT8dFfFQwAhGw

24/192/5.1 PCM ~ 26MBps; even with MLP compression its at 19MBps

A 5.1 24/192 stream runs something on the order of 20Mb/sec, which exceeds the capability of DVD.

You are correct, sir. If memory serves me correctly, the maximum bit rate for the DVD disc is 9.8Mb/sec. That's all data coming off the disc. Audio, video.. anything.

You are correct, sir. If memory serves me correctly, the maximum bit rate for the DVD disc is 9.8Mb/sec. That's all data coming off the disc. Audio, video.. anything.

That's the spec for DVD-Video. Based on the data rate at 1x speed at the inside of the disc. A DVD is actually capable of delivering a great deal more, close to 18 MB/sec but only at 16x speed and only at the outer edge of the disc.

A subject I love and few people have interest in.

After a few years of experimenting, here are your options. There is a program called DVD Audio Creator that allow you to take WAV files and covert them to DVD-V DD 5.1 448 kbs files which is really pretty cool. They are not advanced resolution files, but you can put around 18 or 19 full length albums in a higher resolution DD 5.1 file. Typical DD 5.1 is 384 kbs. They sound great and I have one disc with 19 different chapters (albums).

Creative X-Fi Platinum sound cards allow the creation of 94/24 5.1 files or 96/24 4.0 files from a CD. The problem with these files is writing them to DVD. The 5.1 files need Discwelder Bronze (around $100) to write to DVD. The 96/24 4.0 files can be written with the superior in practicality DVD-Solo program. These files are so large that many 96/24 5.1 albums won't even fit on a DVD. They are not compressed. Most albums will need to be done in 96/24 4.0 to fit on a single DVD.

All this being said, the most practical use of this technology is to make 44/16 files and write them to a DVD. DVD Solo allows you to put nearly nine albums separated by Groups on one DVD. I have read that CD-R's sound better than CD's. I believe that these DVD-R's sound better than their source CD's and you can make special discs such as all Rickie Lee Jones albums on one DVD.

I found the pseudo-surround files offered no sonic benefit over the 44/16 tracks. The 96/24 2.0 tracks I made sounded unnatural. No benefit over the 44/16 source tracks. They had an added sense of harshness.

Recommendation:

DVD Audio Solo is an excellent product that is a neat way to record multlipe 44/16 tracks onto one DVD for simplicity and possible slight improvement in SQ. My experience with upconverting 44/16 tracks to 96/24 2.0, 96/24 5.1, and 96/24 4.0 tracks show no sonic improvement and a degradation from the source.

That is my opinion, but I have spent a lot of time on the subject.

DVD Audio Creator is a neat way to put an entire library of songs (I have one with 18 albums) in a higher bitrate than standard DD 5.1 setting with surprisingly good SQ. You could put an extensive Stones collection on one disc, for example.

+1 for DVD Audio Solo I've had good success burning 96/24 2.0 vinyl rips with it.

Hi guys, I am from Cirlinca, let me shed some light on the DVD-Audio specs :
- DVD transfer bitrate limited to about 9.6Mbps
- any number of channels from 1 to 6
- Resolutions can be 16/20/24 bits, 44.1/48/88.2/96/176.4/192 kHz
- 176.4/192 kHz are reserved for stereo, LPCM or MLP
- 5.1 up to 16/96 kHz (LPCM) or 24/96 kHz (MLP)
- Can split a track into 2 groups with different resolutions (e.g. FL/FR/C at 24/96 kHz, the rest at 16/48kHz)

So, to encode 5.1 at maximum resolution, the choice is either 16/96 LPCM, 24/96 MLP, or mixed resolution tracks. We found the latter choice to be a good tradeoff without going MLP. It is a unique feature of DVD-Audio that deserves to be better known (and used). E.g. you can have the maximum resolution 24/96 where it counts with the front channels FL/FR/C and have the surround ambiance and LFE channels at 16/48 which is sufficient in most cases. FYI, our latest software release supports this feature. Hope this helps.

Chris @ Cirlinca

Slightly OT but related:

What reasonably priced tools are available for creating MLP files from WAV or other files? DVD-A authoring is not a requirement.

Slightly OT but related:

What reasonably priced tools are available for creating MLP files from WAV or other files? DVD-A authoring is not a requirement.
MLP authoring is expensive. Check Dolby Media Encoder SE, but at $2900 it is probably not what you mean by reasonably priced.

Hi guys, I am from Cirlinca, let me shed some light on the DVD-Audio specs :
- DVD transfer bitrate limited to about 9.6Mbps
- any number of channels from 1 to 6
- Resolutions can be 16/20/24 bits, 44.1/48/88.2/96/176.4/192 kHz
- 176.4/192 kHz are reserved for stereo, LPCM or MLP
- 5.1 up to 16/96 kHz (LPCM) or 24/96 kHz (MLP)
- Can split a track into 2 groups with different resolutions (e.g. FL/FR/C at 24/96 kHz, the rest at 16/48kHz)

So, to encode 5.1 at maximum resolution, the choice is either 16/96 LPCM, 24/96 MLP, or mixed resolution tracks. We found the latter choice to be a good tradeoff without going MLP. It is a unique feature of DVD-Audio that deserves to be better known (and used). E.g. you can have the maximum resolution 24/96 where it counts with the front channels FL/FR/C and have the surround ambiance and LFE channels at 16/48 which is sufficient in most cases. FYI, our latest software release supports this feature. Hope this helps.

Chris @ Cirlinca

Hello Chris & Everyone else,

This is all very interesting stuff and something that I'm just beginning to look into.

Chris, your newly released HD-Audio Solo Ultra 2.0 seems to offer a reasonably priced, all in one solution but I have a couple of questions. Firstly, are there any plans in the works for a Mac version of this software? Secondly, I do have Windows XP available using Parallels Desktop so do you know of any issues using your software in this environment? Is there something else out there that is comparable and better suited to a Mac platform?

If anyone else would like to chime in, please do so.

Thanks in advance and Cheers!

Brent

P.S. - If this is considered a thread hijack I do apologize and will take it somewhere else if needed.

Hi, I'd just like to say that if you want to upsample CDs, 96kHz is not the best frequency to do this; the frequency you should probably be using is 88.2kHz. This is because as 96 is not directly devisable be 44.1, it makes the dithering process complicated and you are probably losing samples along the way, which may be a reason Aggieheel's upconvertions sound harsh.

Thanks for the DVDA authoring info people! ;) I'm looking for a cheap solution to make 24/96 stereo DVDAs to play at home, as of yet to no avail.

What I don't seem to get is why you would think there is any benefit from "upconverting" 44.1 kHz/16-bit PCM audio to 88.2 kHz/24 bits? What happens is that each sample gets duplicated (44.1 to 88.2) and there are 8 bits of nothing added to each word. So you get to carry a lot of extra baggage which provides no sonic improvement.

There are other approaches which might alter the resulting sound but the nothing will elevate the dynamic range of frequency response beyond what was in the original recording.

Considering this thread is over 2 yrs old, did anything come out of it?

Doesn't look like it. Ripping and upsampling CDs has questionable sonic benefits and a lot of people are doing the opposite - ripping discs (CDs and DVD-As) so a computer is used as a transport.

And you don't need to burn DVD-A discs for 2-ch 24/96. You can us DVD+Audio format which can be read by all DVD players.

larry

And you don't need to burn DVD-A discs for 2-ch 24/96. You can us DVD+Audio format which can be read by all DVD players.

larry

DVD-Video format supports 2-ch 24/96 just as well.

DVD-Video format supports 2-ch 24/96 just as well.

Yes the only case when you need DVD-A format for stereo, is if you are going to use 44.1 or 88.2 sampling rates (either to archive CD content or transcoded SACD). But currently you better avoid DVD format altogether and record AVCHD disks, which are playable on almost every BD player. There are several tools (including free) to author AVCHD disks.

hi to All ,,
i m new to this forum..
i have convered mp3 to 5.1 Dts and tested it too..