I got into DVD-Audio by accident!

[lchiu7]

I have been aware of these surround sound formats for a while but since I don't have a capable DVD player (though I do have a Samsung 840 on the way) nor a receiver with 6 channel analogue inputs, they didn't interest me.

Recently whilst perusing the sale bin in a local DVD store I saw Eagles Hotel California DVD-A for $5. Since it appeared to have a DD 5.1 track also I bought it. Playing it on my HT system, and only the DD 5.1 tracks I was struck by how more open and enveloping the music was, even though it was just DD 5.1 and not the full MLP format. I was hooked. I went to Amazon and picked up ELP Brain Salad Surgery and have on order Fragile and I Robot. I also have purchased a Corrs DVD-A and Diana Krall's The Look of Love.

It's hard to find DVD-A discs and at this time I can only purchase them that have a DD 5.1 track on them. But even when I get my Samsung which can play DVD-A and SACD it won't be much use to me until I upgrade my receiver to one that has 6 channel analogue inputs or perhaps supports HDMI for audio? Not sure I can swing this purchase pass the finance director :-(

It's a shame that there was a format war so the multichannel sound formats are not that popular. There is a huge improvement (IMHO) with multichannel sound over stereo

Larry

[PaulT_BC]

Welcome to the club!!

be aware I Robot is an HDAD Stereo disc, not multichannel. It is the closest to the vinyl recording you will hear though, and is a great disc.

[Schwingding]

Oh you poor, poor thing. I too was recently introduced to multichannel music. Nothing has been the same since.

[sivadselim]

Originally Posted by lchiu7

It's hard to find DVD-A discs and at this time I can only purchase them that have a DD 5.1 track on them. But even when I get my Samsung which can play DVD-A and SACD it won't be much use to me until I upgrade my receiver to one that has 6 channel analogue inputs or perhaps supports HDMI for audio? Not sure I can swing this purchase pass the finance director :-(

It's a shame that there was a format war so the multichannel sound formats are not that popular. There is a huge improvement (IMHO) with multichannel sound over stereo

Larry

Not to poop on your parade, Ichiu, but you're into multichannel music, not DVD-A.

BTW, almost every multichannel DVD-A disc you find will have a DD5.1 track, and many will also have DTS5.1 tracks.

With your new DVD-A/SACD player, you WILL be able to enjoy the DVD-A and SACD in stereo, but not multichannel.

[Ovation]

While I didn't do it by accident, I did begin my DVD-A collecting a good 18 months before I had a DVD-A capable player. The MCH mixes were already a revelation even in DD/DTS and when I got my universal player, it just got better. I have no regrets (except that there isn't more out there in hi-res MCH).

[lchiu7]

Originally Posted by sivadselim

Not to poop on your parade, Ichiu, but you're into multichannel music, not DVD-A.

BTW, almost every multichannel DVD-A disc you find will have a DD5.1 track, and many will also have DTS5.1 tracks.

With your new DVD-A/SACD player, you WILL be able to enjoy the DVD-A and SACD in stereo, but not multichannel.

You're right there in a manner. But since I do have a player with DVD-Audio and SACD capability coming and given I really do enjoy multichannel audio (I had pretty much stopped listening to music on my HT system with most music being listened to in a car or on a MP3 player) , to increase the availability of music selection, I think I will invest in a new receiver that has 6 channel analogue input. Then I can listen to DVD-Audio and the resultant increased audio fidelity and also get into SACD discs.

Plus can get into the latest Dolby and DD 7.1 sound formats for home theater

[lchiu7]

Originally Posted by PaulT_BC

Welcome to the club!!

be aware I Robot is an HDAD Stereo disc, not multichannel. It is the closest to the vinyl recording you will hear though, and is a great disc.

Thanks for the heads up. I have been waiting 3 months(!) for this title from Amazon. SInce it's just a stereo release (albeit very high quality) I have decided to cancel the order. The rest of my system (or my ears!) I doubt is up to the quality where I would hear a noticeable difference from the HDAD version and my original CD release.

[lchiu7]

Originally Posted by Schwingding

Oh you poor, poor thing. I too was recently introduced to multichannel music. Nothing has been the same since.

Amen! It's interesting that I have been listening to multichannel music for a long time - the background music on movie I watch which are usually mixed into the surround channels. But it was only once I actually listened to music only in MCH and compared the MCH version with the stereo version that I really appreciated the huge difference in effect and experience MCH sound can provide.

[Flexx]

Welcome to this wonderful world. Everytime I hear/read similar experiences, it reconfirms the importance of marketing. I wish I persisted with my message, written over three years ago: "A Call For Hi-Res Marketing.".

So, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Let these new experiences open your ears and mind...

[lchiu7]

Originally Posted by Flexx

Welcome to this wonderful world. Everytime I hear/read similar experiences, it reconfirms the importance of marketing. I wish I persisted with my message, written over three years ago: "A Call For Hi-Res Marketing.".

So, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Let these new experiences open your ears and mind...

Well I have picked up 5 more titles including What's New (Linda Ronstadt), In the Zone (Britney Spears!), Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet/1st PC Carpenters Singles and Days of Future Passed. The last two are SACD so I am going to have to wait till my SACD player comes before I can enjoy them

[shugazer9]

You owe it to yourself to invest in a good, high quality, low cost set of separate components like Outlaw Audio if you want to hear MC at it's best.

[lchiu7]

Well the rest of my HT system is fine with a selection of Paradigm and Polk speakers. I just need to upgrade my receiver to one that has 6 channel analogue input (current receiver only has coaxial DD and RF DD inputs)

[shugazer9]

Iv got Polk towers all around and while a reciever would probably drive them OK, nothing can beat the clean power and dynamic range of outboard amps. I have an Outlaw 950 pre-pro and a Sherbourne 5-channel amp. If you do some careful shopping on a site like Audiogon you can put together a system for not much more than a good reciever.

[lchiu7]

Originally Posted by shugazer9

Iv got Polk towers all around and while a reciever would probably drive them OK, nothing can beat the clean power and dynamic range of outboard amps. I have an Outlaw 950 pre-pro and a Sherbourne 5-channel amp. If you do some careful shopping on a site like Audiogon you can put together a system for not much more than a good reciever.

I live in New Zealand so most of those options are not available to me. Still I doubt if I could hear or appreciate the difference between a good receiver and separates, not to say there wouldn't be.

But one thing separates would offer me that a receiver doesn't is the ability to tap into the signal before it hits the power amps. I have a pair of DBX Soundfield 10 speakers I bought some 14 years ago! I love the sound of them and their ability to create a stereo sound stage independent of where you are located. The problem is, they need active equalisation and with the current receivers available, there is no ability to patch in an equaliser since very few receivers have preamp out and mains in connections. WIth separates I would patch in my equaliser from the preamp out to the power amp.

[oblio98]

It's a shame that surround music did not get a fair shake the second time around by the labels and the retailers. The hardware folks did their part, but those guys really dropped the ball. How many 5.1 ready releases are not sitting on a shelf, abandonded by the labels? (Elton phase 2, Steely Dans, etc etc)

Glad you got into it while you can still find some stuff out there!

[CAVX]

Didn't think it was worth a whole new thread...

I have the Samsung HD 950. Whilst I am really getting into the HR and MC, I heard that maybe I'm not actually hearing my SACDs as DSD, but rather a PCM conversion. Is this true?

Mark

[lchiu7]

Originally Posted by CAVX

Didn't think it was worth a whole new thread...

I have the Samsung HD 950. Whilst I am really getting into the HR and MC, I heard that maybe I'm not actually hearing my SACDs as DSD, but rather a PCM conversion. Is this true?

Mark

I suspect if you hearing the MCH tracks from a SACD you are hearing the DSD to analogue conversion done in the player. I don't think the Samsung had the ability to output the DSD stream in digital.

How is the Samsung connected to the AVR?

[mrtanner]

Originally Posted by CAVX

I have the Samsung HD 950. Whilst I am really getting into the HR and MC, I heard that maybe I'm not actually hearing my SACDs as DSD, but rather a PCM conversion. Is this true?

Many, (most) universal players convert the SACD stream to PCM for purposes of performing bass management. So if you've got any of your speakers set to "small" or have cross-over points defined, your SACD's are probably being converted to PCM.

Just enjoy the music and incredible sound. Don't sweat what's going on that you can't hear.