On DVD-Audio (and, through similar arguments, SACD)
Why? Why? Why?
DVD-Audio heralds the next generation of music, promising to obsolete CDs in a mere manner of years. Consumers want DVD-Audio. They need it. It's far superior to CD audio. This could be the next big thing.
All of these are paraphrases from things I remember reading. Now, this is a blog, so while I originally set out to set a level of objectivity and fairness to this post, I decided later that it was unecessary and against the spirit of the internet to do so. So, fair warning, everything you are about to read is opinion. By all means, research stuff on your own and tell me how wrong I am. However, get solid sources, not random web sites, or we’re still in the same place. Also, this is strongly driven by opinion, so don't ever confuse my brazen charges with actual expertise in this field.
That out of the way, what will DVD-Audio do for me that CDs haven't already done?
Upgrade: It's not really fair to call DVD-Audio an upgrade. Do I get to buy DVD-Audio albums of stuff I already own on CD...or tape...or record...at a discount? Think Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, now available on DVD-Audio. No credit for buying it previously. Of course, now it's digitally re-mastered (technically, at the very least, it's digitally re-re-mastered) so it’s different, which brings me to my next point...
Surround Sound: How can you go wrong with surround sound? Not to sound like a purist, but it's really easy...Use surround sound. These albums were composed and recorded for stereo performances. How does taking a two-channel disc and adding four more channels make it cool? Heck, most surround sound receivers will do that for you anyway from standard CD audio if you want. Now I got some shmuck sitting in an audio booth adding a few fading effects from front to back. Not impressed.
On another note, I did listen to a Linkin Park DVD-Audio, I believe it was Reanimation, and my friend who played it for me on his DVD-Audio player (more on that later) promised me the band re-did the tracks themselves. It was good. Very good. The artists came back and actually put in their artistic style. But that only affects (or is it effect? ARGH!) new music or music where the band is willing to recontribute. You want to put classical music in surround sound, to give a feeling of the concert hall? You're pretty much just introducing a delay in the rear channels. I'm certainly not paying for a delay. I can do that with my receiver as well.
DVD-Video Players: Rest assured, most DVD-Audio discs will play in current DVD-Video players. What they fail to tell you is that it's a separate DTS (or similar technology) track, not the DVD-Audio track that you paid all that money for, that plays. You don't get the full advantages of the DVD-Audio specification (again, more later), it’s actually CD quality or worse (but in surround sound) The only way to get the full DVD-Audio benefits is to actually shell out the money for a DVD-Audio deck. Otherwise, it's no better than loading a CD in and letting the receiver interpolate the surround sound.
Receiver: And God help you if you don't have a surround sound setup. You need a surround sound receiver. Fortunately, if you bought the DVD-Audio deck, you don't actually need the Dolby program (though I am remiss in looking for a surround receiver that doesn't have Dolby I do not know of any). The audio uses totally different technology. The downside here is that, since it's not Dolby (it's better), current receivers don't have the programming to break it down to analog for the speakers. So, the deck breaks it down to 6 channels and the receiver needs six channel input. Now, any receiver worth its salt has these inputs, but that has let DVD-Audio deck manufacturers get lazy and not put digital outputs in them. Will receiver decks ever get DVD-Audio programs? Most likely (see conclusion). So, to take advantage of that, you'd need to buy a new DVD-Audio deck as well, because your deck won't have digital out. Another problem: Some receivers will digitize the 6 channel input and then re-convert it to analog for the speakers. If your receiver does this, you instantly lose the benefits of DVD-Audio, because the receiver likely isn’t nearly as high quality.
Quality: Yes, the specification allows for better quality. But, it doesn't guarantee it. Check the chart here:
http://www.digitalaudioguide.com/faq/dvd-audio/faq_2.htm#What%20are%20the%20DVD-Audio%20Specifications?
Nowhere does it guarantee higher quality recording. In fact, it's quite possible (though highly unlikely) that you will actually get worse quality recordings than CD, but in six channels.
And, on another note, how many of us here can pick out the problems with CD Audio? I can't. CDs sound good enough for me pretty much all the time. And, yes, I've heard records on nice record decks...In the vast majority, CD is good enough. This is like memorizing pi to 100 digits and only using 6 to get to the moon. Yes, your 100 digit answer will technically be better than the current 6 digit answer...But the current answer is totally acceptable, and your answer does not improve the ability to do the job.
Car audio: Man, talk about a captive market. The early adpoters of DVD-Audio will most likely have some sort of custom sound system in their car. A common entry-level adjustment is a subwoofer, or set of subwoofers. So, we have four channels plus a powered sub. The only thing short in these installations is a center channel, and of all the speakers one might have to add it's by far the most convenient and least necessary.
Don’t have a sub? No problem…It’s another unnecessary channel to explicitly break out, though the experience is diminished, and it’s another convenient one to add if done properly.
So why aren't there DVD-Audio decks for cars? None exist that I have been able to find, and I have looked through all the common outlets.
Conclusion: DVD-Audio is a waste of time and poses no real threat to my CD collection. However, I think this bastard child of a technology (or one of its variants, like SACD) stands a good chance of getting a foothold. Why? Well, something will usurp CDs. That's pretty much a guarantee. Also, there's the "coolness" factor driving males (and the more testosteronely-adapted females). It's surround sound! I don't have to know anything about it, or how it's going to improve my life, but it's better than my friend's setup, so I need it. Also, there is the valid point that artists can actually start thinking in surround sound. That will open up the artistic side of the field to more creative opportunities. People will be pretty dissapointed when they go to concerts, though, because of the tremendous challenges that would exist in surrounding an arena, so surround sound discs will still be in the realm of art, not practical reproduction of performances.
Practically, I'll probably keep my CDs around and in the years coming, start collecting new stuff I want in surround when the dominant technology takes hold. However, I'm not ditching my CDs for DVDs like I did when tapes and CDs went head to head. And I'm most certainly not going to support bastardizaitons of classics, like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in surround. It's stereo! That's the way the creative talent made it, and that's that.
DVD-Audio heralds the next generation of music, promising to obsolete CDs in a mere manner of years. Consumers want DVD-Audio. They need it. It's far superior to CD audio. This could be the next big thing.
All of these are paraphrases from things I remember reading. Now, this is a blog, so while I originally set out to set a level of objectivity and fairness to this post, I decided later that it was unecessary and against the spirit of the internet to do so. So, fair warning, everything you are about to read is opinion. By all means, research stuff on your own and tell me how wrong I am. However, get solid sources, not random web sites, or we’re still in the same place. Also, this is strongly driven by opinion, so don't ever confuse my brazen charges with actual expertise in this field.
That out of the way, what will DVD-Audio do for me that CDs haven't already done?
Upgrade: It's not really fair to call DVD-Audio an upgrade. Do I get to buy DVD-Audio albums of stuff I already own on CD...or tape...or record...at a discount? Think Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, now available on DVD-Audio. No credit for buying it previously. Of course, now it's digitally re-mastered (technically, at the very least, it's digitally re-re-mastered) so it’s different, which brings me to my next point...
Surround Sound: How can you go wrong with surround sound? Not to sound like a purist, but it's really easy...Use surround sound. These albums were composed and recorded for stereo performances. How does taking a two-channel disc and adding four more channels make it cool? Heck, most surround sound receivers will do that for you anyway from standard CD audio if you want. Now I got some shmuck sitting in an audio booth adding a few fading effects from front to back. Not impressed.
On another note, I did listen to a Linkin Park DVD-Audio, I believe it was Reanimation, and my friend who played it for me on his DVD-Audio player (more on that later) promised me the band re-did the tracks themselves. It was good. Very good. The artists came back and actually put in their artistic style. But that only affects (or is it effect? ARGH!) new music or music where the band is willing to recontribute. You want to put classical music in surround sound, to give a feeling of the concert hall? You're pretty much just introducing a delay in the rear channels. I'm certainly not paying for a delay. I can do that with my receiver as well.
DVD-Video Players: Rest assured, most DVD-Audio discs will play in current DVD-Video players. What they fail to tell you is that it's a separate DTS (or similar technology) track, not the DVD-Audio track that you paid all that money for, that plays. You don't get the full advantages of the DVD-Audio specification (again, more later), it’s actually CD quality or worse (but in surround sound) The only way to get the full DVD-Audio benefits is to actually shell out the money for a DVD-Audio deck. Otherwise, it's no better than loading a CD in and letting the receiver interpolate the surround sound.
Receiver: And God help you if you don't have a surround sound setup. You need a surround sound receiver. Fortunately, if you bought the DVD-Audio deck, you don't actually need the Dolby program (though I am remiss in looking for a surround receiver that doesn't have Dolby I do not know of any). The audio uses totally different technology. The downside here is that, since it's not Dolby (it's better), current receivers don't have the programming to break it down to analog for the speakers. So, the deck breaks it down to 6 channels and the receiver needs six channel input. Now, any receiver worth its salt has these inputs, but that has let DVD-Audio deck manufacturers get lazy and not put digital outputs in them. Will receiver decks ever get DVD-Audio programs? Most likely (see conclusion). So, to take advantage of that, you'd need to buy a new DVD-Audio deck as well, because your deck won't have digital out. Another problem: Some receivers will digitize the 6 channel input and then re-convert it to analog for the speakers. If your receiver does this, you instantly lose the benefits of DVD-Audio, because the receiver likely isn’t nearly as high quality.
Quality: Yes, the specification allows for better quality. But, it doesn't guarantee it. Check the chart here:
http://www.digitalaudioguide.com/faq/dvd-audio/faq_2.htm#What%20are%20the%20DVD-Audio%20Specifications?
Nowhere does it guarantee higher quality recording. In fact, it's quite possible (though highly unlikely) that you will actually get worse quality recordings than CD, but in six channels.
And, on another note, how many of us here can pick out the problems with CD Audio? I can't. CDs sound good enough for me pretty much all the time. And, yes, I've heard records on nice record decks...In the vast majority, CD is good enough. This is like memorizing pi to 100 digits and only using 6 to get to the moon. Yes, your 100 digit answer will technically be better than the current 6 digit answer...But the current answer is totally acceptable, and your answer does not improve the ability to do the job.
Car audio: Man, talk about a captive market. The early adpoters of DVD-Audio will most likely have some sort of custom sound system in their car. A common entry-level adjustment is a subwoofer, or set of subwoofers. So, we have four channels plus a powered sub. The only thing short in these installations is a center channel, and of all the speakers one might have to add it's by far the most convenient and least necessary.
Don’t have a sub? No problem…It’s another unnecessary channel to explicitly break out, though the experience is diminished, and it’s another convenient one to add if done properly.
So why aren't there DVD-Audio decks for cars? None exist that I have been able to find, and I have looked through all the common outlets.
Conclusion: DVD-Audio is a waste of time and poses no real threat to my CD collection. However, I think this bastard child of a technology (or one of its variants, like SACD) stands a good chance of getting a foothold. Why? Well, something will usurp CDs. That's pretty much a guarantee. Also, there's the "coolness" factor driving males (and the more testosteronely-adapted females). It's surround sound! I don't have to know anything about it, or how it's going to improve my life, but it's better than my friend's setup, so I need it. Also, there is the valid point that artists can actually start thinking in surround sound. That will open up the artistic side of the field to more creative opportunities. People will be pretty dissapointed when they go to concerts, though, because of the tremendous challenges that would exist in surrounding an arena, so surround sound discs will still be in the realm of art, not practical reproduction of performances.
Practically, I'll probably keep my CDs around and in the years coming, start collecting new stuff I want in surround when the dominant technology takes hold. However, I'm not ditching my CDs for DVDs like I did when tapes and CDs went head to head. And I'm most certainly not going to support bastardizaitons of classics, like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in surround. It's stereo! That's the way the creative talent made it, and that's that.