What do I need to be able to play back DVD-Audio Discs on my PC? 1

[Ploper001]

Hi, this is a bit off topic, but I couldn't think of any better place to put this thread...

Basically, I'm interested in trying out DVD-Audio, but obviously I don't want to buy an expensive stand alone player. I spent a long time searching for info on this, but I could only find snippets on information from random forums. Essentially I have 2 questions:

1) Is there anywhere that I can download comparison wave files in both CD (44.1KHz, 16-Bit) and DVD-Audio (96/192KHz, 24-Bit) formats? I have a 24-Bit Soundcard but I have no idea where to find 24-bit audio files to actually see the difference or test it!

2) What exactly do I need to be able to playback uncompressed, full quality DVD-Audio on my PC? (i.e. not just the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track on the DVD-Audio Disc - I want the proper 96/192KHz, 24-Bit, Meridian Lossless Packing or uncompressed audio track). So far I have:

- A 24-Bit Soundcard
- A DVD+RW DL Drive
- Analogue 2.1 Stereo Speakers

I can't find any information on the codecs needed, but I think WinDVD has the ability to playback DVD-Audio - I can buy this, but is there anything else I would need??


I appreciate that many people here probably won't be able to help me, but I thought I'd ask.

 

[paparazi]

I'm no audiophile but I'm fairly certain those anologue 2.1's are going to be your main downfall.
They simply won't give you the quality of output you require to tell the difference.
Martin



We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[Ploper001]

Well they're the best 2.1 speakers I've heard - and you can't buy 2.1 speakers with digital input as far as I can tell. Remember, while 5.1 is the DVD-Audio standard, they all fully support stereo, so I don't see why I wouldn't tell the difference.

Besides, this is all about TESTING if there is a difference. If I only need some cheap software, then I'll just buy a random DVD-Audio disc and the software, and try it.

 

[cdogg]

Ploper001,
Think of it this way. In a 5.1 Dolby Digital home theatre system, every speaker is needed to get the full effect. Each speaker is receiving a distinct channel of sound (with the exception of the sub). You could use a 2.1 configuration, since stereo is fully-supported in Dolby Digital as well, but you "know" it's not going to give you the same surround effect. Well that's all paparazi was trying to say.

Now with DVD-Audio, you're still going to notice a difference in the level of quality - even on a 2.1 system - because the audio format used in DVD-Audio contains more information than the CDA format on a CD. The difference, though, would still be a few notches better in a 5.1 environment.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[Ploper001]

Oh I know - I don't mind about not having surround sound, it's only a laptop after all. I have bought a DVD-Audio disc (mainly because I wanted to buy the album anyway and I found it cheaper as a DVD-Audio on 101cd.com than it was as a CD on Play.com and Amazon.co.uk) and will be testing it next week when it arrives.

However, after even more research (this is a hard subject to find specific info on surprisingly), it seems that while any DVD-ROM or DVD-Player will be able to play the 16-Bit/48KHz Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on every DVD-Audio, you need a specialised and approved sound card to play back the actual DVD-Audio layer (24-Bit/96KHz 5.1 and 24-Bit/192KHz Stereo) - and currently only Audigy 2s and Audigy 4s can do this for some reason.

And even more annoying is that I cannot buy one because their mobile version (Audigy 2 ZS Notebook) is a PC Card, and my laptop only has the newer ExpressCard slot. It looks like there are NO sound cards for ExpressCard yet, let alone Audigy ones.


Oh well, it seems I can still play back the DVD-Audio at slightly-better-than-CD-Quality using the DVD-Video zone, at least until Creative make an ExpressCard Audigy! Luckily a friend of mine HAS an Audigy 2 so I can at least test out the High Fidelity audio on his system to see how good it sounds

 

[LawnBoy]

It's good to see someone who cares about digital audio quality. I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought mp3 and even CD audio quality sucks.

And it appears as though the industry is getting the message too. This is good news for us "old-school" audiophiles.

Thanks for brightening my day a bit.

 

[Ploper001]

lol, that's OK

It's just annoying that even though I have a 24-Bit Sound Card, I can't really use it, at least not to play back 24-Bit DVD-Audio, just because it isn't an Audigy 2+ <_<

 

[BadBigBen]

see:

http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=244&subcategory=249&product=9103

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[Ploper001]

Unfortunately that sound card doesn't support the 24-Bit/192KHz Stereo that I want to use with DVD-Audio.

Also, I can't find it for sale on any UK websites that I use, and another problem is I'm already using 3/4 of my USB ports and am also using a lot of my total USB bandwitdh for my external HDD, so I really would prefer an internal solution.

 

[BadBigBen]

Prolly is going to be hard to find a 24bit/192kHz audio card... best I've found where the 24bit/96kHz cards (til now)...

like:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...0&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11140&v=2#infoarea

The above FireWire Soundcard is listed at a SamplingRate of 192kHz by the Manufacturer (

http://www.terratec.de)

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[Ploper001]

Well an update for those who perhaps want the same answers I did.

I finally went home for this weekend and thus have got my DVD-Audio. I fired it up in PowerDVD, and it reported to be playing in Meridian Lossless Packing PCM @ 24-Bit/96kHz. I haven't got time right now to properly listen to it, but it should be good

So it seems SigmaTel HD Audio chips can indeed play DVD-Audio discs. Perhaps any 24-Bit/96kHz chips can, but obviously I cannot be sure.

 

[LawnBoy]

Thanks for the update.