New format? Revolutionary? What is it?

[mmilovan]

Really, someone tried this:

http://www.eximius.nl/dvdaudio.php

It sounds interesting, but is it DVDAudio in another form, accesible for DVD players (24bit, 96KHz PCM)...

Edited March 14, 2004 by mmilovan

[Claude]

As far as I know (I´m not a DVD expert) this is not new. 24bit/96kHz Audio is already available on DVDs currently.

Mostly on video DVDs (concerts, video clips), but there are also some audio-only DVDs available in that format:

- DAD discs by Classic Records, released in 1998

- The Bob Brookmeyer/Kenny Wheeler album Island contains a bonus DVD which has video footage, MP3 files, graphic files (the score) and the music content in 24bit/96kHz format.

The problem with this format, as with DVD-A, is that one needs a DVD player (or PC) to listen to the music, so one can´t play it in the car, on the bedroom system or a portable player. This can only be achieved with the new DVD-A DualDiscs, which contain a CD-compatible part, like hybrid SACDs.

[Jim Alfredson]

The other problem is that no one really makes a high-end DVD player that has great converters specifically for audio, do they?

[Claude]

There are more and more universal players or DVD players that also play SACD and have high quality audio converters. But most hifi fans still have a better sounding CD player than DVD player. That was also the reason why the DAD mentioned above wasn't successful.

[Sundog]

The other problem is that no one really makes a high-end DVD player that has great converters specifically for audio, do they?

Meridian makes a extrememly high end player that supports DVD-A. Also Denon makes a respectable player for 1/10 the price of the Meridian. I'm not sure the format is going to make it, however, those lucky enough to hear a truely top end presentation of DVD-A have nothing but good things to say.