DVD-Audio
I was thinking about this the other day. Does dvd-a or any other multi cahnnel audio( movies not included) present a realistic sound stage? By realistic I mean exactly that. Does anyone ever find themselves in the miiddle of the stage at a concert or any venue for that matter. I am not saying that i don't think it's very cool, but to have drums playing behind you to the left(or right) and a sax playing on the opposite side does not strike me as real live music playback. I personally don't have a problem with ultra real sounding systems anyway, since I have rarely ever been front center at any concert or even at a local bar, so for me clarity, impact and tonality are much important. I was just curious as to other's opinions of this new technology.
Yankee
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,599
Well... this is a question of high fidelity, of faithfully reproducing the live event.
DVD-A can
SACD can
CD can
Records can
Cassettes can
Mono recordings cant but...
It really is the recording and the recording engineer that answers this question. Any media available in the last 40 years can do this well, I have some old Louis Armstrong recordings that blow away 95% of what I hear coming out now on jazz and classical labels for tonality imaging and staging.
Kimber Kable Iso-mike recordings do this in spades due to improved microphone techniques, I cannot recommend their sampler enough. This is not about voodoo this is very straight forward engineering.
www.kimber.com
DVD-A can
SACD can
CD can
Records can
Cassettes can
Mono recordings cant but...
It really is the recording and the recording engineer that answers this question. Any media available in the last 40 years can do this well, I have some old Louis Armstrong recordings that blow away 95% of what I hear coming out now on jazz and classical labels for tonality imaging and staging.
Kimber Kable Iso-mike recordings do this in spades due to improved microphone techniques, I cannot recommend their sampler enough. This is not about voodoo this is very straight forward engineering.
www.kimber.com
Guest
Posts: n/a
From the little bit of DVD-Audio I have listened to, I also see that it seems the engineers/artists seem determined to put you in the 'middle' of the band and force instruments out of rear speakers and such.
Average consumers may have loved this when AC-3 came out for video but I think if one is dropping large wad on DVD-A that they may be looking for better sound rather than circus tricks. I know I was.. [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]
Average consumers may have loved this when AC-3 came out for video but I think if one is dropping large wad on DVD-A that they may be looking for better sound rather than circus tricks. I know I was.. [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]
500 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 884
I think the engineers are still new at this format..... and still playing with the extra channels. like in the early days with recordings that they had vocalist in the left channel and instruments in the right to really stretch the seperation of two channels.... It was till later on that they decided to make the presentation of the recording as it was on stage.
Maybe artists will change the way they perform and set up instruments all over the place to give you six channels (or why not 20 channels) of sound at live events. Then, we won't be able to complain that it's unrealistic sound reproduction. Anyway, I've heard a few dvd-a discs on a good home system and I was impressed. The quality was very good, sound was different(not bad...just different)and it was pretty cool. I am definitely interested in it, and since i'm not a die hard audiophile, i'm sure i'll find something interesting in each recording.
I thought of something else. How about a system with 6 full range drivers up front( however you get them in their locations is another matter) and 6 dvd-a channels(one for each instrument as on stage in a live performance). That should mimic a live performance better than anything else we have presently, thoughts?
500 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 597
I run DVD-Audio in my car using the Pioneer AVH-P7600DVD. I've only purchased one DVD-Audio disc so far (Barenaked Ladies for $10) & found that it was only "OK". On the other hand, I have a Pioneer DVD-Audio demo disc that has a diverse selection of music (from Frank Zappa to Shedaisy to Insane Clown Posse) & what also seems to be different production methods that I really like.
I really believe in the multi-channel audio formats & in such a confined & quiet (usually) space as a vehicle, it really shows a tremendous difference.
[ October 17, 2005, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: Pioneer Guy ]
I really believe in the multi-channel audio formats & in such a confined & quiet (usually) space as a vehicle, it really shows a tremendous difference.
[ October 17, 2005, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: Pioneer Guy ]
Yankee
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,599
The Quadrophonic debacle of the 70's is proof that the gimmick recordings only have so much appeal to consumers. They were routinely panned in the press and it removed what little appeal the format had.
BTW a reminder avoid the dual disks (DVD and CD formats on one CD) they are audibly inferior to CDs and a step back to 8-track quality
THX did this correctly for movies, the format is tightly controlled and is to improve the movie experience, period.
BTW a reminder avoid the dual disks (DVD and CD formats on one CD) they are audibly inferior to CDs and a step back to 8-track quality
THX did this correctly for movies, the format is tightly controlled and is to improve the movie experience, period.
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,120
Dvd-Audio has a lot of potential for SQ....it can be recorded with much more inherent detail than a regular cd.
It's really up to the recording engineer as to how the presentation comes out, I agree with Dukk it would be preferred if they simply enchanced the recording instead of totally changing the placement of musicians from the "traditional in front of you stage" to "all around you surround".
There must be some well recorded traditional style DVD-Audio out there which takes full advantage of the format's ability to convey the extra sound quality its capable of.
I think DVD-Audio is still in it's infancy as people in the industry learn to work with it and experiment.
It's really up to the recording engineer as to how the presentation comes out, I agree with Dukk it would be preferred if they simply enchanced the recording instead of totally changing the placement of musicians from the "traditional in front of you stage" to "all around you surround".
There must be some well recorded traditional style DVD-Audio out there which takes full advantage of the format's ability to convey the extra sound quality its capable of.
I think DVD-Audio is still in it's infancy as people in the industry learn to work with it and experiment.
