Universal DVD-Audio press release. (long) (1 Viewer)

[Lee Scoggins]

Certainly they have the DAC pieces in place in their latest products -- 861v3/v4 and 800v3 use Analog Devices 1853s, and 568.2MM/598DP use Analog Devices 1852s which are capable of 24bit/192K decoding.

Good then, we can play back some 192K work. Thanks for the info.

 

[John Kotches]

Unless US HQ has older active speakers, or some other brand of speakers, the best you'll hear is 192K downsampled to 96K.

Nevermind that the 96K is mind bogglingly good on their kit....

Regards,

 

[KeithH]

John said:

Nevermind that the 96K is mind bogglingly good on their kit....

You meant good as far as PCM goes, right? Just having fun with you.

 

[John Kotches]

Keith,

Yes -- but IMO PCM goes quite a long ways

Regards,

 

[Lee Scoggins]

John,

I will let you know how the listening session goes. One of my friends went and thought it was impressive.

 

[Joe Solek]

Boy, after reading this thread, I am longing for the days of my suitcase style stereo with the fold down turntable and swing out, detachable speakers. I thought it sounded great in grammer school! Very, very informative thread, even though my eyes glazed over a few times.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I heard the Benchmark DAC1...John Widescreen Review should review this one. It sounds to my ears as good as a $6-10K DAC, only its $850 and has volume control for direct input into the amp.

Check out my thread in Audio/Video sources.

 

[John Kotches]

Lee,

I've heard Ed's DAC setup a few times. It's a wonderful solution, great performance usually is also expensive.

I wish I had the opportunity to compare Accuphase's solution for SACD with the Meitner for two-channel. The times I've heard them they were in different systems and both were top notch. Somehow I doubt I'll have the opportunity to do a head to head comparison anytime soon.

Regards,

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I've heard Ed's DAC setup a few times. It's a wonderful solution, great performance usually is also expensive.

The problem with Ed is his high price tag and you need both the modified Philips for digital output and the DAC-6. It winds up being mucho bucks.

I think I have a better solution at $10K. Apparently many in the pro community find the Prism ADs that do DSD for $10K to sound a lot better than Meitner's gear. I am hoping to hear the Prism gear soon.

I have heard the Accuphase and was disappointed. I think the Meitner is considered much better.

You should review the Benchmark Media product for Widescreen Review for the following reasons:

1. It's cheap at $850 for a good external DAC.
2. It sounds awesome.
3. It is a good product for people with a large CD collection.
4. It can be used for Home Theater gear where an outboard DAC can be inserted.

 

[Paul.S]

Please chime in if you, despite last Monday's DVD-A announcement, pick up Shania's Up! SACD tomorrow (Tuesday the 12th).

In addition to being curious about what SACD might do for this album (its not particularly well-engineered IMO), I'm curious about whether both the green and red discs' contents have been "remastered" and, if so, how they will be presented and packaged on SACD (one disc or two?).

Paul

 

[Robert A. Willis Jr.]

[rant]Okay, I am still a bit perturbed about some of the new Universal releases. Why are they using 44/24 on the multichannel tracks and 96/24 on the two channel tracks on the same disk?[/rant]

 

[Lee Scoggins]

its not particularly well-engineered IMO

I like the Shania music but it seems real compressed to me - loud across the whole album and a bit unnatural.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

As a matter of fact, I believe that all but the Marvin Gaye disc were previously released as DTS 5.1 surround discs

According to Motown reissue producer Harry Weinger, the Marvin Gaye disc will be the exact same program (and same surround mixes) as presented on the DTS CD "Forever Yours".

Regards,

 

[Michael St. Clair]

So basically, the initial batch uses OLD MIXES/MASTERS. I have no problem with that (some SACDs have done the same thing but without disclosing it to us). But if people don't like the depth/rate of these discs, you really need to wait until the later rounds before criticizing Universal carte blanche.

 

[Robert A. Willis Jr.]

I guess the bottom line is whether or not these will sound good. If you have the Marvin Gaye (or insert your preferred title) DTS disk, will the new DVD-A sound significantly better?

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I guess the bottom line is whether or not these will sound good. If you have the Marvin Gaye (or insert your preferred title) DTS disk, will the new DVD-A sound significantly better?

It will be uncompressed PCM, so it should sound better than a compressed DTS track. If the mixes were created in the digital realm, it will probably be at whatever their native resolution is. If they were analog, it will probably be a 24 bit 96kHz MLP track.

Regards,

 

[Michael St. Clair]

The Gaye disc is currently listed as 44.1kHz/24-bit for the surround track. That may seem a bit odd for the original DTS mix, but stranger things have certainly happened.

The stereo mix is 24/96, so maybe we're getting a fresh remaster there.

 

[Steve Meskell]

Well if Crest presses the new Universal SACD's I will only buy the DVD-a counterparts.....

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The Gaye disc is currently listed as 44.1kHz/24-bit for the surround track. That may seem a bit odd for the original DTS mix, but stranger things have certainly happened.

The stereo mix is 24/96, so maybe we're getting a fresh remaster there.

Dollars to donuts that 24-bit 44.1 kHz was the native resolution of the original mixes that were compressed into DTS. Since there was no 2-channel version of this collection (it was a DTS CD exclusive), and the current Motown reissue folks almost always go back to the original tapes for new collections, the 24/96 stereo program should be an all new mastering/transfer of the stereo versions of these songs.

Regards,

 

[Robert A. Willis Jr.]

Well I'll get the Marvin Gaye album and put it through its paces. I can always give the DTS version to one of my daughters.

If it sounds good, I'll look at some of the other releases.