A real reason to get enthused about HD discs (1 Viewer)

[Bob_L]

No need to go crazy in Irvine, Jeff. I've ALSO observed that the audio tracks on HD DVD tend to be quieter than SD. (It's conceivable that it might have something to do with a slightly increased dynamic range.)

I don't think cranking up the volume a bit for them is out of the ordinary. Just boost the dial and enjoy.

On the other hand, maybe this IS something that only happens in SoCal and we ARE crazy.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

"Just boost the dial and enjoy. "

Well, that's exactly the problem. When I boost the dial to get HD DVD to listenable levels, it introduces that ambient 'buzz' to the speakers, so that the HD DVD actually sounds worse than the SD DVD.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

You're absolutely right, I just associate the L/R audio out with 'composite', since they're always located next to the composite video out, and the Red/White/Yellow cables always come as one set.

I'm also aware that the HDMI and Optical Bitstream/PCM settings shouldn't affect the L/R audio out, but I remember reading in another thread somewhere that people were having volume level changes in their HDMI audio, when they changed the Optical settings in the setup menu (which shouldn't make sense). I just thought I would try it to see what happens.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Agreed.

Just remebering how much better, in general that my 16/44.1 2.0 LPCM on laserdisc sounds compared to the compressed audio on DVD, it's not hard for me to imagine.

I don't yet have full lossless going in my system for HD media (no HDMI on my receiver) but that will be corrected as soon as HDMI 1.3 gear becomes available. I've heard lossless decoding in other systems and it always sounds so much better to my ears than the compressed streams we've lived with for so long.

BTW, several years ago "Healthnut" from AVS decided to send in a petition to the studios (Warner and Sony) working on the then "future" HD platform... and we co-wrote the document and were VERY INSISTANT that the specs for HD media include a provision for lossless, high-resolution audio. We also insisted that HD media encode films in native 1080p24 form which at the time wasn't even an industry-supported spec.

Widescreen Review published that document and pushed for lossless/high-res audio as well to keep the momentum with the studios. At the time most groups scoffed at us and said that the studios would never listen, that the lossless audio on DVD as "as good as we'd ever get" and that 1080i was all we could ever hope for because 1080p displays would never be affordable to the masses.

Well, we got exactly what we asked for.

You see, sometimes a few dedicated audophiles/videophiles can make a difference.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

I, for one, am glad to see audio on the HD disc formats as a step forward, rather than a step back, from the LaserDisc. The MUSE high-definition LD format included the standard LD Redbook audio tracks, as well as the MUSE embedded audio, a 2- or 4-channel nonlinear PCM (the data rate was reduced via differencing and companding, with some reduction in audio quality from LPCM). 16-48, 24-48, and higher resolution multichannel lossless or PCM audio on the small HD formats is a definite improvement, unlike the "sidestep" of stereo PCM to 5.1 AC-3 going from NTSC LD to SD DVD, or the backward step of 192 kbps DD 2.0.