Burn DVD-A to CD? (1 Viewer)

[PaulDF]

I'll admit, I haven't tried this yet, but is it possible to copy tracks from a DVD-A disc to a regular CD?

Assumably they would have to be 2 channel stereo tracks. I am starting to collect DVD-A discs, but would also like to play their content somewhere other than my home theatre room.

Anyone else do this?

 

[RobBenton]

I do it by putting it in my DVD drive on my computer and ripping the DD to wave files. This is of course lower quality but the only way I know of to do it currently. You can then burn the wavs to CD.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Well, you can record analog. Some DVD players will send out a 48KHz 16 bit stream from their digital out when playing stereo DVD-A.

 

[John Kotches]

Watch your sampling rates.

Typically DVD-Audio is delivered in multiples of 48k (48/96/192K) and the clean math is for multiples of CDs 44.1K (44.1/88.2/176.4K)

So if you are doing a digital copy, you have to do a sample rate conversion as well.

Regards,

 

[KrisM]

I do this with SACDs on a home CD recorder. I have to use the analog outs but I have been pleased with the results.

Regards
KrisM

 

[PaulDF]

Thanks for all the info guys. Maybe I should have stated that I'll be trying this on my home computer which has a DVD drive and a separate burner. Converting to WAV files looks like one way to do it. But, I cannot seem to locate individual track files off any DVDs.
I have tried to convert files to WAV before with no success, if a download is needed, where and what is best?

I'm sure if I had a home CD recorder it would be much easier to copy with, but I have to use what I've got.

 

[RobBenton]

well what you can do is just record one big wav file and break it up in a wav editor .. it is not that hard to do.

 

[PaulDF]

Okay

I downloaded a program to convert my DVD audio to wav. I don't think the file type on the DVD (cda?) is supported by my program. It just won't take it.

I know very little about file types and really have only a basic knowledge of computers. I have burned CDs and learn as I go. If I had the right program to convert and record the audio files from DVD to CD, I'm sure I could figure it out.

Problem is, there are soo many programs available to download, how do I know which to use? None of them list anything about DVD or multichannel audio. Except of course DVD copy programs, but I don't have a DVD burner, and thats not what I want to do anyway.

Rob, what program do you use? Anyone else know what program is best for this?

Thanks

 

[RobBenton]

Music on dvd is usually DD5.1 or DTS but some are in pcm (the same format as cd's) What you can do it just use a dvd playing program to play back the dvd and open up a wav program and hit play on the dvd software and record on the wav program and then stop the wav program when the dvd is finished playing and edit the wav to the individual tracks and then burn it to CD. It won't be the most ideal quality but will be pretty good.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Paul, you're not going to be able to rip WAV files from the DVD-Audio disc, even with a DVD-ROM and software. There's only one program that can even play DVD-Audio on PCs, and definitely none that are made to hack WAV files out of it.

You're going to have to play the DVD-Audio on a DVD-Audio machine and somehow record the sound real-time. The most useful way is to send the analog L/R out into the LINE IN on your sound card. Your recording will only be as good as the A/D conversion of your sound card, which believe me, unless you have a pro quality sound card, is dreadful.

I use a very good MiniDisc recorder as an outboard A/D converter and send the digital signal to my computer. (BTW Mr. Kotches, the MD recorder has a high quality sample rate converter built in for digital recording from DVD PCM. Works great!) I use this technique for all analog sources, and the results are excellent.

 

[Rick_Brown]

I agree with everything Philip said, except when he says that the sound will be "dreadful" unless you have a pro quality sound card. I believe that you will be pleased with the A/D conversion of a good consumer card like Creative Labs Platinum or Audigy series. I know that I am.

 

[MarkHastings]

I don't think the file type on the DVD (cda?) is supported by my program

cda files are only references (like computer aliases) to the digital info on a disc. If you noticed, cda files are only a few kilobytes. You can't convert cda files, you just need a program that uses those reference files to get at the digital info on the disc.

Again, think of them like computer aliases. If you made an alias to an MP3, and you double clicked the alias, the song would open and play. But if you opened that alias into a wav editor, you would either get nothing or an error due to the fact that you are only opening the alias.

 

[PaulDF]

Well, none of my media programs will let me record anything off my DVDs. CDs yes, but not DVDs. The only line in on my sound card (that I know of) is for the microphone. Its just the basic sound card that came with our DELL, nothing fancy. Surely I'm not going to plug in a bunch of adaptors to hook my sound card to my DVD player? Besides, my computer is two floors up from my home theater.

Thanks for the help guys, but I guess I'll have to find another way around this.

 

[RobBenton]

Here is the deal. All dvd-a disc contain DD5.1 tracks. If you play the dvd-a disc in dvd software it will play a stereo version of the DD5.1 track and you can record that in a wave file. While this is not exact CD quality it is very close and probably the easiest way to do it.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Here is the deal. All dvd-a disc contain DD5.1 tracks. If you play the dvd-a disc in dvd software it will play a stereo version of the DD5.1 track and you can record that in a wave file. While this is not exact CD quality it is very close and probably the easiest way to do it.

Actually that's not the deal at all. Most DVD-A discs have a high resolution stereo track as well as 5.1 tracks. These can be copied analog and sometimes digital to make a great sounding CD.

The DD fold-down to stereo sounds significantly inferior to CD. More like a bad MP3.

 

[RobBenton]

actually i have done it and no its not that bad.. better then mp3 but not as good as CD (But close) I have picky ears too.

 

[PaulDF]

Thats what I've been trying to do... I play a DVD (audio & video) on my computer's DVD drive, using the couple of media players I have already on my computer. Then at the same time, I try to record it using whatever recording media I have. I've downloaded Goldwave, so I have it and a sound recorder that must have came already installed on here.

This seems to be the very way Rob does it. No external hookups, just very simple. It would be if it worked, and I can't quite understand if it should or not. Quality aside, I just can't record the way I'm doing it.

So if it will help for me to download a different player or recorder or both, thats fine because what I have doesn't seem to work. Unless I misunderstood what Rob has explained (a few times now), he (you) must have different software.

 

[RobBenton]

Do you hear it play back through your speakers? If not just play the dvd through a regular software dvd playing program. IF you already can hear the music then you need to make sure your soundcard has a "record what you hear" option wich pretty much lets you record whatever you hear thru your speakers. There is usually a setting in your audio software.. if it doesnt then you need to download a program which does this and there are a few shareware ones that do.

 

[Philip Hamm]

The "record what you hear" setting is also known as "loopback", look for that in your windows multimedia mixer on "record" mode. Don't expect great results.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Total Recorder intercepts the PCM on the way to the soundcard and sounds fantastic.

Both PCs and DVD players convert everything to PCM before it hits the DAC. Intercepted properly, it will sound no worse than using a digital interconnect between two components.

Only record stereo to stereo; downmixing is evil.