DVD-A DownMixing, Related Pioneer DV-47A Qs (1 Viewer)

[Doug_B]

I'd like to understand more about how DVD-A titles are downmixed to stereo. Is there specific info on the disc supporting such downmixing, or is there a standard way of doing it? I would think the former given my understanding that some DVD-A titles don't support downmixing. What do you think the percentage of downmixing-enabled titles is? Does downmixing sound good?

Comments / Questions about the Pioneer DV-47A. Based on my perusal of its manual, it seems that most options are buried in the Setup menus, not what I would prefer. I noticed that there are ways in the Setup menu to specify using 2 channel for both SACD and DVD-A (looks like a separate means for SACD). Are these functions easy to get at or are they buried deep in the menu structure? Can macros be created on a remote to fully support changing these parameters, or are the keystrokes needed state-dependent (i.e., at the moment of changing values, dependent on the current value assigned, or if certain other parameters are or are not acessible at certain times, this can alter the effectiveness of a macro where you count cursor movements)?

Thanks.

Doug

 

[John Kotches]

Doug,
Might I suggest an article to read to understand more about how MLP can do "on the fly" fold-downs from multi-channel to stereo?
Link Removed
Most of the newer DVD-A discs are coming with dedicated stereo mixes.
Regards,

 

[StaceyS]

DVD-A downmixing is not like DD. The audio engineer has full control and will know exactly what the downmix sounds like. So, you can have a DVD-A with multichannel and 2-channel downmix and get exactly what you want.

There are a couple of things you can't do with downmix so some might include a real 2-channel mix. 99% of the time it is not needed, but included anyway for marketing reasons.

 

[KeithH]

Stacey said:

There are a couple of things you can't do with downmix so some might include a real 2-channel mix. 99% of the time it is not needed, but included anyway for marketing reasons.

I don't agree with this. Downmixing a 5.1-channel track to stereo often sounds artificial or lacking in one way or another. Dedicated two-channel tracks sound much better. Dedicated tracks have a better sense of space and layering. I don't agree that dedicated two-channel tracks are strictly included for marketing reasons. While it is true that inclusion of stereo tracks will help sell discs (to people like me), there is also a quality issue.