Brian-W
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 1,149
Nah, not another flame war...yet.
But I noticed that practically all DVD-A discs have a 5.1 mix (96KHz, not the default AC-3 track), while SACD is heavily weighted in the 2-channel arena.
Sure, a lot of DVD-A discs have the ultra high-rez 192KHz 2-channel, and there are quite a few SACD Multi-channel releases, but my impression is DVD-A dominates the 5.1 arena and SACD the 2-channel arena for now.
Why am I bringing this up? I'm curious about a few things which I've noticed lately.
Multi-Channel DVD-A vs. Multi-Channel SACD
Nope, not which is better. But I've noticed that multi-channel DVD-A discs tend to use most if not all the speakers. Foreigner and Eagles tend to use the fronts and the surrounds, and the mixing seems to be extreme (not good or bad, just an observation.
SACD multi-channel mixes like Billy Joel, Aerosmiths Greatest Hits tend to still sound like stereo mixes, using the surrounds and even the center channel for ambient noise rather than placing singers voices or specific instruments in one speaker vs. another.
In other words, SACDs in my opinion tend to be very conservatively mixed in multi-channel, while DVD-A is radically mixed in multi-channel configurations. No, I'm not claiming one is better than the other. But with my collection of both formats, it's interesting to me the 'philosophies' of mixing that go into each format.
Additionally I notice that on both formats, often it's the original recording engineer for the intial recordings that does the new upgraded mixes. I don't know if it's coincidental that most SACD multi-channel mixes are conservative while DVD-A tend to be aggressive.
I like both, and would default to wanting a stereo mix as opposed to a gimmicky multi-channel mix (the one a lot of audiphiles fear: vocals out of one speaker, drums out of a rear speaker, etc. etc.)
DVD-A 2 channel vs. SACD 2-channel
Again, I've got a variety of listening set-ups, but what I'm going to write is more subjective than quantitative.
In listening to the 192KHz 2-channel mixes vs. SACD 96KHz mixes, SACD sounds smoother, warmer, and more detailed. DVD-A sounds muddy and collapsed (like the 5.1 mix was just collapsed to a 2-channel mix). It's hard to give accurate assessments without identical material. The only thing I own that is on both formats is Foreigners "Waiting for a Girl Like you" on the Foreigner 4 DVD-A disc and on the SACD Footloose soundtrack. To me they do not sound identical. Different mix or mastering? Possibly. But the SACD sounds warmer and more detailed than the DVD-A.
Conclusions
Nope, this isn't a format flame thread, just some observations. To me the DVD-A 5.1 tracks sound cleaner and far more detailed than the 2-channel tracks. But 2-channel on SACD sounds warmer and cleaner than 2-channel DVD-A.
But what prompted me to even post this as a discussion here was the multi-channel mixing on DVD-A and to a degree, lack thereof on SACD (on multi-channel listed mixes) and the use of all the speakers.
But I noticed that practically all DVD-A discs have a 5.1 mix (96KHz, not the default AC-3 track), while SACD is heavily weighted in the 2-channel arena.
Sure, a lot of DVD-A discs have the ultra high-rez 192KHz 2-channel, and there are quite a few SACD Multi-channel releases, but my impression is DVD-A dominates the 5.1 arena and SACD the 2-channel arena for now.
Why am I bringing this up? I'm curious about a few things which I've noticed lately.
Multi-Channel DVD-A vs. Multi-Channel SACD
Nope, not which is better. But I've noticed that multi-channel DVD-A discs tend to use most if not all the speakers. Foreigner and Eagles tend to use the fronts and the surrounds, and the mixing seems to be extreme (not good or bad, just an observation.
SACD multi-channel mixes like Billy Joel, Aerosmiths Greatest Hits tend to still sound like stereo mixes, using the surrounds and even the center channel for ambient noise rather than placing singers voices or specific instruments in one speaker vs. another.
In other words, SACDs in my opinion tend to be very conservatively mixed in multi-channel, while DVD-A is radically mixed in multi-channel configurations. No, I'm not claiming one is better than the other. But with my collection of both formats, it's interesting to me the 'philosophies' of mixing that go into each format.
Additionally I notice that on both formats, often it's the original recording engineer for the intial recordings that does the new upgraded mixes. I don't know if it's coincidental that most SACD multi-channel mixes are conservative while DVD-A tend to be aggressive.
I like both, and would default to wanting a stereo mix as opposed to a gimmicky multi-channel mix (the one a lot of audiphiles fear: vocals out of one speaker, drums out of a rear speaker, etc. etc.)
DVD-A 2 channel vs. SACD 2-channel
Again, I've got a variety of listening set-ups, but what I'm going to write is more subjective than quantitative.
In listening to the 192KHz 2-channel mixes vs. SACD 96KHz mixes, SACD sounds smoother, warmer, and more detailed. DVD-A sounds muddy and collapsed (like the 5.1 mix was just collapsed to a 2-channel mix). It's hard to give accurate assessments without identical material. The only thing I own that is on both formats is Foreigners "Waiting for a Girl Like you" on the Foreigner 4 DVD-A disc and on the SACD Footloose soundtrack. To me they do not sound identical. Different mix or mastering? Possibly. But the SACD sounds warmer and more detailed than the DVD-A.
Conclusions
Nope, this isn't a format flame thread, just some observations. To me the DVD-A 5.1 tracks sound cleaner and far more detailed than the 2-channel tracks. But 2-channel on SACD sounds warmer and cleaner than 2-channel DVD-A.
But what prompted me to even post this as a discussion here was the multi-channel mixing on DVD-A and to a degree, lack thereof on SACD (on multi-channel listed mixes) and the use of all the speakers.