dvd audio (1 Viewer)

[Fred Norton]

I just recently aquired a dvd player that has hdcd and dvd audio cababilties. I've got some hdcd discs and they sound really good but have yet to buy any dvd audio discs. Am I going to be disappointed in the lack of bass or can I just crank up the sub a little more? Does it work that way?

 

[David Judah]

Alot will depend on your equipment(how low your mains go) and the way the disc was made(where the engineer put the LF info.). I've noticed a lack of bass on some songs on certain discs, but in general, I haven't been disappointed by the bass output on most DVD-A titles.

Is it perfect not having bass management on older DVD-A machines? No, but I think the deleterious effects have been exaggerated a bit(unless you have satellite speakers all the way around). At least, IMO. Most music doesn't have as much LF info. as DVD-Video to begin with, so we don't necessarily need to have the same expectations for bass management.

Time alignment is an issue that could be problematic in some rooms, but I am lucky in that regard, since my fronts and center are equidistant to the listening position, and my rears are only about 1.5 feet closer.

There are some new players coming out with beefier processing power that have bass management and delay settings, so it won't even be an issue for much longer, but if you have a player that doesn't possess those things, I would still recommend jumping into the format. DVD-A(and SACD for that matter)are good enough to make it worth your while.

DJ

 

[Rick_Brown]

Also, Fred, please note that in order to "decode" HDCD CD's, you must let the DVD do the DAC processing, i.e., listen via the stereo analog out jacks from your DVD, not the digital outputs.

 

[John Kotches]

Rick,

There are a few receivers and preamp/processors with the Pacific Microsonics HDCD filters installed for HDCD decoding.

Regards,

 

[KeithH]

David said:

Is it perfect not having bass management on older DVD-A machines? No, but I think the deleterious effects have been exaggerated a bit(unless you have satellite speakers all the way around). At least, IMO. Most music doesn't have as much LF info. as DVD-Video to begin with, so we don't necessarily need to have the same expectations for bass management.

I agree with you. I have a Technics DVD-A10 DVD-Audio player and use Energy e:XL 16 bookshelf speakers for my mains and surrounds (rated down to 50 Hz), and have not yet missed bass management. David Ranada wrote about the problems that would be encountered when using non-full-range speakers with DVD-Audio players in Sound & Vision last year, and most everyone ran with it. Like many, I was concerned by what Mr. Ranada said initially, but I bought the 'A10 shortly after the article was published and found the lack of bass management not to be problematic.