I've been looking at the Pioneer DV-563a combo player so I can try DVD-A and SACD. I have yet to hear either format so I started looking at what was available in the 2 formats. I noticed that alot of the DVD-A music has a sticker on it that says will play in any DVD player in 5.1. Some even say DTS. Does this mean I could be playing DVD-A in my current player even though it does not have 6 analog jacks on the back? If so I need to start buying some disk Any info would help.

Thanks Again
Lasher

DVD-Audio discs are often compatible with a standard DVD player, but at a lesser audio resolution -- some include a DTS track and most include a DD track. You can't listen to the DVD-A/MLP track without a DVD-Audio player, but in many cases you can still listen to the disc in a different format.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

What makes it have a "lesser audio resolution"? Do you mean to say that the intended DVD-A track is really 6 different tracks(read signals) that don't get prossesed by the player(or reciever/preamp) and the 5.1 DD and DTS are extras? Also how much less resolution? Don't mean to be a pest but I'm just curious how this new format really works and what's on these disk

Thanks Again
Lasher

Layman's take on the differences (for what it's worth): Dolby Digital and DTS are more heavily compressed than DVD-Audio, and are sampled at a lower data rate. Audio CD's are not compressed, but are at a lower sampling rate with only two channels. DVD-Audio uses a higher sampling rate (96KHz, 24 bit) and different (less) compression. That's why they need the DVD format rather than CD -- you can tuck an entire two-hour anamorphic movie at a high bit rate onto a DVD alongside a Dolby Digital and a DTS soundtrack, but DVD-Audio needs a lot more room.

Expert's take on it: Jim Taylor's DVD FAQ has a section (3.6.1, if the direct link doesn't quite work) dealing with the format of DVD-Audio and SACD.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

[This message has been edited by gonk (edited January 09, 2004).]

DVD-A uses a non-lossy compression, as does SACD, which means the compression ratio is only about a factor of 2. DD and DTS, and MP3, etc, use LOSSY (data is thrown out for good) compression and therefor have a much higher compression ratio and thusly do not sound as good as DVD-A or SACD but still sound fine for movies and such for most people.

Paul

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the 1derful1

Thanks for the info Outlaws!! I guess I'll just hold off till I get the new player. I'm still recovering from the x-mas money pinch I do have another question though. My Yamaha reciever does not have DVD-A/SACD connections or I should say they are not labled that way. I have six labeled external decoder. Can I just hook up the new player to those six jacks? My reciever is about 4-5 years old so the manual says noting about DVD-A/SACD connections. Any info would help out alot

Lasher

The six-channel "external decoder" input is exactly what you'd use for a DVD-Audio or SACD player.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Thanks Gonk, that's what I thought. Just wanted to be sure

Lasher

I have begun to purchase DVD-A discs before having the necessary player and I can tell that everyone who's compared the DD track to the original CD in my currently very modest setup (including my wife, who by her own admission doesn't care if we listen to a DVD movie on the TV vs HT) hears a considerable upgrade in sound quality. Bottom line, you don't have to wait to enjoy better sound. It'll just get even better when you do upgrade.

Well Outlaws I bought the new player a few days ago and man am I loving it I got a DV-563a open box for $159 and it is worth every penny! The player does everything and does it very well. I'm sure there are better players out there at five times the $$$ but I would be hard pressed to belive they give 5 times the performance for your hard earned dollar. The only complaint I have with the player(I already new about it before I bought it)is that you can still notice the layer change on DVDs. Other than that one flaw the Progressive Scan output is very clean. Way better than my 4 year old Toshiba non-progressive player. If anyone is considering this player I would highly recomend it. If the layer change bothers someone that bad then they probably already have a DVD player that does not do that. Just buy this one for DVD-A/SACD you can't go wrong for the price

Lasher