Howdy Fellow Outlaws...

I was curious if anyone has tried this new disc, and what they thought. Myself, I bought the Simple Plan album last night and am not all that happy. The news on this format says that they eliminated the problems with the thicker disc getting stuck in car players....well, they obviously didn't check my car player (standard jeep cd player). Also, when I put the darn disc in my DVD player at home to try to listen to the DVD-A music...I get no audio at all. I get all the video...but no audio. When I took it back to Best Buy (problem number one since they don't allow you to return anything), they put it in a DVD player at the desk and it worked...but I think they had it hooked up with some sort of RCA audio connection. I'm using optical connection, and analog 5.1's for my SACD listening. I couldnt' get any audio from either, and I tried two discs (I got them to exchange the first one).

Has anyone else experimented with this new format, and had any problems? Can anyone help me figure out why I can't get any audio? I wanted to see how this format compared to the likes of the SACD, and other DVD-A discs that I have.

Thanks guys!

Incog

I haven't picked any of them up yet. The idea just seems slightly half-baked to me. I'd rather see two-disc releases with a conventional CD and a DVD-Audio disc, or the increasingly common CD releases with separate DVD's. The weaknesses involved in DualDisc as far as I'm concerned are: single layer DVD side, no standard for media content on DVD side (ie it's not necessarily a DVD-Audio disc, although I think they will all include the full album in at least Dolby Digital), and no standard labeling to clearly identify what the DVD side content is. Toss in compatibility issues, and it doesn't help matters any...

From what I could find online, the DVD side should have the songs in Dolby Digital 5.1, so you should be able to get audio from both the optical output and the player's six-channel analog output (assuming that it has an internal Dolby Digital decoder, as pretty much all DVD-A, SACD, and universal players do). When you use the optical connection and initially start playing the DVD side, what does the right side of the 950's front panel display? (I'm curious about what the signal is showing up as - it should say Dolby D and 3/2.1 for the DD5.1 track.)

Hey Gonk...

Actually, the 950 doesn't report anything. I can set the surround mode to anything I want...and it doesn't switch to what it's actually recieving when the DVD starts. I tried the analog and normal Dolby Digital, and I got nothing. I don't know if it's just my player or not. I have that Universal Pioneer 563A (I think it is). It would seem odd that it wouldn't work with it. I was curiuos if it only works with digital coaxial or something. When I took back to Best Buy, they plopped it in their DVD player, and it worked fine...however, they had the DVD player hooked straight to a TV (so I assume they use the video and audio RCA cables). I'm going to try it in Nert's player one of these days to check (his is hooked up the same as mine). I have the new Denon player on the way too...so I'll have another player to try eventually here too. It just seemed very odd to me. The fact that it sticks in my car player while loading, and they claim that they had the disc thickness problem solved...really upsets me. Now, I can't take it back to Best Buy because of the CD side of the disc (they got us with this flip disc thing in that regard).

Coaxial and optical should make no difference at all, and the disc should automatically put the 950 into Dolby Digital mode. It sounds to me like a compatibility problem between player and disc - like the 563 isn't recognizing the disc's digital audio. Not an auspicious start for DualDisc, especially considering how well the 563 has sold.

If that's the problem....then you are certainly correct. I haven't ever had a problem like this with this player. In fact, it has performed quite nicely for me for all formats I have used. I only got the Denon because of the better (subjective) audio DACs and such. Also, it has the upconverter for High Def..which will hopefully be my next upgrade someday. The fact that I will be unable to return the disc bothers me now, because I look like a supporter of the format to those putting it out....I assume they will monitor the number of returned discs to see if the format is taking root or not. Bummer!

Hey gonk....

Well, I got my Denon 2910 last night and put that dual disc in and it worked. So, either I have something going out in my Pioneer to keep it from playing that particular disc...or it just doesn't work in the Pioneer player (563A, I think). Plus, I didn't think the DVD-A quality of this disc was nearly as good as dedicated DVD-A titles that I own. So...in my opinion....this new format isn't very good.

I would suspect a compatibility problem with at least all Pioneer 563's (probably not all Pioneer players in general). As for the sound quality, that's one of my beefs with the format - people assume that it is a DVD-Audio hybrid, but what you have in your hand is offering only Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, not the MLP format used by real DVD-Audio discs. I'm not surprised that it doesn't sound as good.

Just to clarify...you do have to use the 6ch analog connection to listen to it...but the quality just isn't there... So, back to SACD and DVD-A only discs...

You have to use the six-channel analog output? But everything I could find on that title said the album was in Dolby Digital 5.1 - it's almost as if they somehow mixed the DVD-Audio structure (which prevents digital output) with standard Dolby Digital audio compression. Pardon me while I scratch my head...

Yep...you read that correctly...on the Denon...I didn't get any sound from the disc until I used the 6ch setup like I do for SACD and DVD-A.

That might be why I thought the recording was muddy and muffled.

They didn't seem to plan this one out very well....

This will be the death of the Dual disc DVD-A/CD.

Well the flipper disc probably won't survive. Here's a consumer alert issued by Pioneer and Sony. Other players seem to have problems also but to date have not issued an advisory bulletin.

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/news/news.asp?newsnumber=10201663

Incog,
Check the link that MCH posted. Aparently there is a ROM update for your player as well.

Good Find....thanks MCH!