Any Difference?

[poneal]

Can you hear the sound difference between AC3 or WMA versus DVD-A or SACD?

[Mike That Likes Music]

Can you hear the sound difference between AC3 or WMA versus DVD-A or SACD?

Upgrades of any kind, whether physically changing pieces of your system or a software upgrade, are dependent on your system's ability to react to those upgrades and how you "hear" (percieve) music. Some people may not hear any differences because they don't really know how to listen for them. That's not an insult to anyone. Your brain can be trained to listen for subtle aural differences, just like your muscles can learn to drive a car or a person who has been blinded can develop an enhanced sense of touch.
But the basic answer is yes. Most people, myself included, do hear a difference. But I'm a musician, so I may percieve sounds a bit differently. Either way, I think the difference isn't huge. The technological thinking is that you can cram a lot more information on a DVD-A or SACD, so the potential for better sound is there.
Mike

[poneal]

I think the most valid part of your statement was this:

"The technological thinking is that you can cram a lot more information on a DVD-A or SACD, so the potential for better sound is there."

Logically, this makes sense since more bits/bytes can be crammed onto a DVD which is in the gigabyte range than a CD which is in the megabyte range.

As for the listening... Did you notice better highs/lows or just a more natural sounding recording overall?

Thanks, Paul.

[Mike That Likes Music]

As for the listening... Did you notice better highs/lows or just a more natural sounding recording overall?

Thanks, Paul.

Paul,
I can't say that the highs were that much better in my system than with CD. Better, yes, but not on all recordings, and not by any great amount over CD. Again though, this is probably more dependent on my system than on the recordings themselves.
Bass I definitely heard an improvement in, across the board. The bass on most SACDs I own is much much clearer. For instance it's easier to tell the difference between a digitized, sampled kick drum beat vs. an actual drummer playing one. I'd say the bass on ALL of my hi-res recordings is actually quieter, but much more realistic.
Overall, I get a sense that I'm hearing much more of the recording than with most CDs. If you read enough professional reviews of any audio gear, you'll eventually come across someone saying something like "layers of gauze being removed from the sound". That's the sense I get from my hi-res discs. Not a huge improvement, but it's certainly there.
Mike

[mtrycraft]

... Your brain can be trained to listen for subtle aural differences,...Mike

Yes, but, the brain can alo fill in blank, empty data spaces or missing data, or no different data can be altered, without your permission or knowledge.
Maybe that is why DBT is used to find real answers?

[mtrycraft]

Can you hear the sound difference between AC3 or WMA versus DVD-A or SACD?

I am not sure what WMA is so no comment on it.

Now, finding recordings that were cut with these three with no modification to the original is difficult to find. How would one compare know without reliable material to compare?

AC3=DD can be very good if not impossible to differentiate, especially in consumer surroundings.

[poneal]

It's been a long time since I bought music but I was really impressed with the soundtrack from the Gothika movie (remix of the WHO). It was in DD and sounded great. Now I want more of that... Do they sell DD DVDs at music stores or is it still a novelty item? Put it this way, I was so impressed by that soundtrack, I actually want to go out and buy more. I haven't bought a CD in about 8 years because they all sound kinda, well crap_y, if you know what I mean. Of course to be fair, they may sound better than they did 8 years ago. But, that DD soundtrack makes me want to go and get more of that. Thanks, Paul.

[mtrycraft]

It's been a long time since I bought music but I was really impressed with the soundtrack from the Gothika movie (remix of the WHO). It was in DD and sounded great. Now I want more of that... Do they sell DD DVDs at music stores or is it still a novelty item? Put it this way, I was so impressed by that soundtrack, I actually want to go out and buy more. I haven't bought a CD in about 8 years because they all sound kinda, well crap_y, if you know what I mean. Of course to be fair, they may sound better than they did 8 years ago. But, that DD soundtrack makes me want to go and get more of that. Thanks, Paul.

Yes, a 5 channel presentation, DD, DVD-A, SACD can sound awsome, getting closer to reality
2 channels is just what you called it

[poneal]

Went out and bought The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over with DTS soundtrack along with the live performance. I'm hooked on this sh*t. The recording was just great. Its amazing how better the sound is when mixed in 6 channels. The surrounds actually sound like they should and the bass is more defined and pronounced. In DPL II the surrounds kinda sound fuzzy with static in them (not the most pleasant sound), BUT when mixed in 5.1 channels they are pristine clear and well, im impressed. I can actually say (and my wife too) that it was like being at a concert (not quite as good but darn close).

Has anyone noticed this big of an improvement when moving from DTS to SACD or DVD-A?

[mtrycraft]

Went out and bought The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over with DTS soundtrack along with the live performance. I'm hooked on this sh*t. The recording was just great. Its amazing how better the sound is when mixed in 6 channels. The surrounds actually sound like they should and the bass is more defined and pronounced. In DPL II the surrounds kinda sound fuzzy with static in them (not the most pleasant sound), BUT when mixed in 5.1 channels they are pristine clear and well, im impressed. I can actually say (and my wife too) that it was like being at a concert (not quite as good but darn close).

Has anyone noticed this big of an improvement when moving from DTS to SACD or DVD-A?

If it is indeed only a DTS player,
you should have bought a universal palyer that plays all the current formats with no significat price differential.

Yes, I heard others state the DPL II noise. Try just DPL if it has it?

At a concert the band doesn't pause for a pee break or a phone call, cost you an arm and a legg

[poneal]

Ya, bought this DVD about 1.5 years ago from a karaoke shop. It had two mic connections on the front (of course it only works when in analog mode). The manual says it doesn't play DVD-A. Although the DVD has onboard DACs, I use my receivers decoder and have it connected with RCA and optical cables. It's kind of a pain switching back and forth between analog/digital but I can live with it. I'm thinking of getting a universal player and just using the existing one as a karaoke machine. Someone posted about a panasonic universal player that cost like $150. That's a real good price--guess the prices are going down.