[JohnR]

Was just wondering where the experienced folks stand on this. I'm talking about the inherent quality of the sound available on DVDs.

[low.pfile]

John,
just to confirm...you are asking about DVD music vs. CD music. DVD music would be live concert DVDs I guess.  I wouldn't compare soundtrack audio to CD audio since there is other sounds in movies.

I only have one live concert DVD (New Order) and it sounds fine. Not a great recording but many live recordings of music I listen to are far from optimal. Also my DVD goes through my Denon AVR's DAC while my CD goes through the external DAC.

ed

[Bob in St. Louis]

I've got Blue Man Group "AUDIO" on DVD-A and find it spectacular. VERY good!  aa
It's one of my reference DVD's I show when a guest at my house wants to see the "the whole shebang" (Home theater, big screen, surround sound, subwoofers etc....).




I also have KODO "One Earth Tour" on DVD/CD combo pack (not DVD-'A' if I recall), and it's pretty good. The DVD was a live recording of a performance in what sounds like an auditorium with some acoustic problems. The CD that came with it sounds the same. Overall the SQ is "pretty good", but suffers from the setting, not the media. (IMHO)



I've got a couple others but they pretty well suck.
I payed way too much for some "special edition" Dream Theater DVD and it really sucks, but I'd say it's a case of crappy mastering. It's been a while since I've watched it. At the time, I couldn't press 'next chapter' fast enough to get to the end. I got ganked on that one. A cheap attempt at surround sound and a poor recording.
$30 for a DVD.....right in the toilet.

I do have a copy of Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon". This one is SUPER cool. It's the Alan Parsons remix for surround sound DVD-A. The SQ is perfect, I have no complaints. Hearing the songs Time and Money in surround DVD-A quality is superb, VERY happy with this one.
Also have "PULSE", but it's been to long. For a recording of a live outdoor rock concert, I remember it being pretty good. (IIRC of course).

Bob

[TheChairGuy]

Bob, we really do need to get you into a turntable....DVD-A is indeed good (and better than DVD due to the addition of MLP/Meridian Lossless Packing). DVD is generally better than any equivalent CD, too (I have the Blue Man Group DVD-A and it is indeed AMAZING)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridian_Lossless_Packing

But, once you dial in a turntable right and hear Dark Side of the Moon you ain't likely gonna go back to digital for anything but convenience.  You'll wanna' sit back and light up a big phat spleef and enjoy it as you did 20 years ago 

Ditto for you, too, John-o (for Organized now  )

Seriously - it ain't nostalgia in the least - vinyl is just better once you dial in 90% of the right stuff (which is amazingly frustrating to get to, frankly)

John

[JohnR]

Oh, I meant the quality of the sound on movie soundtracks.

[TheChairGuy]

Ohhh John-o, once you get organized enough to find space for a turntable in your abode, I'ma gonna' getcha into turntablism (again - I suspect)

[Bob in St. Louis]

Bob, we really do need to get you into a turntable....

I have two actually John. An AR-XA, and a Garrard.
Sometimes I even plug them in just to watch them spin.
As a temporary solution, I was given one of those $15 solid state preamps by the guy I got my first TT from several months ago just so I could get things going. But it was as old as I am, hadn't been used in twenty years, and didn't work anyway. So I've never heard vinyl in my room. Bottom line: I don't have a preamp and won't buy some crappy jobber just so I can say "I listen to vinyl". At this point in my life I won't spend several hundred dollars for a pre.
So that leaves me with......two turntables and some record I bought 'in anticipation'. 

Oh, I meant the quality of the sound on movie soundtracks.

Oh.
um..... It's ok I suppose.

Bob

[Scott F.]

I went with "It's not bad..."

Speaking in very general terms because each movie and accompanying soundtrack is at the mercy of the sound editor/producer/director/whomever is in charge of how they want the movie to 'feel' when it hits the theater or DVD. Most movie soundtracks are pretty heavily compressed, often times bringing low level sounds up to the point they become audible where in a "natural" setting you wouldn't normally hear them. The other part is many times the 'effects' are completely overblown to dramatize a scene. Hollywood explosions are a perfect example. Sometimes they do get it right though. I guess, just like with music on CD, it really depends on who is in control and who is running the audio crew for a given movie.

One other item that we have to deal with in a home theater is the fact that most pre/pro/receivers all have some form of dynamic expansion built into the processors. Some can be defeated completely, some can't. It can add drama to a movie but it can also send you diving for the remote control to turn it down. Most often, the effect of the compression and subsequent dynamic expansion creates an 'unreal' aspect to the movie (speaking in real vs. unreal in audiophile terms).

In a home theater, system matching is nearly as critical as it is in a two channel system. Most all of the newer pre/pro/receivers out there upsample or can take and pass a 24/192 signal. Couple that with barely adequate and mostly bright sounding amplification (as found in many 'inexpensive' 5/7.1 receivers) and you have the makings for disastrous sound. Throw in a forward sounding set of speakers and your ears have a five or seven times better chance of bleeding. Hence the dire need for system matching.

Don't get me wrong, I've got a nice HT and love it but just like two channel, a really good sounding HT takes proper synergy between all connected components to sound its best. And yes, everything negative said about the cost of HT (5 or 7 matching speakers, multi-amps, multi-cables and IC's, etc) is true. Do it right, and it is damned impressive and a pleasure to listen to.

...just my $.02

[Bob in St. Louis]

Yea, what he said..........

Yours IS damned impressive Scott. Watching "King Kong" was amazing.

Bob

[Scott F.]

If you thought it was good before,wait until the GAS Blowout  With the recent upgrades, its gotten even better. I just hope my new amps make it in time. If not the Arcam is doing a fairly decent job....but the new amps should take it to a different level again.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Sixteen days and counting to the GAS BASH.  aa

Oh, I meant the quality of the sound on movie soundtracks.

John - Are you asking about the sound quality of the entire two hour sound track in general (dialog, effects, and music), or just the music played during movies?

Bob