What is DVD-Audio? Vadim Volodin: “DVD-Audio. Is there any point?

"DVD Master" is the first studio in Russia to receive a license to produce high-quality products in the DVD-Audio format. Alexander Shulgin’s album “Performance” has already been released on a new medium. And very soon, in October, a disc with instrumental music will be released. The site talks about the features of the DVD-Audio format with the producer of the DVD Master studio, arranger, and sound engineer Vadim Volodin.

website: Vadim, how did the idea of ​​releasing music in DVD-Audio format come about?

V.V.: 20 years have passed, the life of an ordinary CD is over, and it finds itself floating freely. Technology did not stand still, and by the mid-90s a new universal media appeared - DVD. It evolved, and a new generation of audio formats was born: DVD-Audio, SACD, DualDisc. And now new formats are in development - Blue Ray and HDDVD. This process occurs in the same way as gramophone records and vinyl were previously released, the number of revolutions changed. And always, when a new carrier comes, no matter how small, interest arises.

website: And this, albeit implicit, interest provoked you to release the disc?

V.V.: Yes, people thought: “Does this even exist?”, “How is it?” This interested me too. I began to study this format and have been promoting this topic for about two and a half years now.

website: So long?

V.V.: It takes a long time, because all information, like any format specification, is closed. A number of corporations that produce hardware - DVD-Rom or DVD players - have a license to use this format. For example, there is a consortium called DVD FLLC (DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation), which unites all licensees. A license to use one type of format and logo costs $15,000 per year, plus annual fees of $5,000 per year. You can find out any information about the new format only from books describing the standards that these corporations publish every year: DVD-Audio Book, DVD-Video Book, DVD-Room Book and others. It is necessary to study the structure of the disk, the interaction of command registers, and various multimedia nuances, so we had to independently, bit by bit, collect all the necessary information and explore many aspects.

website: Why did you decide to use DVD-Audio and not SACD?

V.V.: This is due to the complete closedness of Super Audio CD. Its authoring technology (authoring is the creation of an original work from existing digitized video material (photos, video screensavers, menus, texts, subtitles, sound), as well as by synchronizing video, test and sound with support for selected output specifications - Dolby AC3, DTS, MPG, NTSC standards, SECAM, PAL, 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio) absolutely absent. What can we do in this situation? Just write down the material, bring it into digital view DSD format, transfer it to a specific medium, and then send it to the factory where there is equipment that produces such discs. There are only a few such factories. They are in Europe and the States. For example, Sony and Phillips factories. SACD is closed, but I can theoretically work with preparing material for this format, and practically orders for this type no work has been received yet. There are a number of other reasons. This is the prohibitive cost of equipment for working with a DSD stream. And the most important thing is that our market is heavily saturated with DVD devices, and the share of SACD players is much smaller.

website: How, in your opinion, apart from the technical characteristics (which are objectively better), does DVD-Audio beat a regular CD?

V.V.: Firstly, it is versatility. A simple navigation system, similar to an ordinary CD, allows you to do without a monitor. Secondly, on the contrary, it looks like a DVD: you can use the menu, navigation, watch videos, photos, slides - any multimedia, and this is already attractive to the user. Well, plus multi-channel sound, which, in my opinion, is already absolutely accessible to the general consumer, since the great company BBK supplies decent sets to our market home theater in one box, relatively speaking, for $300. Many expensive cars are already equipped with DVD-Audio systems. Imagine, six channels of powerful sound in the interior of an SUV!

website: Yes, impressive! Vadim, how compatible is this media with current DVD players?

V.V.: It's very interesting point. This format is not that old - it is at most five years old. In 2000, the final specification was adopted, in which they decided to make these disks hybrid, that is, one such disk contains two sections, one of which will be used by an ordinary DVD player, and the user will see the entire interactive part absolutely identical to what was intended in DVD-Audio section. True, he will hear the sound, respectively, in the Dolby Digital format, characteristic of DVD-Video. This is the so-called compatibility content. The fact is that when loading a disc, players first read the audio section that is included on the disc. If it is empty or does not correspond to the reading for ordinary DVD players, the player proceeds to reading the video section, from which all the necessary information will be extracted. Universal DVD players initially read the audio section with DVD-Audio content, and if necessary, you can switch the mode for the regular DVD-Video format.

website: Is an old or inexpensive home theater set suitable for this media?

V.V.: Yes, but the sound will be Dolby Digital or DTS. It depends on the decision of the authoring studio. But Dolby Digital prerequisite specifications.

website: What players would you recommend to an audiophile who wants to fully enjoy the benefits of DVD-Audio?

V.V.: Top models from the Pioneer series are suitable - 757 and above, price category from 700 to 900 dollars. Pioneer also has more affordable models - 565 and others. And, of course, universal DVD-Audio/Video players from BBK, which cost from $150.

website: What’s better for a music lover?

V.V.: The first thing you need is a good sound system. I can give, in my opinion, a somewhat orthodox recommendation. It only applies to older home theater components. Since DVD-Audio uses digital copy protection, it is better to connect components analogue rather than digitally. digital cable. After all, DVD-Audio supports both 192 kHz and 96 kHz audio formats. And in the case of an optical connection, downsampling occurs (lowering the sampling frequency), to standard 48 kHz, in order to protect information from copying. That is, digital transmission of a normal quality stream is prohibited by copyright holders, and this is built into all players.

website: What styles of performers would this medium be suitable for?

V.V.: Absolutely any. Both classical repertoires and rock sound wonderful, and, in my opinion, electronics sound interesting. This is an experimental direction in which you can create some new sound pictures.

website: Are there many people who would like to record an album in this format?

V.V.: There are a lot of people interested at the creative stage, but who will sell it is another matter? This is the main problem. Selling in Russia is quite difficult, since our trading market is wild and uneducated. The main distributor is Soyuz, and they are skeptical about DVD-Audio. "Purple Legion" at the moment, does not react at all to Russian products in this format.

website: Maybe sales are going so poorly because potential sellers are afraid to deal with new products?

V.V.: Maybe. What is needed to reanimate the old? Unfortunately, we don't have a back catalog at all. If Alla Pugacheva’s album “Mirror of the Soul” were released in a new format, it would probably be a bomb. But, unfortunately, there are no sources and originals of the studio session, although these are not entirely old materials: as far as I remember, 1975 or 1976. Abroad they understand very well what a back catalog is and know how to make money from it. It is almost impossible for us to re-release old albums, especially with multi-channel sound.

website: Vadim, in connection with this emerging problem, the following question: what could be the initial circulation of DVD-Audio discs?

V.V.: It is impossible to give any recommendations here. The minimum circulation that can be beneficial to the plant, including printing, printing and design services, is 1000 pieces, of which about a hundred goes as gifts, and the rest to stores. In fact, this format cannot boast of huge circulations of releases. According to some data, the largest sales of DVD-Audio are the Fleetwood Mac album “Rumors” – about 17,000 units. For our market, profitability can probably occur with a circulation of 3,000 pieces. And then the risks begin. Nobody needs warehouses filled with goods. But in any case, the circulation is determined by the value and demand of the disc content itself.

website: Interesting, is it more expensive to prepare and release DVD-Audio than CD?

V.V.: It's very expensive abroad. Authoring takes place on the command line, so you have to do almost everything using the “old-fashioned methods”, that is, by hand, and in a clearly organized workspace. There is no automation at all. This takes a lot of effort and time when creating a complex hybrid project. As funny as it may seem, there are only a couple of user programs that allow you to quickly assemble something. But, unfortunately, they do not pass the specification, that is, they do not meet the requirements of the DVD-Audio format, and are only applicable for home use or to quickly transfer material to the client from the studio. This is a fact. Meanwhile, I understand that we cannot compare our market with foreign ones. Three or four years ago we started making the first commercial offers authoring for video discs, and prices were quite high compared to today. So it is now: the average cost of authoring a hybrid DVD-Audio disc (which has 12 - 15 tracks, a menu, two videos, full interactive control) is approximately three to five times more expensive than the average cost of authoring an ordinary DVD-Video disc. By comparison, DVD-Video takes three to four days to prepare and assemble, while DVD-Audio can take three to four weeks.

website: Imported wheels cost about 700-800 rubles, but how much will it cost to buy yours?

V.V.: Production is the same everywhere. It is no different from releasing DVD-Video or SACD discs. The factory has standard replication and, accordingly, the same standard cost. For example, DVD-5 format will be cheaper than DVD-9 format. The price is determined directly by the copyright holder and the label releasing the disc. Therefore reasonable wholesale price, including markup, packaging, printing and design services, etc., should probably be from $8 per disc. The normal retail price, in my opinion, is 350 rubles. By and large, the price of DVD-Audio should not differ from the CD or Dual Disk format, which is now becoming popular. What people won’t come up with just to sell! The demand for CDs fell, and manufacturers began to try to attract those who love hard media with some kind of tricks and came up with a dual disc. After all, Dual Disk is simply glued disks: on one side there is a CD, on the other there is a DVD, and it can be either DVD-Video or DVD-Audio. Dual Disk costs the same as a CD, but its production costs, albeit by a few cents, more, just technologically.

website: Vadim, what, in your opinion, are the prospects for of this format in Russia?

V.V.: It's hard to say. But there is a certain meaning in this. In any case, the HDTV format is evolving, and Dolby is already accepting completely different, new requirements for sound parameters. This means that films and music will be re-released. We actually get the disk size, the same as that of a CD and DVD, but it has a different capacity, and accordingly the picture resolution and sound quality are better. In the large screen market, now all panels of the old format already cost 35-40 thousand rubles or even cheaper, since the old format is being replaced by HDTV. And this format requires a high-quality audio part embedded in the DVD-Audio format, which takes up a large amount of information. If a CD has 44 kHz / 16 bits, and this stream does not exceed 1.5 megabits per second, then for an HDDVD the audio-only stream can be safely set to 9 megabits per second. On these formats it is already possible to raise the sound quality to 192 kHz / 24 bit. In any case, there will be some flow of this format into the next one, and maybe it will survive on its own for several more years, because, I think, DVD-Video and DVD-Audio formats will somehow exist.

Interview prepared by Evgenia Zabolotskikh

DVD-Audio - digital format DVD, created specifically for high-quality audio reproduction. Disc format DVD-Audio allows you to record soundtracks with a different number of sound channels (from mono to 5.1).

DVD-Audio (DVDA) This is a format for storing music on a DVD disc.
The difference from CD is:
- multichannel
- high quality
- versatility - the disk can store several recording options in different formats for playback on all systems
- possibility of having video material, photographs, texts*
- interactivity**
- graphical interface**
**needs a connected monitor (TV/projector, etc.). By the way, this can also be an inconvenience - many discs require several clicks to play, for example you need to select soundtrack.

Difference DVD-Audio from DVD is recording of uncompressed audio in high resolution (i.e. good quality). This entry can only be read by players that support DVD-Audio.

Why do you need DVD-Audio if you just have DVD? In practice the situation is as follows: DVD-Audio Mostly music is released in multi-channel form, with a special mix. And on DVD - just concerts, where the rear and center channels create the effect of being in a concert hall, often by adding echo.
Those. the main difference is in the content.

DVD-Audio discs can be read on any DVD players by duplicating tracks in PCM/Dolby Digital/DTS formats.
There are double-sided DVDA discs with a layer recorded on one side high resolution for DVD-Audio players, on the other side - just DVD.

Boxes for DVD-Audio are usually slightly larger size, than for CD and elongated upwards.

All DVD-Audio Players must support playback of LPCM audio data stored on disc and encoded using one of two sampling types: multiples of 44.1 kHz (88.2/176.4 kHz) and multiples of 48 kHz (96/192 kHz). Each of these types can use 16-, 20-, or 24-bit resolution. At the highest sampling rate of each type, only mono or 2-channel playback is supported; All other frequencies provide playback from one to 6 channels.

The DVD-Audio specification allows you to record not only sound on a disc, but also accompany it with video clips or still images that are shown while you listen.

Majority DVD-Audio drives are "hybrid"
that is, along with the main DVD-Audio format, the disc also contains DVD-Video. This allows you to play such a disc on regular DVD players, but only audio information from its video part (VIDEO_TS folder) in the form of PCM, DTS, DD (if present).

PPCM or MLP
The DVD-Audio specification has limitations - both in data transfer speed (9.6 megabits/second) and in capacity (4.7 GB for a single-sided single-layer disc). For example, six channels of 24-bit/96 Hz audio require 13.8 megabits/sec of bandwidth and 7.67 GB of storage capacity for a total disc running time of 74 minutes. To fit in real numbers, DVD-Audio uses a “lossless packaging” data compression system:

LOSESS:

Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP)
or
PPCM (Packed PCM, Packed Pulse Code Modulation),
developed by Meridian Audio.

"Lossless" means that the MLP decoded data stream is bit-for-bit identical to the stream before encoding. Due to MLP, the bandwidth is reduced to an extent depending on the content and resolution of the encoded material. Overall, MLP reduces bandwidth and capacity requirements by 25-55%.

Another important task of MLP was the implementation of multi-channel audio mixing into regular stereo, as specified in the DVD-A standard specifications. It is possible to obtain the correct result using special codes embedded in the stream. They are called System Managed Audio Resource Technique (SMART) and determine the weighting coefficients for channels during mixing. If such a solution still does not satisfy the producer, then the two-channel recording can be placed on disk separately.

When loading a disc, players first read the audio section that is included on the disc. If it is empty or does not correspond to the reading for ordinary DVD players, the player proceeds to reading the video section, from which all the necessary information will be extracted. Universal DVD players initially read the audio section, with the content DVD-Audio, and if necessary, you can switch the mode for the ordinary DVD-Video format.
Essentially, we figured out what DVD-Audio is, I also recommend reading the article

An individual assignment on the topic was completed by A. P. Oloshchenko, gr. E-25

Taganrog State Radiotechnical University

Various audio and video formats have developed greatly in recent years. The audio world has been taken over by CDs due to their high usability and low cost, and video is moving from VHS tapes to DVDs. But the music industry and the DVD Forum prefer a universal format, they want to sell our favorite albums on DVD, and so the DVD audio format was born. From a technical point of view, DVD has a larger capacity than CD. CD can hold 80 minutes of music regular format, while DVD can hold 10 times more, and it supports almost all audio formats. If we talk about volume, a regular DVD has a capacity of 4.7 GB, and a double-sided DVD is 8.5 GB! A CD can hold no more than 700 MB. DVD developers had to solve the problem of where to use such a huge volume: to increase the amount of music or to improve its quality. The answer was a combination of both directions, since DVD audio has both higher quality and larger capacity.

On a CD, music is stored digitally in PCM format, and this format is immutable. The audio is encoded in 16 bits with a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz. For DVD audio, MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing) technology is used, which allows you to change the quality level if necessary. With high bit depth and sampling rate, the sound quality becomes much better. Today, DVD audio can be reduced to 12 bits or increased to 24 bits. The same can be said for the sampling rate, which can be 192 kHz in stereo or 96 kHz in multi-channel mode. DVD audio, unlike CDs, can contain music in Dolby Digital and DTS formats. Most DVD audio discs are encoded in Dolby Digital, or DTS, which is the main feature of DVD audio, not to mention the benefit in sound quality.

Sony and Philips have also developed a format that can be described as intermediate between CD and DVD audio. It's called SACD, or Super Audio CD. Unlike standard CDs, which are encoded in PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) format, SACD uses new system Direct Stream Digital (DSD) encoding. This system uses a special filter that does not have such a detrimental effect on sound quality as PCM. Moreover, the sampling rate can be significantly higher, up to 2,822,400 measurements per second. Today there are already quite a large number of such discs on the market, but for SACD you need to use an appropriate player, which is not in the best possible way affects the cost. One last thing worth noting is that SACD, like DVD audio, can be encoded into 6 channels for audio playback on a 5.1 system.

SACD - Super Audio Compact Disk - a digital audio recording format developed by Sony and Philips, officially appeared in 1999. The disc is the same size as a regular CD, only the working layer is of a different color (golden). The information capacity is much greater than on a CD, however, due to the high quality of audio encoding, the recording duration is 74 minutes (sometimes 109 minutes). One layer of a dual-layer (or hybrid) disc usually contains music in SACD format, while the other layer contains music in CD format. These discs can also be listened to on regular stereo CD players. SACD players use a multi-channel mode (Multi Channel or Surround), less often a two-channel mode (stereo) or even mono when re-releasing old recordings.

Natural sound and high recording quality

Digital Copy Protection

Multichannel (up to 6 channels) sound

Longer recording times in SACD are achieved due to new audio encoding and compression technology, as well as a reduction in the physical size of pits on the surface of the working layer. DSD (Direct Stream Digital) technology is used to digitize the audio signal. The audio stream from the original is converted into digital form using an ultra-high sampling frequency of 2822 KHz. A decrease in signal level is coded as 0, an increase as 1. Since the data readout frequency is very high, the conversion quality is very high and much closer to the analog original than a traditional CD.

For further compression, a lossless compression algorithm is used - Direct Stream Transfer (DST). The original digital stream is approximately halved in volume.

SACD provides an audio signal with a frequency band of up to 100 kHz (on a regular CD - up to 20 kHz), and its dynamic range reaches 144 dB (on a regular CD - 96 dB). Sampling frequency - 2822.4 kHz. Disk capacity - 4.7 Gb.

For SACD standard discs, special copy protection was invented. Secret sectors contain information about the disc, manufacturer, and code key, which must be read by the player before playback begins. When rewriting an SACD, this data is not copied, and such a disc cannot be read by any SACD player. The contents of the disk itself are encrypted using a key. Protective data (PSP tags) can only be copied to a licensed SACD recorder. Additionally, all playback devices use a special “plug” for the digital output (DTCP) additional protection from digital copying.

DVD-Audio is a standard for storing audio information on DVD discs. Source coding principle analog signal similar to conventional CD audio discs, however, due to an increase in the sampling frequency and bit depth of digital data, the digitized sound is much closer to the original. To increase recording time, information is also compressed without loss of quality. The recording time on DVD-A discs is usually 74 minutes, the number of channels is from 2 to 6. For compatibility with regular DVD (video) disc players, an audio signal may sometimes be present surround sound in Dolby Digital and DTS formats.

The audio signal is recorded in PCM (pulse code modulation) format. The sampling frequency can be from 44 to 96 kHz (for stereo - up to 192 kHz), data width from 16 to 24 bits. Reproducible frequency range - from 5 to 48000 Hz (up to 96000 Hz for a stereo signal), dynamic range - up to 144 dB. Data volume - 4.7 GB for a single-layer disk. Using the lossless audio compression algorithm MLP(5) (Meridian Lossless Packing), which provides approximately twofold compression of audio data.

High sound quality, large dynamic range.

Record multi-channel audio.

Possibility of playback on a computer.

PCM encoding format common in recording studios.

The DVD standard, as a video standard, was developed and proposed back in the mid-90s, but it has not yet gained real popularity. The saga with rewritable DVD discs lasted especially long - only now DVD has begun to take root as a more or less familiar type of storage media. In the mid-90s, parallel to the development of DVD for video, the DVD Audio (DVD-A) standard was also being developed. The process of establishing DVD-A was long; the first version of the standard was approved only in March 1999.

DVD-A is a standard for storing audio data on DVD format discs. DVD-A is designed to store audio data in six channels in PCM and MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing) formats. Data in PCM format is stored with parameters of 16-24 bits (quantization bit depth) and 96 - 192 kHz (sampling frequency). DVD-A disc, like any single-sided single-layer DVD disc, has a capacity of 4.7 GB. This means that DVD-A can hold, for example, up to 6 hours of audio in CD-DA format (44.1 kHz / 16 bit / stereo). Data reading speed from DVD-A discs is 9.6 Mbit/s. If data is stored in 24-bit / 96 kHz / 6-channel format, the audio stream must be 13.8 Mbps, which is an unattainable read speed for DVD-A. To get around this limitation, the DVD-A standard provides for the use of a special lossless audio compression technique - MLP(5) (Meridian Lossless Packing). MLP provides, on average, approximately 2x compression of audio data. Thus, data in 24 bit / 96 kHz / 6 channels format, requiring an uncompressed bit rate of 13.8 Mbit/s, when compressed using MLP, can quite “fit” into the allowed 9.6 Mbit/s. It should be noted that not everyone dvd player"understands" DVD-A discs- players familiar with DVD-A have a special “DVD-Audio” logo. However, to ensure compatibility, many DVD-A discs are specifically equipped with Dolby Digital and DTS tracks, which are easily recognized by DVD-Video players.

The duration of the process of establishing the DVD-A standard is associated, as, indeed, always, with the “war of standards”. There are many business whales on the market, each of which, in order to grab a fatter piece, tries to be the first to establish its innovation on the market. While some were working on DVD-A, Sony and Phillips (by the way, they also developed CD-DA) were working on the so-called Super Audio CD (SACD)(6). SACD is, in a sense, the brother of DVD - A. Almost the only difference between SACD and DVD-A is the data storage format - not PCM, but one-bit sigma-delta modulation (7) with a frequency of 2.8224 MHz. Despite the theoretically higher quality of audio encoding than in the case of PCM, the practical benefits of using sigma-delta modulation are most likely impossible to discern by ear. True, another really useful feature of SACD is the ability to produce hybrid media (Hybrid SACD) - discs that can work both in old CD drives and in new SACDs (this possibility is achieved due to the presence of two data layers on SACD discs). An announcement is planned in the near future new version SACD standard - SACD II. It plans to introduce some improvements (to existing capabilities) for data protection, as well as expanding the capabilities of storing video and photo information.

Today, 5.1 and 7.1 speaker systems have become widespread; the increase in their popularity is mainly associated with the appearance on the domestic market of home theater systems equipped with acoustic system data. Although more than 90% of these acoustics, to put it mildly, are poorly suited for high-quality sound reproduction, there are also some people who bought acoustics Hi—Fi And High—End classes. Also, most music lovers do not yet have and are only thinking about purchasing such sound-reproducing equipment and speakers. Our article will be useful for these categories of people.

CD-Audio

The very first music format that changed this world forever, giving the music industry an incredible breakthrough. With him began the era of penetration of digital format into the life of an ordinary person.

CD-Audio is the same as a music CD. We owe its invention and implementation to Sony and Philips. The format itself was standardized and introduced into mass production in the 80s. Main characteristics concerning digital audio, are detected in the 16-bit signal width and sampling frequency, which is 44.1 kHz. If we talk about frequency, then its choice was not random, it was even necessary. This happened due to the fact that it was necessary to combine the invention with pre-existing audio systems, the source for which were video cassettes.

The most important quality of the new product at that time was the unthinkable durability. If we look at the indicators, then not a single storage medium of that time did not have such characteristics, both physical and qualitative (records, tapes). The CD can be used for years. This is explained by the lack of physical contact between the reading device and the disk. The wear and tear of previous storage media was reflected in an increase in the level of noise and defects. Here, the appearance of scratches did not affect the quality of playback. An undoubted advantage was the ergonomics of the storage medium, which simplifies its use. The new standard, almost immediately, found itself in the automotive industry, where since the 50s. tried to install music devices, but everything ended in failure. The records quickly failed, although special automobile ones were made, and large reel tapes took up a lot of space and were inconvenient to use.

Arrival Audio CD and its progressive sound quality marked the collapse vinyl record . The reason was the stated value of the dynamic range, with the signal-to-noise ratio being more than 90 dB and the distortion being 0.01%.

But still, a little later, he was noticed main disadvantage of CD. High frequency range of Audio CD, during playback, was equal to half its sampling frequency (22.05 kHz). This figure for competitive carriers was much higher. Even though frequencies of 19-20 kHz are considered ultrasonic, that is, practically inaudible by humans, they could not be discounted. In most acoustic instruments, the overtonal components lie in this region and have a huge impact on the perception of what is heard. In their absence, the sound does not seem real. Based on this, it became clear that the era of sound is only at the dawn of its development; new digital standards and formats are coming. The most interesting is yet to come.

DVD-Audio

DVD-Audio is the next stage in the development of audio media. The emergence of technology and media where more information can be recorded was reflected in the creation of a new audio format. The principle of encoding the original signal itself remained almost the same as the previous one, but this time the sampling frequency and bit depth of digital data increased. Now the digitized sound is much closer in sound to the original. Information compression is used, but without loss of quality, which leads to an increase in recording time. Thus, DVD-A can record 74 minutes of audio. With the advent of such a storage medium, it became possible to actively use sound channels, which could reach up to 6. Now electronics manufacturers have begun to adapt to this format, sensing a new niche there; surround sound signal appears - Dolby Digital and DTS formats.

Those. DVD audio information

The audio signal is recorded using the pulse code modulation method - PCM (pulse code modulation) format. The sampling frequency ranges from 44-96 kHz, and for stereo it reaches 192 kHz. The data width ranges from 16 to 24 bits. The playback frequency range is 5 - 48,000 Hz, for a stereo signal it reaches 96,000 Hz. The dynamic range is 144 dB. The maximum amount of data is 4.7 GB on one disk layer. An algorithm is used to compress sound without loss of quality Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP). When using it, it became possible to compress the sound almost twice.

DVD-audio: main advantages of the standard

1. 1. Sound quality is very high
2. 2. Huge dynamic range
3. 3. The number of channels reaches six
4. 4. Large selection of equipment for operation
5. 5. The most common encoding format in recording studios is PCM

SACD: Format information

Super Audio Compact Disk (SACD) is a digital audio recording format also developed by audio industry giants Sony and Philips. The official appearance of the new standard was made public in 1999. The size of the disc remains the same, but only the working layer is now golden, there are two layers in total. The duration of the sound has also been increased, compared to the CD - 74 and 109 minutes. Usually on one layer hybrid drive, audio recorded in SACD format, on another layer - in Audio-CD format.

The discs can be listened to even on ordinary Audio-CD players, but SACD players use Multi Channel sound (multichannel), aka Surround. Sometimes stereo sound is recorded, but very rarely, just like mono. Recording in mono and stereo modes is used mainly for re-releasing old albums and recordings.

SACD: Advantages of the standard

1. 1. Natural sound
2. 2. Copy protection
3. 3. Multichannel audio(up to six channels)

SACD: tech. information about the standard

The ability to record a disc of longer duration was realized due to a radically new technology for compressing and encoding the audio signal, as well as due to the physical reduction of pits (cell sizes) on the working surface of the disc. Applicable new technology Direct Stream Digital (DSD) for digitization sound signal, which is converted into digital form using over high frequency sampling (2822 kHz). Compared to a regular CD, the conversion quality is much higher and very close to the analog original. This is achieved due to high frequency reading data. This format uses the Direct Stream Transfer algorithm (lossless compression). The volume of the digital stream is almost halved.

The SACD audio signal has a frequency band of up to 96 kHz, versus 20 kHz on a regular CD, and a dynamic range of 144 dB, versus 96 dB on a CD. The sampling frequency is 2822.4 kHz.

Copy protection

The SACD standard offers unique copy protection. The disk has special secret sectors that contain information about the disk, its manufacturer, and also contains a code key. The latter is read by the player before playback starts. If a disc is overwritten, it will have missing sectors and will not play. The disk data is also encrypted using a key. PSP tags can only be copied by a licensed SACD burner. Also, on all SACD playback devices, a “stub” is used on the digital output to prevent signal capture from the outside.

Since 2010 in Internet networks began to appear DSD audio files with DSF or DSDIFF extension. Using a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and special software, these files can be played on a PC, and they can also be converted into files in the following formats: WAV, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, FLAC.

DSD disc- this is (DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD-RW) optical disk with DSD files having the DSF extension, which can be played on PCs and other devices that support this format. Qualitative characteristics The audio on this disc is identical to SACD, but multi-channel audio cannot be recorded on a DSD disc.

Let's sum it up

For greater clarity, let's collect all our technical specifications which were mentioned in this article. Also, for clarity, the minimum cost of players capable of using most of the capabilities of the corresponding format has been added to the table.

Sound formats DVD-Audio, SACD, CD-Audio have changed this world, what will happen next - time will tell!

Despite the fact that the 24/48 and higher format is a clear overkill, recordings in high-res formats have still gained some popularity among the so-called “digital audiophiles”. However, on the other hand, it is somewhat easier to obtain DVD-Audio from a studio recording - for example, you do not have to be burdened by the problem of choosing a dezerring algorithm to qualitatively reduce the bit depth.

One way or another, in this article I want to talk about the DVD-Audio format. Or more precisely, about how to correctly extract audio from it and bring it into a digestible form.

For example, I took a couple of DVD-Audio images. First - ISO image disc with Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony in 5.1 format.

So, we have a *.iso file. To work with it we will use the foobar2000 player with installed plugin DVD-Audio Decoder, as well as console encoders - or any other format. For convenience, you can download my foobar2000 assembly, where all this is already installed.

We can open the existing image directly in foobar2000, or mount it and open the AUDIO_TS/AUDIO_TS.IFO file in Explorer:

Note: this DVD is a hybrid and also contains files in the VIDEO_TS folder. This allows you to play it on regular DVD players as a video (the audio track is recorded in AC3 5.1 448 kbps format).

The tracks found on the disc will be added to the playlist:

Typically, a disc has a multi-channel track and a stereo track. Please note: loading of a stereo downmix into the playlist, as well as unnecessary short audio files, can be disabled in the plugin settings:

We will need multi-channel tracks. IN in this case they have the format specified in the Title field - left, right, left side, right side, center and low-frequency channels in 24 bit/48 kHz format. Please note: Some discs may contain recordings at different sampling rates for the front and rear speakers. For example, the disc “Invaders Must Die” by The Prodigy has the format Lf-Rf 24/96000 + C-LFE-Ls-Rs 24/48000 - i.e. Front channels have a higher sampling rate.

Now we need to decide on the format into which we will encode the audio. It can be either lossless or lossy. For a lossless format, I recommend FLAC or WavPack (for enthusiasts I can also recommend TAK, but you will most likely only be able to play it on your computer). To encode in FLAC, you can use FLACCL, which will slightly increase the encoding speed and compression ratio.

If you are not a maniac and do not pursue the goal of preserving the original audio bit-for-bit, then you can use lossy encoding. In this case, I recommend using QuickTime AAC.

Now about the sampling rate. If it turns out to be different for the channels, then during encoding you should convert everything to a lower one, otherwise you will get a reflection in the microwave region of more low frequencies(since the decoder increases the sampling frequency using the simplest algorithm, using zero-order interpolation) - and this is completely useless. So you should install SoX Resampler in the DSP chain and select the desired frequency in its settings.

In my case, for the Shostakovich symphony, the resulting average FLAC bitrate (FLACCL, level 11) was 4019 kbps versus 6912 kbps for the original MLP audio. Now you can easily write tags to the received files.

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