DVD-Video compatible DVD-Audio disks.

[AntnyMD]

Does anyone own one of these DVD-Audio disks that play in DVD-Video only players? I've seen actual disks at the Borders store near where I work in Washington, DC, but was turned off by the price ($24.99) and the fact the audio is probably not native 5.1, but remixed to simulate 5.1 or Pro-Logic.

Also I just want to register my bitch that $24.99 is way too much for a DVD that plays about 55 minutes that isn't some must-have sort of thing I've been waiting 20 years to own a copy. However, if any of you own or have examined one of these cross-compatible disks, tell us:

Whats the file structure like?
What kind of file format is the DVD-Audio portion? The disk says the way its compatible with DVD-Video is that its essentially a DVD-Video without video, only audio (??).
Have you been able to purchase them on the net for cheaper than $18.74? This is getting closer to reasonable pricing, but with shipping we're back up to $24.99!
Has anyone successfully ripped a DVD-Video compatible DVD-Audio disk, and was it easy, difficult, not worth it, totally worth it?

Any other comments and rambles are totally appreciated. I hope I posted this in the correct folder.

(All prices quoted are in US$.)

[suspect]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-07-09 07:32:04, AntnyMD wrote:
Whats the file structure like?
What kind of file format is the DVD-Audio portion? The disk says the way its compatible with DVD-Video is that its essentially a DVD-Video without video, only audio (??).
Have you been able to purchase them on the net for cheaper than $18.74? This is getting closer to reasonable pricing, but with shipping we're back up to $24.99!
Has anyone successfully ripped a DVD-Video compatible DVD-Audio disk, and was it easy, difficult, not worth it, totally worth it?
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>
From what i've heard, lots of theses DVD-Video compatible audio dvds consist of a set of PCM or AC3 audio put into the video_ts folder (thus being dvd-video compatible). Since your dvd is only 55 mins, I would assume that they used PCM because ac3 would have left alot of space wasted. The audio dvd standard that was proposed put all the audio in an audio_ts directory. But since it used DeCSS it was scraped because the RIAA wanted to find a better protection scheme (because DeCSS had just recently been cracked). So the RIAA stuck with their unencrypted, more easily copied cds instead. I'm sure some DVD players would read the audio_ts directory, if the proposed audio dvd was released now, but to stay compatible their best bet was to put the music in the video_ts directory.

On a related note, it's possible to make an audio only vcd (similiar to what they do with the video compatible audio-dvds) and fit 98 tracks of audio on it. just encode your mp3s and wavs to mpeg layer II 224, give them a .mpg extension, and drag them over to a Nero VCD (turn off standard compliance).

[AntnyMD]

OK ... My curiosity got the best of me yesterday, so at lunchtime, I went to my local Borders and looked on every DVD shelf until I found more DVD-Audio disks. Persistence paid off!

In addition to the handful of DVD-Audio titles, they also carried a few DTS music CDs, which I can't play. I decided to purchase Blue Man Group's Audio on Virgin Records, this disk being a special mix to take advantage of this new audio format. It's also compatible with DVD-Video only players, having a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix.

I first popped it into my DVD-ROM drive to see what the file structure is like. On the side marked DVD-Audio, it looks just like a regular DVD, having an audio_ts and video_ts folder. The Dolby Digital 5.1 is contained in the vobs inside video_ts. On my standalone and in WinDVD, each song is played back with a still picture of Blue Man. During some songs, the pictures change (this would be neat to do on VideoCD -- btw, dragging mp2 files renamed to mpg with compliance turned off in Nero did not work for me [v.5.5.2.3]).

I flipped it over to the side labeled DVD-Video. The file structure was the same, but there was no menu, and in my standalone and in WinDVD, only a short interview clip played. This is where I got confused: I think this particular disk is labeled wrong. However, since I don't have a DVD-Audio player, who can say? I'll take it to Circuit City at the weekend .. they sell DVD-Audio players now.

As for the sound, I'm still at bit in awe. I mean, when I first heard music on CD, I wasn't as impressed as most. CD's just sound like a brand new LP, without the needle dragging in grooves, which was always a problem for me when listening to LPs. Otherwise, CDs were just neat cassettes without the hiss.

This thing though, this Dolby Digital mix was brilliant. It's like hearing the best surround effects on Terminator 2, but its cool percussive music, and its constantly amazing. It kinda blew me away. It's a shame Dolby Digital isn't portable. Everythings turning to chamber music.

[AntnyMD]

Oh yeah ... and I only had to give $14.99 for the disk. Brilliant!