DVD Audio format mismatch?

[Scally]

I've been using Pinnacle 9 to create my mpg movies. When selecting the DVD format in Pinnacle it uses the MPEG2 Layer 2 audio format. Previously, when I made a DVD from that using DVD Lab Pro, it worked fine, accepting the audio format without change, but now I am using Sony Architect v4 and it does not give MPEG Layer 2 as a valid audio option, only AC3 and PCM. Therefore it has to re-render the audio (for AC3) and there is a clear loss of quality. I'd rather not use PCM due to size constraints.

I had set Pinnacle to 224kbps but I can try 384, though it won't let me change the format. I would prefer it if DVDA did not re-render, and I believe MP2 should be a valid audio format. Why won't DVDA let me stay with MP2?

Thanks.

[mats.hogberg]

MP2 audio support isn't mandatory for the NTSC DVD standard. Could be the reason for Architect to refuse to accept MP2 audio.

/Mats

[Scally]

Sorry, I should have said it is a PAL project. I thought MPeg2 Layer2 audio was a valid format for that (at least, I have used that with DVD Lab Pro, and it works on all dvd players that I've tried). But Sony DVDA doesn't offer this audio format as an option. Is there a reason for this?

[mats.hogberg]

I'd think the creators of DVDA took a shortcut, and dropped mp2 support alltogether. As AC3 is better (more efficient) there's really no need for anything else. Can't Pinnacle output audio in PCM or AC3? (So you don't have to rerender?)

/Mats

[Scally]

Thanks - I think there is a custom format option in Pinnacle, which might allow me to select PCM. I'll try that and convert to AC3 in DVDA, and upping the mp2-audio bit rate to 384 first.

DVDA outputs AC-3 in 192kbps, is it possible to increase this?