Blog FeedDual Disc Determination
An old technology seems to be becoming the new thing. A while ago (almost a year, my first Aelon post ever) I wrote up an article on a variety of things peaking my interest at the moment. One of those was DVD Audio. DVD Audio (if you didn’t know) is music stored on a DVD rather than a CD. With all the extra space a DVD has the audio can be much higher quality as well as supersede Stereo sound and be full 5.1 surround sound. DVD Audio seemed like a great idea that would never catch on back then. The discs were not anymore expensive than CDs however the DVD Audio players were not as common. Usually found only in Personal Computers or high tech entertainment systems. The reason not being the DVD player itself but the set-up required to actually enjoy the media. In order to make it worth while you need to have a 5.1 surround sound system.
This limited the DVD Audio library to just a few hundred discs which were mostly remixes of old, proven albums. While a good number of them are fantastic (Queen’s “A Night at the Opera” and the entire Beethoven Symphonies were released on DVD Audio) it just didn’t keep up with the demand. Until now (drama).
Now I am seeing the new way to pitch DVD Audio to the masses, Dual Discs. If you guys haven’t accidentally or purposely purchased a Dual Disc audio disc yet here is the deal. Dual Disc is a CD on one side and a DVD on the other. So it will play in most anywhere you can shove it (yes, even your pants). The benefit to this is, hopefully, people’s collections will amass a large amount of DVD Audio on accident. Then, once the players become more accessible, available and affordable, people will already have DVD libraries to listen to. Not only this but they will be able to notice the difference. If you play a CD then a DVD Audio disc the CD sounds flat and not as sharp or clear.
The first Dual Disc I found was when Nine Inch Nails started remixing all their old albums into 5.1 surround DVD Audio and re-releasing them in the Dual Disc format. Now their new album was released in Dual Disc at launch, rather than waiting for a remix release. When an album is actually made with 5.1 DVD Audio in mind it is just an amazing auditory experience. After acquiring the old NIN library I started seeing tons of new releases become available on Dual Disc. Just browsing the top 30 albums at the local circuit city provided 10 Dual Disc versions available of newly released music.
Whether Dual Disc is meant to be the transition into DVD Audio as the format of choice for music, or just a way for those with 5.1 to enjoy DVD Audio while it lasts is yet to be seen. DVD Audio may have a hard time competeing with mp3 players which may be the future of music (if not already the present). Perhaps a new compressed audio format (with 5.1+ options) will wipe out the competition but for now I am hoping DVD Audio takes off.
1st July | Reply
I think that in this day and age, an audio format really needs to be internet-friendly to make a splash. I mean, let’s face is - things like iTunes are going up and up while CD sales have consistently been in decline. I can’t imagine a DVD-quality track being quick to download off iTunes (or any similar pay per track website). At least, not yet. Obviously as time goes on, everyone is going to get faster internet (and compression techniques will get better), but even then, I don’t think too many people have the sound systems to take advantage of the format.
It’s nice, but considering the way things are going at the moment, I don’t think it’ll catch on. I think it’s more likely something new (like a much better MP3-style compression format) will come out before this goes anywhere, and will blow it out of the water.
1st July | Reply
I’m still to be conviced by the whole audio DVD thingy, whether it be Enhanced CD, Audio DVD or Dual CD. For one, the selection still needs to grow lots, and for another, I don’t see myself getting anything worth the buck. I know the price difference may not be that much, but when Dual CD comes against iTunes, I’ll take iTunes.
Such choice makes me think of the people who already released their music to Apple’s store. Namely, Cirque du Soleil. Having released their music on iTunes, they’ve made me understand the “competition” they’re facing against their own net releases. A couple of their shows have come out as either a physical exclusive (Zumanity, as of now) or a release with extra content (The new Varekai CD comes with a bonus CD + a Bonus DVD). Being such a fan of them, I did show weakness and gave in to their offerings, but otherwise, I’ll still take iTunes.
As a final note, I must admit I’m extremely tempted to get Carmina Burana in Audio DVD.
1st July | Reply
I’m tone-deaf and can’t tell the difference anyway. CD beat out tapes for me due to their size (much thinner) and the fact that you can move between tracks simply more than the actual sound quality. DVD, obviously, hasn’t got an additional trump-card in that area so I don’t think this will mean that much to me. Digital downloads, however, have increased convenience over a CD so I’m using them more than buying physical disks.
In regards to download rates not being suitable, I note today that a new ISP startup in London is offering a 24MB download rate using ADSL2+ (something I’d never even heard of until this morning). 24MB…that’s mental…
1st July | Reply
ADSL2+ is starting to be rolled out down here… but 24Mbits is the most you can get, and it’s only attainable if you live extremely close to the DSL exchange. I think the ISPs down here generally offer 16Mbit speeds as you can get that speed even if you live quite further away. But yeah, things like ADSL2+ make easy distribution of this high-quality audio possible, but it’ll be a while before it’s the norm.
2nd July | Reply
Im happy with my CD’s to be honest. I still haven’t moved into the realms of the new-fangled iPods and MP3 players (I sound like an old man…) and will be happy with just using my battered, but servicable, CD player.
3rd July | Reply
I’d never even realised that there was dual disc technology.
I wonder if I’ve got any.
To be honest I’ll buy whatever it is as long as I’m getting my music I’m happy - but I definately want a physical copy as I just don’t feel I own it if it’s just on my computer and MP3 player.
I like all the sleeve notes and lyric books and I like having lots of CDs about, be they dual discs or not.
18th July | Reply
There is one glaring problem with DVD-Audio that no one has yet mentioned: next generation.
Why should I or anyone else for that matter, purchase their music on DVD when HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are around the corner? What will music sound like then?