DVD-A question


I'm relatively new to DVD-A. I love the sound, but don't like the format itself, for various reasons:

1) You need a TV to play the disc. There is no TV in my music room (and never will be!), so SACD/CD/Vinyl rules there. Is there a DVD-A player out there that can be EASILY used without having to use the onscreen menus to select between 2CH/MCH, etc.?

2) Some DVD-A discs play a little snippet of music over and over again until you've done your setup and hit PLAY. For instance, I have "Monster" by R.E.M., and it plays about 30 seconds of "What's The Frequency, Kenneth" over and over until you stop it. It does this before you do your setup, AND after the disc ends. This is one of the most annoying things I've ever encountered. Is there a player out there that can essentially disable this "feature".

3) Where SACD has a discrete Stereo layer and a Multichannel layer, does DVD-A also have this? I've been reading a little bit, and it sounds to me like DVD-A in stereo is actually a mix-down of the multichannel information. Is this true? Is this something to be concerned with? Especially when choosing a DVD-A player?

I currently have a junky Toshiba player, and am thinking about getting a better DVD-A player. Or should I just keep my Toshiba because DVD-A is dead?

Thanks in advance.

Tom
tfkaudio

Showing 2 responses by tfkaudio

Thanks for the responses! I think I'm gonna sit awhile on the fence with this one. DualDisc and BlueRay would seem to jeopardize the future of DVD-A far more than SACD, and since I have over +100 SACDs now and only 4 DVD-A's, I think I'll continue buying SACD's for now.
Like Kr4, I'm into classical music, and SACD has the titles. You can find most of the standard repertoire on SACD now. Although I'm still waiting for Bartok's quartets! I consider that to be the most conspicuous absence from available SACD titles right now. Also, more Haydn symphonies are needed. And I'm really looking forward to Diabelli Variations when Stereophile releases it.

I'll check out hiresmusic.com. Thanks!

Tom