DVD-A questions: LFE channel; DTS/DVD-A confusion

The LFE levels are not a problem in playing the Silverline/Abravanel discs, specifically, as those same burbles are audible on the correspondig Artemis SACD reissues (4.0, no LFE) even when I play them without bass management. They occur irregularly and at a fairly low level.

First, to Foobagger and Kr4, you guys must have those LFE woofers turned up LOTS louder than mine*--I have 3 of those Abravanel/Utah DVD-As (Sibelius symphonies 2&3 and 1&4 and Mahler 2) and seem not to hear that LF noise. I think the LFE channel contains all the LF info in the master, and most of it seems to be just hall and conductor-platform noise.

The DVD of Hell Freezes... that I have is a DVD-V with (at least) a DTS 5.1 for everything PLUS a hi-res (= DVD-A only) cut of the last song...titled something about bridges (don't have it in front of me and am too lazy to get up to look).

I too struggled with how to get DVD-A/SACD running and was surprised to learn of the requirement to run 6 channels of analog from player to pre/pro. However, I'm VERY pleased with the sound of many of the DVD-As I have. Naxos's Shostakovich 7 and Tchaik. PCs 1 & 3 are natural sounding with little of the multimono multimiking that one hears in many other orchestral recordings. (They're so nice I've ordered more.) Also, hearing the Abaravanel recordings reinforces my belief that Mark Aubort and Joanna Nikranz (sp?) of Elite Recordings did some of the very finest and most-natural-sounding orchestral recordings of all times. They have none of the in-your-face fierceness (especially present in the worst [for me] of the Mercury Living Presence recordings) that Harry Pearson seems to love. I'll be buying more even tho I prefer performances with more drive (NOT speed!) and emotion than Abravanel brings to his.

Overall, I'm quite happy with my multichannel music/movie system. I'm sitting closer to the speakers than ever--sort of in the middle (front to back) of my 19-feet-deep room--but overall it sounds QUITE nice with the front L/R speakers closer together. Of course I'd like a better-sounding center speaker, but we all have wants, huh?!?!

* Mine's balanced 3dB higher than the rest of the system's channels. I use the 'DTS Technology Music Demonstration and Set-Up Disc', #DTS-CD 96091, and a pro-quality SPL meter for this.

Yes, DVD-A is confusing. To be a true DVD-A disc, it should have a high resolution soundtrack using a 24 bit word length with sampling frequencies from 48khz to 192khz. They can be any number of channels, from 2 to 6. The true DVD-A layer is only playable on a DVD-A player.

These discs can also have DD 5.1, stereo and possibly even DTS tracks that are playable on any DVD-V player. You have to look closely to the wording on the box, and even then they may be incorrect.

The Eagle's 'Hell Freezes over is a DTS recording that also has a PCM (stereo) soundtrack. It is not a DVD-a disc.

This explanation is not meant to be all inclusive, just some basics.

Jim

BUy some new recordings, not reissued remasters. ;-)

Seriously, the Vanguard/Abravanel reissues are all troubled by that LF noise.

Kal

We gots some pretty perverse strategies for a and v. Philips 963 does more formats than anybody I know. So you can play them and sort out why vinyl still is best. I am buying them for stuff I want, but the format wars continue.