Scoping software: advanced-sound audio: good, almost good, and not quite good. (The Music).

Hey, DVD-A is here, and I hope it will be here to stay, even if some rough, recording-technique edges still need to be smoothed. In my last batch of DVD-A reviews, I noted that although the DVD-A and Dobly Digital (DD) tracks appeared to sound very similar or even identical with all but one of the releases, I could not do a definitive A/B comparison between the technologies, because I only had one copy of each of the discs. However, this time I had some duplicates copies, and so I had a chance to not only fairly quickly compare the DVD-A and DD tracks, but also could compare either of those tracks to the DTS track.

I should also note that all but one of the surround sound releases reviewed below (the exception being a DVD music-video disc with Dolby Digital as the medium) make more use of the surround channels as instrumental sources than some people might like. We have us a situation where the recording engineers and producers are going overboard in their attempts to highlight the technology. (Remember ping-pong stereo, back in the early two-channel era?) Hopefully, things will settle down a bit in the future and the need for sonic realism will begin to reassert itself.

Big Phat Band: Swingin' For the Fences. Recorded ca. 2000, at Capital Studios and Conway Studios, Hollywood, California. Engineer: Tommy Vicari. Total time not listed. Silverline DVD-A release. 82002.

I will say first off that the extremely well-performed, big-band-jazz sound on this transcription was exceptionally clean and well focused up front, with demo-grade separation between all five channels. The up-front soundstaging was wide and well defined, with the kind of imaging from both on- and off-axis listening positions that two-channel enthusiasts can only dream about. I did think that the bass on some of the selections was a bit more pronounced than required, and in some cases I used the remote control of my F1800RII subwoofer to tame things slightly.

The center is a genuine discrete-channel feed, and it was often put to very good use. However, the surrounds were often put to even more attention-getting use, because Vicari apparently decided to put instruments (drum sets, bongos, guitars, and even pianos) all around the listener at times. He did this probably as a way to get the listener's attention and highlight the potential of this new technology. As a result, phantom images sometimes not only were out at the sides but also formed up behind the listener, almost as if there was a second ensemble in the back of the room and another one on wheels going 'round and 'round the place. This was considerably more disconcerting on my big system than on either of my smaller ones, so I assume that not everyone will be jolted to the same extent about the sometimes mobile images.

You do not need a video monitor to play either the DVD-A or DD tracks with this DVD. On the Onkyo DV-S939 player that I used, the program automatically defaults to DVD-A and all you have to do (after making sure the player is set to its six-channel-out mode) is hit the "play" button on the front panel or remote. On my Sony DVP-S360 player, the default was Dolby Digital (at 448 kbps) and again all you have to do his hit "play." Unlike with some of the other discs I have auditioned, the response time was reasonably fast. If you want to listen to the DTS track, you must use a video monitor to access the menu. On some DVD players, the DD and DTS track numbers may not read out properly. This will be a characteristic with a lot of DVD-A discs.

The disc does come with a variety of visual extras, and those include a behind-the-scenes video that is available on both the DD and DVD-A tracks (but not DTS), printed biographies, score illustrations, a speaker/room set up tutorial (short but to the point, and only available in DVD-A and DD), test tones (DVD-A and DD only), and a catalog listing of the other Silverline DVD-A releases. There is also a composer's commentary that is only available with the DVD-A track.

I did some fast comparing between DVD-A and DD with the two copies and two players, and the first thing that struck me was that the DD track averaged about 4 dB louder than the DVD-A track. Some of this almost certainly involved the way my player and my processor handled the signals, and for all I know with other player/processor combinations things might be just the other way around. Because of these attributes, the DD track appeared to have more punch than the DVD-A track. When I accessed the DTS track (done at 1509 kbps), they exhibited about the same midrange/ treble loudness level as the DD track.

Interestingly, once I did some crude level matching and listened for quality rather than quantity, I came to the conclusion that all three versions sounded subjectively so close that they might as well be considered identical.

To verify the spectral-balance similarities, I did some peak-level readouts with my AudioControl SA-3051, and the three traces were very similar. Indeed, the DD and DTS tracks almost overlaid each other from the bass range on up. The DVD-A segment had a few more peaks and dips (possibly indicating better resolution, but also possibly the result of mastering artifacts), but they appeared to sound the same as the other tracks, as best I could tell.

The good news about this is that those with conventional DVD players should be able to enjoy the fine sound of this recording as well as those who have DVD-A players, even if they sometimes cannot read the track numbers properly. Indeed, because Dolby Digital allows for full bass management with standard processor playback, those with sub/sat systems that have smallish satellites would get better sound than those who opted for a DVD-A player and DVD-A playback.

I did notice one artifact with the DTS material. If I left my Yamaha processor's DTS low-frequency-effects level at the usual default-for-movie setting, the DTS tracks were decidedly bass shy. I had to boost the DTS LFE output a full 10 dB to get a proper balance, and I have had similar experiences with some of the DTS compact disc music releases I have reviewed. As best I can tell, there is no practical reason to listen to the DTS segment on this disc, no matter what kind of player or processor you have.

Cecilia & Bryn at Glynderbourne. Arias and duets by Cecilia Bartoli and Bryn Terfel, supported by the London Symphony Orchestra. (Music by Mozart, Rossini, Haydn, Donizetti, and Handel.) Recorded live, in 1999. Engineer: not listed. 90 minutes. DVD video disc, with 16:9 aspect-ratio picture. The disc is two sided, with the US NTSC version on one side and the European PAL version on the other. Chandos 30001.

There are two soundtracks on the NTSC side of this disc: two-channel Dolby Digital at 320 kbps, and a 5.0-channel mix at 448 kbps. There are no DTS or DVD-A tracks. To be truthful, neither Dolby track is a record breaker in terms of what either should be capable of doing. Unfortunately, in spite of the well-recorded vocals (at least for a live performance with the singers moving around), the orchestral spread is up front very constricted, with the supporting ensemble mostly coming across as vaguely mono. (Perhaps they wanted the sound to appear to be coming from a small-screen TV monitor between the speakers.) Ironically, the center feed appears to be not much more than a simple, non-discrete L+R mix, with the main channels also reproducing the same material. This takes a technologically shaky situation and makes it even worse. The 5.0 mix is what you should select, in any case, because at least it has a degree of hall ambiance blended into the mix.

I managed to save the situation to a slight degree by backing off the center level about -3 dB. I do this all the time with two-channel program material that I am trying to synthesize a center feed from, and I found it rather odd that I had to resort to that trick with what should have been a proper three-channel mix across the front to begin with. Unfortunately, even the center-level cut was not enough to spread the orchestra out properly. Interestingly, when the performances were over, the sound of the audience applause was spread out nicely, with even the surround channels contributing. So it has to be assumed that the fault was not with the technology. Rather, it involved a conscious choice on the part of the anonymous engineer to favor a narrow sound-stage focus.

The video part of the program basically has Bartoli and Terfel performing on the stage with the orchestra, and the result is better than you might think. Ms. Bartoli is a natural cut-up and just plain wonderful to observe, and her presentation is both visually and sonically terrific. As a singer, she is almost in a class by herself. Terfel is also quite good, and the two of them play off against each other quite well.

I just wish the engineer could have done a better job, even if he did have the right to invoke the usual "live-performance constraints" excuse.

Grieg, Edvard. Assorted excerpts from a cross section of his works. The London Philharmonic Orchestra. Recorded ca. 2000, at Abbey Road Studios. Engineers: Claus Trelby and David Hunt. Silverline DVD-A release. 80629.

The package includes several extras, including assorted stills, production notes, some info on DVD-A speaker set-up requirements, and information on other Silverline releases. The jewel box itself is a new design, being slightly larger and considerably sturdier than the standard CD box, but considerably smaller than your typical DVD movie snap case. This is actually a good compromise design, although the slightly oversized flyer inside the box made no attempt to capitalize on the advantage by giving us some information on the musical compositions.

While it is possible to forgive some in-channel-instrument tricks with pop, new-age, and even some jazz releases (see below), it is not possible to forgive such antics with classical music that is supposed to have the orchestra up front and the listeners out in the audience area. What we have here is surround-sound classical music for the purpose of getting one's attention, and not much else.

Yes, the recording is exemplary in some respects, particularly in terms of instrumental detail and dynamics. Unfortunately, the engineers just went overboard in their quest to get the listener's attention. Rather than present us with the acoustic signature of a concert hall, the surround channels are here mostly used to deliver instrument sounds that detract mightily from the impression that one is listening to a live performance. As a result, we have the listener twisting his head back and forth in an attempt to determine just what is going on.

This sort of recording trickery might impress certain listeners and allow them to wow their naive guests during demonstrations of their surround-sound music system. However, the "Hey, listen to this!" game left me aesthetically cold. To the credit of the engineers, at least the center channel appeared to be a hard feed, which helped to solidify the frontal images when listening from off the preferred central axis. To their detriment, the recording never did seem to come up with a properly balanced hall-ambiance effect.

I did not do any peak-level comparisons between the DD, DTS, and DVD-A tracks, but as far as I could tell they were very similar. The levels were closer together than what I have heard when comparing the tracks on some other DVD-A recordings. See the review of the Tchaikovsky material, below, for more technical details about the very similar sound of that release.

Inside the Music: Classic Jazz. Excerpts and remasterings from Donald Byrd, Bobby Hutcherson, Horace Silver, Cannonball Adderly, Buddy Rich, Gene Harris, etc. Tracks in DD, DTS, and DVD-A. Engineer in charge of remastering: Claus Trelby. No total time listed. Silverline DVD-A release. 77885.

First, as with the Big Phat Band release, reviewed above, the DD and DTS tracks on this release were several dB louder, on average, than the DVD-A program. The overall balance between the DD, DTS, and DVD-A tracks was similar, but the bass on the latter was definitely not as rich as with the other two. Measurements of the DD and DVD-A tracks (I passed on fooling with the DTS track, which sounded the same as DD) showed the balance between both to be similar from 2 kHz on up and the same between 100 and 500 Hz. Between 630 and 1,600 Hz there were subtle differences, and below 100 Hz the DD track averaged about 4 dB louder (this was easy to correct for by means of the remote level controls on both my Velodyne F1800 and FSR-12 subwoofers), even when the midrange and treble part of the curves were adjusted to roughly overlay each other. The center-channel appeared to be an unsteered L+R blend.

The Gene Harris track had as much - or sometimes even more - instrumental sound coming from the surround channels than from the front channels. At times, I was surround by drums and percussion sounds. With the same Harris program material the DD track had bass that was not only louder, but also noticeably lower in frequency at times.

Curiously, about 66 seconds into the Buddy Rich program on the DVD-A track the sound disappeared and the picture went to pot. This happened on both of my disc samples. Interestingly, the anomaly did not show up on the DD version. All of the other DVD-A segments I listened to seemed OK.

Defects notwithstanding, I believe this would have been a sensational sounding classic-jazz recording if (1) the surrounds had been used to reproduce jazz-nightclub style ambiance rather than instruments all over the place, and (2) the bass levels had split the difference between the excess of the DD track and the thinness of the DVD-A material.

Inside the Music: Classic Rock. Excerpts and remasterings from the Destroyers, Billy Idol, Sugarloaf, Joe Crocker, Pat Benatar, Billy Squire, and others. Tracks in DD, DTS, and DVD-A. Engineer in charge of remastering: Claus Trelby. No total time listed. Silverline DVD-A release. 77896.

As with the other Silverline discs I review above and below, the DD and DTS tracks were several dB louder than the DVD-A track. Interestingly, the bass levels of the DD material sounded way, way louder than those of the DVD-A track. Indeed, while it could be argued that the DVD-A track on most of the music on this disc sounded a tad thin sounding in the deeper bass, the DD material was decidedly boomy at times. As with some of the other discs reviewed this time I would have preferred a bass balance that kind of split the difference between the two.

With overall average midrange outputs matched, these recordings sounded obviously different, and when I took RTA measurements of their respective peak levels during identical program segments, those differences were quite obvious. The DD readout had a distinct rise between 630 and 800 Hz that did not exist with the DVD-A measurement, and below 80 Hz the DD material averaged a good 11-14 dB (!) louder than the DVD-A material. There is no way that these differences could reflect different digital coding, and so I have to conclude that the engineer had some creative ideas about how he wanted these two versions to sound.

From 1 kHz on up the DD and DVD-A curves were nearly identical, and if I set the DTS LFE level of my Yamaha DSP-A1 at +10, the DD and DTS curves pretty much overlapped and sounded close to that way, too. Between 800 Hz and 2,500 Hz there were subtle but measurable differences between the DD and DTS tracks and both measured different from the DVD-A readout. All sounded considerably different from each other, particularly in the bass. Indeed, the bass levels were so different that I had trouble keying in on the other differences when doing fast A/B switchovers.

As with the other discs, I could fine-tune things by means of the remote controls of the Velodyne sub in my large system and the smaller Velodyne sub in one of my smaller systems (that smaller set up only has DD and DTS abilities). With the bigger system, this simply involved boosting the bass output from the DVD-A track several dB or cutting the bass from the DD track several dB. Doing this did not allow me to do fast A/B comparisons, unfortunately, but it did result in all three versions sounding considerably better.

As with the program material on the other disc, this release had an abundance of instrumental activity in the surround channels. While that might be disconcerting with more conventional music (at least for me it is that way), with rock (classic rock or the very latest stuff) this often appears to work to good effect. I am convinced now that 5-channel audio can be a genuinely creative medium for rock musicians - much more so than with classical and jazz music. With the latter two musical categories, surround sound is at its best when enhancing live-music, sense-of-space realism and stabilizing the center stage.

Inside the Music: New Age. Excerpts from contemporary material by 3rd Force, Neal Schon, Lara & Reyes, Craig Chaquico, and others. Tracks in DD, DTS, and DVD-A. Engineer in charge of remastering: Claus Trelby. No total time listed. Silverline DVD-A release. 92356.

Again, we have three different tracks: five-channel DVD-A, DD at the usual 448 kbps, and DTS at the usual 1509 kbps. As with the others, the disc played simply by putting it in a player and hitting play - and waiting a while.

The only video material involved assorted stills that I did not bother to fool with. As with the previous discs, the fast-switch comparisons between those tracks were not able to award a sonic advantage to any of the three digital technologies involved. Except for bass balance and the usual slight average loudness differences, they sounded very similar.

The DD and DTS tracks measured almost identical with peak-level readings, although the DD version was 2-5 dB louder below about 60 Hz. This gave the DD material an occasional bit of impact the DTS presentation lacked. However, by advancing the processor's DTS LFE level, I could bring the two versions up to sonic parity.

The DVD-A track measured about 2 dB lower in level than the same-loudness DD and DTS tracks and were similar to the others in terms of spectral balance up to about 500 Hz. However, above that point there were measurable differences, although when the music was bouncing along those differences were next to impossible to pinpoint. Because the DD material had bass levels below about 60 Hz somewhat louder than the DVD-A and DTS tracks (when the DTS LFE level was not boosted a bit to compensate for the DTS thinness), Dolby Digital tended to sound richer and fuller.

The music on this disc is typical "new age," meaning that at times it is rather ethereal and floaty sounding, and kind of, well, new age. Because of this, having instrumental feeds from all five channels was really not all that unpleasant. I am not sure that a five-channel feed is all that big a deal with such source material, but some people might like the effect.

Tchaikovsky, Peter: Sleeping Beauty. London Philharmonic Orchestra. Recorded ca. 2000, at Abbey Road Studios. Engineers: Claus Trelby and David Hunt. Silverline DVD-A recording. 86031.

The package includes several extras, including assorted stills, production notes, some helpful info on DVD-A speaker set-up requirements, and information on other Silverline releases. The stills are mainly outdoor scenic shots, and one has to wonder why the producers did not include much more appropriate stills of a performance of The Sleeping Beauty. As with the Grieg material reviewed above, the jewel box itself is a new design, being slightly larger and more robust than the standard CD box, but considerably smaller than your typical DVD movie container.

Curiously, I had trouble cueing up this disc on the Onkyo DV-D939 player I was using. Hitting "play" only called up a partial menu, with no viable play options shown, and if I hit "play" again the player would go into its stop mode. This was the only DVD-A disc I have reviewed so far that would give this problem, and I solved it by hitting the player's "top-menu" button, and then clicking on "play program" on the list selection that popped up. I had no trouble playing the DD sections on my standard Sony DVD player.

What I said about the Grieg disc previously is also applicable here. While it is possible to forgive a certain amount of soundstage diddling with pop, new-age, and even some jazz releases, it is not possible to forgive such antics with classical music that typically has the orchestra up front and the listeners out in the audience area.

Yes, the recording is good in some respects, particularly in terms of detail, frontal imaging, and dynamics (but with some of the instruments, particularly the violins, sounding unnaturally brittle and forward). However, the engineer and producer just went overboard in their quest to grandstand. To the release's credit, there is a well-defined, hard center channel that helps to solidify the frontal spread when listening from off axis. Unfortunately, there are also instrumental sounds (harps and strings, for sure) disconcertingly located in the surround channels, and the result sometimes makes it sound as if the players are located up and down the side aisles, and even in the in the hall seats a few positions to the left and right. This just does NOT work, and because of this I found it really, really hard to enjoy this music.

On top of that, the orchestral perspective itself was not all that realistic, even when instrumental sounds were not being panned to the surround channels. I compared this material to Telarc (80151) and London (443 555) versions that were done by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1987 and The Montreal Symphony in 1982, respectively, and when I applied surround-ambiance synthesis to those recordings via the Classical/Opera functions of my Yamaha DSP-A1 processor/amp, I found that the sense of stage realism and hall space (like what would be heard from the good seats in a good hall) was superior to what I heard with the Silverline DVD-A material. With this DVD-A release, the engineer simply did not do a proper job of simulating concert-hall acoustics.

Regarding the DD and DTS alternate tracks, I again did some peak-level measurements of musically identical DD and DVD-A segments and found the usual inconclusive differences. From 630 Hz on up, the curves overlaid. Between 100 and 500 Hz, there were slight differences, but they were so small that it was impossible to pinpoint them during listening comparisons. The DD track averaged about 1 dB louder than the DVD-A track throughout the midrange and treble, in considerable contrast to some of the other releases I have reviewed, which had the DD midrange and treble material 3- 4-, and even 5-dB louder.

However, below 100 Hz, the DD material on this disc was 4-5 dB louder than the DVD-A track, right down to 25 Hz. (Admittedly, the signal strength was only musically significant down to about 30 Hz.) I felt that the DD version was a bit on the bloated side because of this, but the DVD-A material was somewhat thin sounding by comparison. A perfect version would have split the difference. I did not check out the DTS track, but my experience with other Silverline recordings tells me that it would not have any edge over the other two versions.