Audio DVDs that play on todays CD players too. Good idea.....................................................
onlineinc.com
A Blow Against CD Obsolescence: Proposed Audio Disc Will Play in Both CD and DVD Hardware
Relatively little attention has been focused on DVD audio, which has lagged well behind DVD Video in terms of development. But, with the proposal detailed by Sony Corporation and Philips Electronics at the Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention in New York City, the long-awaited convergence of high-density CD and the consumer audio industry may finally be upon us.
Philips and Sony have designed the Super Audio CD to satisfy the music industry's desire to deliver higher-quality content audio discs without rendering the millions of audio CD players in consumers' hands obsolete. The proposed Super Audio CD is a hybrid disc readable by existing CD players and audio DVD players. Super Audio CDs would include the same audio recording on two different layers of the disc--a traditional layer that can be read by CD players, and a high-density layer to be read by DVD players. The layers will be separated by a third, semi-transparent layer. "Hybrid discs will cover all consumer playback needs by not only playing in future Super Audio CD players, but also on every existing hi-fi, portable, and car player as well," says Philips high-density audio project manager Wally Heijnemans. "Any future music carrier must be fully compatible with the hugely successful installed base of the compact disc."
The International Steering Committee (ISC)--a group consisting of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Recording Industry Association of Japan, and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry--included backward compatibility to the compact disc in a list of recommendations for DVD Audio as far back as May 1996. Other ISC recommendations include measures for piracy prevention; conditional access to "additional content" such as video, lyrics, or other non-audio data; a capacity for six audio channels rather than simple left-and-right stereo; and better durability than that offered by traditional CDs.
In addition to providing both DVD and CD audio layers, Sony and Philips' Super Audio CD will use the Direct Stream Digital (DSD) audio format, which is pitted against the linear pulse-code modulation (LPCM) specification backed by JVC, Matsushita, Pioneer, and Toshiba. LPCM is similar to the format that's used currently for compact discs, but with a sampling rate of 48 or 96KHz compared to CD's 44.1KHz. As a progressive evolution of today's technology, it would require little change in how audio is recorded. So far, only Matsushita's Panasonic DVD player is equipped to play such discs.
DSD, on the other hand, would shake up the entire audio production industry and its consumers, from studio recording and mastering to home listening. For DSD audio production, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion of audio signals are required in the recording studio itself as signals pass from microphones to a recording desk. This method--along with multichannel mixing in addition to conventional two-track stereo--allows for warmer, more accurate sound reproduction, according to DSD's supporters. The sampling rate would be 64 times that of the standard audio CD; of course, many consumers would need to add speakers to their systems to appreciate fully the multichannel DSD listening experience.
(Philips Electronics, 3200 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95134; 408/570-5600; Fax 408/570-0700; pps.philips.com. Sony Corporation of America, 3300 Zanker Road, San Jose, CA 95134; 408/436-6300; Fax 408/432-0253; sony.com)
--Jeff Partyka |
