The
following articles are reprinted here with the kind permission of Minnetonka
Audio Software Inc. Minnetonka has been making audio software for over
a decade and recently they've been specializing in surround encoding software.
They've recently released SurCode DVD Professional and will soon be shipping
M.A.S.S. 5.1 (in conjunction with Microboards). For more information
about Minnetonka and their products you can contact them at: Minnetonka
Audio Software, 17113 Minnetonka Blvd, Suite 300, Minnetonka, MN 55345.
Tel: 612-449-6481 or visit their Web site at www.minnetonkaaudio.com.Want to get into recording Surround, but confused about where to start? Don't worry. Surround is new to everybody, and so, you aren't the only person trying to figure it out. To a large extent, Surround is so new that a lot of the rules haven't been made yet. The first recording engineers and musicians to get into Surround will be pioneers that help to define the new rules. We have created here a series of short, simple articles to answer your questions about recording Surround.
What's Up with DVD-Audio?
News flash! DVD-Audio players are now shipping!!!!! You can actually go to a store and buy one.
Now the bad news: you might have a problem finding something to play in it. A few pioneering labels are releasing a few titles; most are still taking a wait-and-see stand after having been disappointed by numerous delays and scared by the lack of a secure copy-protection scheme.
What's so special about DVD-A? The disk holds far more data than a CD (4.7 GB vs. 0.6 GB), and that makes a number of things possible:
-longer playing times. At the 16-bit, 44.1 kHz CD data rate, the DVD-A disk can hold 6 hours or more of recordings
-better sound quality. The DVD-A format can support audio data up to 24-bits at up to 192 kHz for 2 channels and 96 kHz for 6 channels
-surround sound! The DVD-A format can play back 5.1 surround (6 channels)
The format is extremely flexible. For instance, you can have different formats for different tracks. You can have, say, one track that is 24-bit/192 kHz stereo, and the next track can be 5.1 surround at 16-bit/96 kHz. Even more amazing, you can have different channels of a single song at different sample rates. For instance, you can have the front channels of a 5.1 surround recording at 24/96, and the remaining channels at 16/48.
DVD-Audio does have one tricky limitation. The data coming off the disk has a maximum rate of 9.6 Megabits-per-second. If you record 6 channels at 24/96, your data rate is 13.8 Mbs, which exceeds the limitation. How do you get around this problem? MLP to the rescue! Meridian Lossless Packing is the data-reduction technique selected for DVD-Audio. What's so special about MLP? Unlike other data-reduction methods (like MP3, for instance), MLP is *lossless* data compression. You get back exactly what you put it, so it does absolutely no damage to the audio quality. MLP will typically crunch the data about 50%. So, with MLP you can put 6 channels of 24/96 on the disk, and still not hit the 9.6 Mbs data limitation. MLP can also be used to simply get longer recording times onto the disk.
How can I record at DVD-A disk? At the time of this writing (Oct 2000) these was only one game in town. Sonic Solutions makes a system you can buy today to make DVD-A. Total system price starts around $25,000. The one other system released at the end of 2000 is called M.A.S.S. 5.1 and is a product bundle jointly developed by Microboards and Minnetonka. Package price is under $10,000 including the DVD burner, and it runs on your Windows system.
Is DVD-A really better? I listened to the demo disk that came with a Panasonic DVD-A player. It had a variety of tunes recorded in a number of different formats. The one that really struck me was called "Dancing Drums" and has lots of cymbals and other percussive instruments. It's a stereo recording done at 24-bits and 192 kHz. The attacks and transients are oh-so-sweet, and the imaging is rock solid. This is definitely a step beyond CD.
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