DualDisc

[curtis]

Have any of you tried these new discs?

I have two of them. Right on the packaging it says the CD side may not work with some CD players. One of mine works fine, the other does not. Luckily, the one that does not has DVD-A on the DVD side.

Apparently Denon, and some other companies have issued advisories:


Dual Disc Consumer Advisories To Date
To date, we've now seen 13 Dual Disc advisories from the following firms:
Denon
JVC
Lexicon
Marantz
Mark Levinson
Meridian
Onkyo Electronics
Philips
Pioneer Electronics
Sony Computer Entertainment America
Sony Electronics America
Sony Europe
Toshiba


http://www.highfidelityreview.com/news/news.asp?newsnumber=18008347

[GrahamMc]

My wife just bought the Rob Thomas Dualdisc. The "CD" version plays fine, but the DVD-A side doesn't play on my Pioneer 563a. It's odd, the player recognizes it as a DVD-Audio and acts like it's playing, but no audio. Oh well, just another excuse to give the wife for upgrading to the Denon 2910!! :)

[curtis]

That's funny, because that is the disc my 2900 has problems with on the CD side, the DVD-A sounds great.

[curtis]

I just exchanged the disc, and both sides seem to be playing fine now.

[curtis]

Nevermind....posted too soon. Same problem, just further into the disc. :mad:

[JohnnyCasaba]

Picked up my first dualdisc yesterday, the new Springsteen disc Devils and Dust. Had a hard time trying to make a copy for the car with EAC. DVD-Rom was reading it VERY slow. DVD burner was able to rip it much faster.

[PhenomeNhan]

Got mine for $9.72 last night after arguing for a bit with the Walmart checkout girl over pricing.

The CD side works well in my car and work computer. I don't have a ripper installed, except for WinMedia9, but I can only rip in the WMA format. It does it flawlessly. This is on a Windows 2000 machine.

At home:

1. On my computer (running WinXP), the DVD-ROM does not recognize the CD side.
2. The DVD-burner recognized it, but took quite a while in doing so.
3. When ripping via WinMedia9, I'm able to select lossless format, as opposed to compressed wma. "Lonely No More" showed 10+ minutes of playing time, and a few other tracks reported issues with copying. So all the CDA format only had a few that were good copies.
4. When ripping via EAC, it ran into problems with several tracks. For example, for some reason, the "Lonely No More" track showed 10+ minutes of playing time. So only about 2/3 (guessing, since I've not played them all) of the tracks copied as WAV format work correctly.

5. Using it on my 563a, both sides work flawlessly. Graham, does your 563a have the latest firmware update to resolve a lot of issues with DVD-Audio discs? If not, then you might want to get in touch with Pioneer.

This new format is pretty frustrating to say the least :(

[s2pdname]

The RIAA has published DualDisc specifications;

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/news/news.asp?newsnumber=14932178

[Quinn]

They are crap! I refuse to buy them. I've seen stories of needing to go to the dealer to get them out of the car's CD player because of the extra thickness not mixing with slot load players. While Curtis lists those with advisories, Harman International has made it policy that DualDisc use voids the warranty. That means the following brands which fall under the Harman umbella have no warranty w/ DualDiscs Harman Kardon, JBL, Infinity, Revel, Audioaccess, Lexicon, Mark Levinson, Madrigal Imaging, and Proceed.

[jimsiff]

Quinn,

Dual Discs are thicker and/or have more mass to them? I didn't know that. I wonder what would happen if you tossed one in a 52x PC CD-ROM drive. :D

[curtis]

After my experience with DualDisc, I will not buy one unless something is only available in that format.

[s2pdname]

They are crap!


I completely agree. Besides the thickness issue, I despise the fact that they (artists, producers, record companies) can put whatever information on them that they wish.

I have just heard so many people asking about the "specs" and if they contain "hi-rez" I thought that this information may be of use in answering some questions.

[Quinn]

I completely agree. Besides the thickness issue, I despise the fact that they (artists, producers, record companies) can put whatever information on them that they wish.

I have just heard so many people asking about the "specs" and if they contain "hi-rez" I thought that this information may be of use in answering some questions.

Good point I don't think they even meet redbook standards.

[curtis]

OK....so I got another DualDisc today eventhough I said I wouldn't...but it was the only way the disc could be had, and the salesperson said I could return it if I had problems. When I asked if they had a lot of DualDisc returns, he said yes, and that they were going to be "re-worked".

Anyways, the disc I got was "Ben Folds Songs for Silverman". Great disc and both sides play fine in my 2900, but one of the drives in my PC has a problem with the CD side.

My guess is that DualDiscs will always be a crap shoot for me. Who knows, maybe the 2900 won't like the disc tomorrow.

[dyevin]

i just picked up my first dualdisc - nine inch nails - with_teeth.
so far it has played fine in my car (slot load), dvd player at home and pc at work. i can play the DVD's dolby digital 5.1 and 2 channel tracks fine on my dvd player.

as of now i won't hesitate to buy the dualdisc format if it's an option for future releases i'm interested in...

[s2pdname]

I'm certainly not trying to discourage anyone from buying DualDiscs, but it does seem like kind of a hit or miss situation on whether or not you get a good one. There's some good reading on problems that have been encountered with these discs over at AVS.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=112

[GrahamMc]

Well, after a bit of a wait, I got my firmware updated on the 563a. The Rob Thomas DualDisc works just fine now. My wife also has A Simple Plan DualDisc and it works on both sides. I think I'll stick to straight SACD/DVD-A for me, though. Just thought I'd share!

Graham

[s2pdname]

I think I'll stick to straight SACD/DVD-A for me, though. Just thought I'd share!


I agree, Graham. I feel like we got pretty lucky with the two that we currently have (Simple Plan & Good Charlotte), as there are no problems with either. I just enjoy SACD so much more.

[PhenomeNhan]

I guess either the beta testers in the Northwest didn't do a very good job, or the DualDisc folks just ignored all the reported problems.

[nhan070]

Just chimming in to give my 2 cents worth. I saw the dualdisc stand while shopping a month ago and thought I give it a whirl. I selected "Kind of Blue" by Mile Davis. I'm not a jazz person but thought this would be a good disc to try for beginners.

I've tried both side on my Tosh. SD5700 player and I've not had any technical trouble. Audiowise, I was very impressed with the 5.1 tracks/side...very very nice. The audio recording really shows how the Ascend can make music (intruments or muscian) appears "real" in your home. All the instruments can be heard clearly and there is a sense of realism to it. My HSU VTF-3 MKII does wonders with reproducing the upright string bass notes. After all this time, I'm still amazed...and loving it.

So, this dualdisc thing might be a good thing, IMO.

[s2pdname]

So, this dualdisc thing might be a good thing, IMO.


It sounds like you got a good one.

Is the surround audio side of that one actually a hi-rez DVD-A, or is it just DD 5.1?

[nhan070]

Is the surround audio side of that one actually a hi-rez DVD-A, or is it just DD 5.1?

If you are refering to whether it is either high rez 2ch DVD-A vs DD5.1, I believe it is DD5.1 since I recall hearing audio from all the front system (FL, C, FR, and sub). Sorry but it has been a while so I don't recall the specific audio produced from the surrounds.

You've just given reason to listen to it again (and enjoy it)....tonight! :0)

[curtis]

another interesting DualDisc read:
http://surroundablog.blogs.com/surroundablog/2005/06/dualdisc_gettin.html#more

[s2pdname]

Forgive my naiveté, and ignorance of the physical disc limitations, but why can’t a disc be produced with Hybrid SACD on one side and DVD-A & DD 5.1 on the other??? Wouldn’t this cover all consumer needs and all current players that are out there?

If something like this is not physically possible now, would it be when/if BD and/or HD-DVD come out??? :confused: