Car 5.1 DTS units anyone know of any

[nifedipin]

Hey Rck60s,
Why waste time and space to make isos?
Use nero burning room to burn the dvds and the cds[just drag'n drop wav[dts encoded] files in nero's window for cd audio].If wavs file suffix is dts you need a dts plugin for nero or transcode dts files[those are still wavs...kind of] to wav[dts within] that nero can burn.
Have a nice day,
M

 

[Rck60s]

Thanks everyone for the info

 

[PhilBiker]

This is my first post on QQ.

I bought the Sony MEX-DV2200 a few weeks ago to play my collection of multichannel music discs. In my research I came across the QQ forum; I was referred here by someone at the steve hoffman tv forum. I have a few dozen multichannel discs on various formats, most of which I bought in the early-mid 2000s.

Unfortunately, it seems that it sometimes skips tracks when playing DTS CDs. Sometimes it also stops at the end of a track and just shows the time of the track instead of going to the next track. It seems that these problems started when I engaged the "EQ7" feature. Anyone else experience this problem with the Sony units?

Other than that, the unit is wonderful. The "virutal center" mode sounds very bad to me, but if you disable it, the 2200 just sends the center information to both front speakers. Surround music in the car is incredibly cool. Having the rear channels come from below my head, in the rear doors of the car, as opposed to up near the ceiling in my home theater, takes some getting used to. My SACDs sound great, DTS CDs sound great, DVD-Video sounds great in DTS and Dolby Digital.

 

[proufo]

The Sony unit went up in price at Amazon.

 

[PhilBiker]

Important notice for anyone who has a MEX-DV2200 and is noticing the unit skipping tracks on DTS CDs: (other similar units may or may not have the same situation).

As I posted above, my MEX-DV2200 has been skipping tracks with DTS CDs. It would play track 1 then 2 then skip to 4. Then skip to 6 or so. It would not be able to play a whole DTS CD through.

I just got off the phone with the wonderful folks at Sony Tech Support.

On page 26 of the user manual (in print or downloaded through Sony's web site) there us a section in the right hand column which explains "Adjusting the audio output level - DVD Level". The default setting for DTS is +4. Change this to 0. This seems to have solved my problem. According to the Sony customer service rep, there may be a software glitch where the unit is trying to adjust the level instead of playing through. I hope it is right. In our on-the-phone conversation while I was playing the disc, the problem did not happen with DVD LVL set to 0. I have not yet gone for a drive and played a DTS CD, but if the problem recurs, I will follow up.

I continue to be very impressed with the performance of this unit.

 

[elmer]

I just completed the install - Sony MEX DV2200 into a 2006 Toyota Avalon (replacing the non JBL factory audio system). It was a bit daunting at first but once I trusted all the install info I gleaned (from various internet sources), it was pretty straightforward. The tricky bit was the fact that the factory head unit also controls the climate controls - so a special adapter harness linked to the factory head unit (which is now secured in the trunk) allows me to keep everything hunky dory. I have decided to wait on wiring a center speaker and sub - until the 4 feet of snow melts here in the great Northeast first. You cannot beat this system for the price - now I can play SACD, DTS, DD 5.1 DPLll and a front panel aux jack for my Zune. All I need now is some decent weather for a long drive.

 

[PhilBiker]

Looks like the change to the DVD LVL did not fix my problem after all. Still skipping tracks on DTS CDs. Elmer - can you play a DTS CD all the way through without it skipping tracks on you?

 

[elmer]

I did notice the problem with DTS CD skipping tracks after your post (thanks). I did the reset as above and it appears to be working fine - but to be honest I didn't play around all that long with it. I have so few DTS-CDs that it isn't really an issue. I transfer all my non-SACD stuff to DTS DVD anyway. Thanks for the heads up though!

 

[PhilBiker]

That's the solution I need. Is there any instruction anywhere online here or elsewhere on how to make a DVD with DTS Tracks ripped from a DTS CD?

I may have a temporary solution: I own the shareware program "Audio DVD Creator". I specifically purchased it to make 96/24 stereo DVDs from needle drops of some of my rarest albums. It has the capability to transcode DTS WAV files to Dolby Digital. Using the highest bitrate possible for Dolby Digital, I may be able to make multichannel DVDs which will play. Early experiments seem to suggest that this might work for me. It's a huge waste of space since even at the highest bitrate possible Dolby Digital takes a fraction of the space that DTS does. I'd rather be able to just rip the DTS CDs and create DVDs with DTS tracks.

Edit/update: Even at the highest bitrate the transcodes sound horrible. Hope I can find a DVD program somewhere.

 

[elmer]

I don't have any experience ripping from DTS CD. I use DVD Audio Extractor to rip the MLP lossless files from DVD-Audio - it rips them to mulithchannel wave files which I then transcode to DVD DTS using Audiomuxer and Surcode for DVD. Ripping from straight DTS to DVD seems much more problematic.

 

[PhilBiker]

That's very helpful, thank you. What do you use to author DVDs with DTS content? Thanks!

 

[elmer]

That's very helpful, thank you. What do you use to author DVDs with DTS content? Thanks!

There's a great little freeware/opensource program out there called GUI for dvdauthor. Once you get the hang of it, it's a more than decent authoring tool. Also a great way to extract the audio only DTS stream from DVD Video is a program called DVD Fab - make sure you get the most recent version. It will make an exact copy of the DTS audio and even break it up into the proper chapters. Then you can just load the DTS audio files into audiomuxer and mux to a DVD file and ISO image if you prefer not to go the route of more detailed authoring.

 

[PhilBiker]

Thanks again, I have a project now.

 

[PhilBiker]

Problem is that my stuff is on DTS CD (44.1K) not DTS DVD (48K). That means it needs to be decoded, resampled, then re-encoded. I don't have the budget for Surcode. Audiomuxer can do the resampling and re-encoding to Dolby Digital, but not DTS because I don't have a DTS encoder. Early attempts have been promising, but now all my files are silence.

Audiomuxer is extremely frustrating - the documentation talks of an algorithm called SSRC, but there's no discussion of how to configure it to work, just that you can select it. I downloaded it but don't know what to do next. I've switched back to r8brain but still all my files are silence. I have no way to play the AC3 tracks on my PC. This is such a frustrating and tedious work-around for the software bug in the Sony DVD car player.

Thanks so much for your help, I wouldn't have guessed that Audiomuxer could do the transcoding. The AC3 files sounded half decent before everything became silence.

 

[elmer]

Problem is that my stuff is on DTS CD (44.1K) not DTS DVD (48K). That means it needs to be decoded, resampled, then re-encoded. I don't have the budget for Surcode. Audiomuxer can do the resampling and re-encoding to Dolby Digital, but not DTS because I don't have a DTS encoder. Early attempts have been promising, but now all my files are silence.

Audiomuxer is extremely frustrating - the documentation talks of an algorithm called SSRC, but there's no discussion of how to configure it to work, just that you can select it. I downloaded it but don't know what to do next. I've switched back to r8brain but still all my files are silence. I have no way to play the AC3 tracks on my PC. This is such a frustrating and tedious work-around for the software bug in the Sony DVD car player.

Thanks so much for your help, I wouldn't have guessed that Audiomuxer could do the transcoding. The AC3 files sounded half decent before everything became silence.

I can't really advise re: DTS CD. All of my conversions come from DVD sources and Surcode is certainly a necessity.

 

[PhilBiker]

I do not mean to hijack this thread, but I wanted to follow up.

I have consulted with at least one other Internet Forum user who has observed the same "skipping tracks" playback bug on DTS CDs. Therefore I believe that the problem is in the firmware for the Sony deck.

My work-around, as described above, with great help very much appreciated from user elmer, is the following:

* Rip the DTS CD using EAC
* Transcode to Dolby Digital 640kbps using Audiomuxer
* Author DVD-Video using "Audio DVD Creator"
* Enjoy!

The sound of the transcoded Dolby Digital is not as good as the original DTS, of course, but the compromise in fidelity is worth the convenience of being able to play the albums in the car. One caveat - some of the earlier DTS CDs, when ripped to WAV, are identified as stereo PCM. These will not transcode to Dolby Digital - this is why I was getting silent tracks before - the tracks were not correctly identified by Audiomuxer.

 

[georgeshannon]

Can you convert from DTS CD to DTS DVD? Are you thinking its the medium or the format that causes the trouble?

 

[PhilBiker]

Audiomuxer can convert from DTS CD (44.1Khz) to DTS DVD (48Khz), but it requires a DTS decoder. I don't have the budget for one.

It is definitely not the format that's the problem, as the Sony headunit plays DTS beautifully, both from DVD and CD sources. The only problem is playing back DTS CDs start-to-finish as an album.

 

[georgeshannon]

I see. I also see where this was discussed a few posts up the chain. Sorry I wasn't paying attention. Good luck finding a DTS encoder.

 

[LarryMcI]

I recently installed a Sony MEX-DV2200 aboard my boat. SA-CD performance is outstanding! Multichannel (especially Quad, not 5:1) material plays without a glitch. Since this is a DVD-A/DVD/SA-CD/etc. deck ... it is V E R Y S L O W to just load-and-play ordinary music CDs. The FM radio tuner is good but lacks some of the "newer" features like station programming info. This is an extremely versitile head unit which can output to (2) monitors and has both front- and rear-input capability. The installation diagram, alone, would scare-away most amateur installers!