Creating 5.1 stream for DVD-A

[quicksrt]

I am about to sit down finally and create some DVD-A discs. My plan is to use 99% SACDs that have not, and will not get reissued, and that remain rare and expensive. I am going to use a TASCAM DR-680 8 track recorder rather than a computer to record the 5.1 analog outputs. Then transfer the 24/96 poly wav files into a computer for the editing, asset prep, and authoring work.

I figure that the Tascam will solve the problem of capturing all 6 channels and having them locked in sync, and I can correct the wrong channel placement during the capture which is also appealing. I won't need additional sound cards, or have to get anything in sync after the recording.

The only DVD-A disc that I am considering a redo on is Harvest (all other will likely be SACDs). I am thinking of capturing the analog outs with the RCA jacks assigned to correct the wrong track orientation on those six songs, hit pause and switch the RCA jacks around and then continue for the correct songs not needing reassignment. So my 6 chan poly wav will not need any track position altering post capture.

Have others done the Harvest title, and would rather recommend cracking the disc open and extracting / grabbing the 5.1 files with software rather than recording the output from a DVD-A player as I have considered? And can I grab the 24/192 stereo tracks with software, yet record the 5.1 output to the Tascam, and combine all streams for the newly authored DVD-A? The Tascam route seems simple to me because I would have the channels all corrected right off the bat.

 

[JonUrban]

Working in the analog world might be a bit cumbersome when preparing to turn "played in" DVD-A's and SACD's into 6 Channel Wav files for DVD-A creation. It will work, but at some point you'll need the files on a PC, so recording into the PC is probably way easier.

Many motherboards have 6 channel inputs so you don't need a special sound card if that's the case.

 

[atrocity]

Have others done the Harvest title, and would rather recommend cracking the disc open and extracting / grabbing the 5.1 files with software rather than recording the output from a DVD-A player as I have considered?

Extracting the 5.1 files with software will eliminate any chance of degrading the sound due to an analog step and will also be considerably faster than real-time.

But...if you intend to turn around and create a corrected DVD-A, you may be out of luck if watermarking gets in the way. I don't know if the watermarking is present at the analog output or how well software watermark removal works.

And can I grab the 24/192 stereo tracks with software

Easily.

 

[jimfisheye]

I haven't ever seen a standalone hardware disc player that can output the digital audio losslessly. It would need a firewire connection or 2 ADAT lightpipes. Further, stereo program is often downsampled at the 2 channel (spdif) digital output too so you can't even get at that. (It's like they want you to think it's still 1985 or something and keep selling you discs and players multiple times over.)

Anyhoo...

DVDAExplorer is an older free app for extracting from the DVDA format.
DVD Audio Extractor is a newer (not free) app for extracting from the DVDA format that now works a little better.
MakeMKV is a $50 app for extracting your audio from a bluray disc. (The $50 is a one time fee and you get to continually download updates to get the new security codes as they come out. You need to download new firmware to the standalone hardware players as new codes are used. Careful not to brick the thing!)

I haven't tried the expensive media player apps. Not sure what that gets you.

 

[quicksrt]

Working in the analog world might be a bit cumbersome when preparing to turn "played in" DVD-A's and SACD's into 6 Channel Wav files for DVD-A creation. It will work, but at some point you'll need the files on a PC, so recording into the PC is probably way easier.

Many motherboards have 6 channel inputs so you don't need a special sound card if that's the case.

Thank you for the reply. Moving the 6 channels from a Tascam recorder to PC via USB is fast and painless. I've done some 24/96 captures from vinyl and it is quick and easy. And Harvest is likely the only DVD-A disc I am considering working on. I have the original disc as well as a rip someone did. I need to listen to the rip and make sure it has not already been corrected and I never bothered to check.

Didn't you mention Jon a few years back that you did this same type of work on some discs specially for the car, and the watermark crept into your newly mastered projects from DVD-A (even from analog out)? I have that issue as well to possibly consider.

I think the Tascam recorder is the way for me to go rather than computer, as the player is in my rack, and I'd rather just hook up the connections and record. It's a very nice unit with good converters.

So far as initial recording of the SACD analog outs. Neil W. mentioned in another single post thread about watching out for the low level noise that is present on DSD recordings. But I have not found anything yet on how to minimize this artifact, or eliminate it completely. Any ideas on controlling this potential problem?