Sexi_Lexi

I've had my car for about 6 months now and I've just finally started putting the ML to good use. What I mean is that it's not until now that I listen to DVD audio and boy, what a difference with the ML! All of this time, I've been listening to regular cd's and not even take advantage of the fact that I have the ML system. Now that I have the dvd's with DTS & surround sound, my car is like a concert on wheels.

Any other ML owners have done this also or were you smart enough to take advantage of having ML from day 1?

ps. Can any audiophiles explain to me the difference among DTS, LPCM and Dolby Digital? Some of my dvd's gives me the option among those choices but I don't know what the different setting means.

cspec

Damn, now I really regret not getting the ML system. Well... maybe next car.

kensteele

I've only taken advantage of my ML by playing DVD movies. I play movies about 4 days out of the week and I have about a dozen homemade DVDs containing music videos, short movies, and stuff I've created using iMoviesHD or iDVD. I haven't yet used the DVD audio, if you know of the best source for these....if I were to get one or two DVDs for demonstration purposes, what would you recommend?

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

I got the ML system so I dont have to do upgrades later on. Sounds unbelievable. Surround ON, Bass +3 Mid +2 Treb +2 Fad -1, however I dont have NAV so I dont think I can do the DVD-A

jewel

i've mad ea couple of music video dvds too... where do you get your vid ken? Do you capture to your computer and then burn?

and i've never heard of dvd audio... is it like a cd, only on a dvd? Is sound quality that much better? I've never bought a cd in my life :X

cmusic

In a short answer form:

LPCM is an audio format used on regular CDs. On DVDs LCPM audio is used normally used for the sound source in DVD players that can’t decode Dolby Digital or DTS audio or if the stereo outputs of the DVD player is used.

Dolby Digital 5.1 (DD) is a discreet (each channel has its own independent sounds) format that can have up to 6 channels of sound: left front, center, right front, left rear, right rear, and LFE (low frequency effects). Dolby Digital EX format adds an extra rear center channel for 6.1 and 7.1 systems. (The only difference between 6.1 and 7.1 systems is the 7.1 system has two rear speakers. In either system the rear speakers use the same audio channel.)

DTS is also a discreet 5.1 format and is technically better than DD. Most videophiles feel that the DTS sound can has more detail than DD. In turn the DTS soundtrack takes up more space on the DVD and requires different studio mastering equipment. That is the reason some DVDs don’t have a DTS soundtrack available. I personally like DTS better than DD on my home theater system. Like DD EX, DTS ES adds a rear center channel.

In addition DVD-A is similar to Dolby Digital but has more musical detail. This is due to more audio information can be stored on the disk rather than be taken up by the video on a DVD.

DTS also produces audio only disks that are incorrectly labeled as DVD-A sometimes. DTS audio disks uses the same format as used on DTS DVD soundtracks.

I would like someone with ML to confirm that DD and DTS actually play through the ML audio system. Both Dolby and DTS usually require all manufactures that use their formats to place labels on their equipment. So far I have not seen any Dolby or DTS labels in ML equipped 2ISs. Other OEM auto sound manufactures have their own surround sound formats, like Bose and JBL, so they don’t use Dolby or DTS. Mark Levinson is owned by the same company as JBL (Harmon International) so the 2IS could be using JBL's Logic 7 format to do its surround sound.

cpsmith516

this depends a lot upon the listener, what i may find impressive on the system you may deem to be junk because of the particular genre. but all B.S. aside, one of the most impressive displays of multichannel DVD-A i've ever heard was on The Crystal Method - Legion of Boom. If you're looking for something more vocal try Boyz-II-Men - II (DVD-A as well), but no longer in production so you'll need to borrow a copy or get one used off of Amazon. You can also buy SACD's that have DTS included on them, they don't have anywhere near the range of the DVD-A's but are still an impressive display of the ML system.

If you're looking for a decent list of DVD-A and SACD (DTS) try http://www.elusivedisc.com/default.asp and look to the menu bar on the left side, there are complete listings of SACD, DVD-A, etc.

the logos are on the bottom of the nav/ml unit near the shifter across the bottom. i don't have a scanner to show you this photo of the interior, but if you can get your hands on the new 07 catalog there is an insert in the front with full page color photos, look at Interior Study No. 2 and you'll see all the logos at the bottom right hand corner of the picture. Also took this from the ML Lexus IS website.
It's not a matter of "technically better", DTS is a better format. It is encoded at a higher bitrate for a less lossy sound, as well as a higher frequency range capability than Dolby Digital. Dolby is more of an average home theater experience, whereas DTS is a more accurate representation of what you heard at the movie theater.

SolaraToIS

DVD-Audio discs sounds better than anything you will ever hear on the ML system.
Here's a good source to buy at a reasonable price:
http://www.dvdempire.com/index.asp?u...ite_media_id=0

cmusic

cpsmith516,

Thanks for the update, but I disagree with you on one thing, SACD is not DTS. SACD (Super Audio CD) is a multichannel format developed by Sony. DTS is a format developed by Digital Theater Systems. The Boys-II-Men album you mention is in the DTS format. (I have a DTS sampler disk with a track from the album.)

Again, DTS is commonly confused as DVD-A. DVD-A was developed by Dolby and a few other companies.

You need a SACD player to play them back. I have a Pioneer DVD player that also plays DVD-A and SACD and have several disks of each format. So far Sony has kept tight control on other manufactures that make disk players that can play SACD disks. Sony has not allowed any automotive disk player manufacture to use SACD in a car CD player.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

Based on the specs cpsmith posted, it sounds like the Nav/ML system will be able to play mp3 DVDs. Is this right? Has anyone tried? Is there only a specific type of recorded DVD that it would accept with mp3's? (+R, -R... would it accept a DVD-RAM?...)

Thanks for the help.

zardoth

I've got The Crystal Method - Legion of Boom in DVD-A format, I'll bring it to EOS this weekend if anyone wants to check it out.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

The ML does not recognise MP3s written to DVD. Already tried it a number of ways, and it does not work for me. There is also an existing thread about this, but I don't recall the title.

Julez

What if we didn't compress the file and left it in .wav? Would that work?

cpsmith516

you'd get more data onto a MP3 CD than you would a WAV DVD.

kensteele

you can get music videos from many places including youtube, google, or your favourite BT client. There's also the newsgroups, people's personal websites, and music forums just like this one CL and using my Mac, I can capture a lot of stuff as well as record them off network television. On the PC, I have a slingbox and tivo.

cmusic/cpsmith, thanks for the info, this sounds like a really interesting aspect of music I've never considered before, may as well make the most use of my equipment; I will use those links.