DVD Audio with Classe Systems

[moonlightdrive21]

I have owned my Classe CDP-102 (CD, DVD Audio, etc.), SSP 600 Processor/Preamp, and 3200 Poweramp for a about 5 months now. The one area I am still not clear on is how to effectively use DVD Audio in my setup to get 5.1 sound.

I was just watching a special on Larry King about the Beatles "Love". Paul and Ringo indicated how much they love the 5.1 sound. They brag about all the details it brought out that were buried in the recordings until now. So, it got me curious again.

I own the CD and DVD Audio versions of Love. But I still don't know how to "optimally" setup and use my system to play back the DVD audio so I get 5.1 sound. I made some wishy washy attempts when I first got the Classe system, but recall the sound not being so good, so I gave up on DVD audio (possibly prematurely).

Sorry about all the rambling, but I guess my questions can be summarized as follows:

How does one effectively configure and use the CDP-102 with SSP600 to get 5.1 sound out of a DVD Audio disc?

If the CDP-102 can't do 5.1, is my best bet to play my DVD audio disc out of my regular DVD player (happens to be a Playstation 3)? In this case how should the SSP600 be configured for the input?

What are your experiences with DVD Audio? Has anyone performed A/B comparisons of a DVD Audio in 5.1 vs. a DVD Audio in two channel? What were your results/preferences? Same question for comparisons between DVD Audio in 5.1 vs. two channel CD's. Or two channel DVD Audio vs. two channel CD's.

For those who have done the comparisons, what is your opinion in general about DVD audio (especially in 5.1) and how often do you find yourself preferring it to CD's?

Thanks!!
Dave

[Kal Rubinson]

1. The CDP-102 is a two-channel machine. It down-mixes 5.1 DVD-As to two channels.
2. PS3 will not player DVD-A. (No Sony device will.)
3. The only decent option you have is to play the DD tracks on the disc and use the digital output to the SSP600 which should detect and decode it correctly.
4. I think DVD-A is outstanding, especially in 5.1, (and I say the same about SACD). Much better than DD.
5. Sorry.

Kal

4.

[moonlightdrive21]

Thanks Kal!

Not sure if other forum members are not into DVD Audio or just don't feel like posting their opinions/experiences.

Anyway, I will be spending some time today with a forum member who happens to be a friend and we will be experimenting with DVD Audio and vinyl amongst good company, food, and liquor .

I will let you know what we find.

[moonlightdrive21]

So, we tried "The Doors" (their first one) on DVD Audio 5.1 vs. CD 2 channel.

The DVD Audio made Jim's voice more distinct and it seemed to float in the air more. The bass was much more prominent. However, all the instruments and their nuances were buried more.

With the CD, you heard more of the instruments and a more balanced presentation. One drawback with the CD was that it sounded brighter than the DVD Audio, which is probably just the Classe revealing the recording, including it's flaws.

Overall we both liked the CD better, but did appreciate the bass kick and interesting sounding vocals that the 5.1 gave it.

We did not have time to try any other DVD Audio comparisons because we spent too much time listening to CD's and vinyl and just having a hell of a good time. We went from Natalie Merchant to the new White Stripes to Band on the Run (this one in particular sounds amazing on vinyl), etc.

Note that no matter what we tried, we could not use the CDP-102 as the source for DVD Audio 5.1 playback. We thought that if we configured the CDP-102 input in the SSP600 for using the digital connection (i.e., dsp enabled), that the SS600 would then recieve the digital signal from the CDP-102 and covert it to 5.1, but it just recognized a stereo signal. Anyone have a solution or should we pretty much give up on trying to use the CDP-102 for DVD Audio playing in 5.1?

How could Classe put out a CD player and state that it does DVD Audio if there is no way to get 5.1 sound out of it? I would think that most of the time if someone would rather use DVD Audio over a CD it's because they want 5.1 playback? Right?

Thanks,
Dave