six fullrange channel from a dvd player

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"ale" wrote ...
> hi all, my problem is to provide an easy to use playback solution for
> a fixed sound installation with six speaker.
> The six cahnnels must be in sync.
> Actually i use my laptop a 828 for this purpuse but now, the
> installation will start an international tour and i'm looking for some
> solution that allow anyone (not me) to connect and start the
> equipement without problems.
> I had adat in mind, but i'm not pretty sure of the reliability of a
> continuos playback (at least 12 hours each day for eight weeks) of
> tape-based machines.
> dvd will be the best way to do this, but i need six fullrange channels
> instead the 5.1 provided by the ac3 coding standard. My be DTS?
> No idea if is possible to use the DVD-AUDIO standard because i don't
> have the machine and, before buying one, i will be pretty sure that
> this will work.
> Any experience or suggestions?

What is your budget? A tape-based system (like the ADAT
machines that use VHS, etc.) would not be my idea of reliable
12-hour per day performance. OTOH, the hard-disk kind of
multi-track machines (ADAT, et.al.) would seem like a viable
off-the-shelf solution. I wouldn't go with anything too custom
or exotic if it has to be trouped around for 8 weeks. Unless you
are going with it hauling a trunk full of spares, etc.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Richard Crowley <rcrowley7@xprt.net> wrote:
>"ale" wrote ...
>> hi all, my problem is to provide an easy to use playback solution for
>> a fixed sound installation with six speaker.
>> The six cahnnels must be in sync.
>> Actually i use my laptop a 828 for this purpuse but now, the
>> installation will start an international tour and i'm looking for some
>> solution that allow anyone (not me) to connect and start the
>> equipement without problems.
>> I had adat in mind, but i'm not pretty sure of the reliability of a
>> continuos playback (at least 12 hours each day for eight weeks) of
>> tape-based machines.
>> dvd will be the best way to do this, but i need six fullrange channels
>> instead the 5.1 provided by the ac3 coding standard. My be DTS?
>> No idea if is possible to use the DVD-AUDIO standard because i don't
>> have the machine and, before buying one, i will be pretty sure that
>> this will work.
>> Any experience or suggestions?
>
>What is your budget? A tape-based system (like the ADAT
>machines that use VHS, etc.) would not be my idea of reliable
>12-hour per day performance. OTOH, the hard-disk kind of
>multi-track machines (ADAT, et.al.) would seem like a viable
>off-the-shelf solution. I wouldn't go with anything too custom
>or exotic if it has to be trouped around for 8 weeks. Unless you
>are going with it hauling a trunk full of spares, etc.

I think Gilderfluke makes some boxes that do this sort of thing with
solid state recorders. Not a lot of recording time, but enough for
most museum installations (which is what they are sold for).
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

> hi all, my problem is to provide an easy to use playback solution for a
> fixed sound installation with six speaker.
> The six cahnnels must be in sync.
> Actually i use my laptop a 828 for this purpuse but now, the
> installation will start an international tour and i'm looking for some
> solution that allow anyone (not me) to connect and start the equipement
> without problems.
> I had adat in mind, but i'm not pretty sure of the reliability of a
> continuos playback (at least 12 hours each day for eight weeks) of
> tape-based machines.
> dvd will be the best way to do this, but i need six fullrange channels
> instead the 5.1 provided by the ac3 coding standard. My be DTS?
> No idea if is possible to use the DVD-AUDIO standard because i don't
> have the machine and, before buying one, i will be pretty sure that this
> will work.
> Any experience or suggestions?

You might try a basic HDR with at least 6 outputs. I'm not well-versed on
current models, but on the used side a Fostex D-108 goes pretty cheap these
days (<$300) and might do the trick if 8GB of storage is enough.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

ale <sparkwest@yahooc.om> wrote:
> hi all, my problem is to provide an easy to use playback solution for a
> fixed sound installation with six speaker.
> The six cahnnels must be in sync.

I suppose you want the six channels to have different sounds.
Or do you mean 2 channels repeated 3 times ?

> dvd will be the best way to do this, but i need six fullrange channels
> instead the 5.1 provided by the ac3 coding standard. My be DTS?

There are extended formats that have 6.1 or 7.1 channels (Dolby
Digital.Ex, DTS-ES). If the application you will be using to create
the DVD support those that might be an option. But to decode those
you will normally need to connect the DVD player to a 6.1 or 7.1
AV receiver (because most DVD players won't decode them).

But if you won't have video (or only have low-bandwidth video) you
can also use multichannel PCM on a DVD-video, instead of Dolby or DTS.

http://www.disctronics.co.uk/downloads/tech_docs/dvdvid...

"LPCM audio
Linear PCM (LPCM) offers an alternative uncompressed audio
format that is similar to CD audio, but with higher sampling
frequencies and quantisations. LPCM offers up to 8 channels
of 48 kHz or 96 kHz sampling frequency and 16, 20 or 24
bits per sample but not all at the same time. These values
compare with 44.1 kHz and 16 bits as used for CD audio.
The maximum bit rate is 6.144 Mb/s, which is much higher
than Dolby Digital or MPEG-2 coding. LPCM offers high
quality but its high data rate leaves little bandwidth for
video."

6 channels of 48/16 uses 4.608 Mb/s, which still fits and leaves about
5 Mb/s for video, if you want to use that.

"The maximum bit rate is 9.8 Mb/s for video, audio and subpictures"

Not sure how much this is used, but someone invented the name
DVD+Audio (I think that was the name) for this use of DVD-video.
Compared with DVD-Audio it has the advantage of working with cheap
players.

> No idea if is possible to use the DVD-AUDIO standard

DVD-Audio only gives you 2 extra things:
44.1, 88.2, 176.4 kHz sampling
MLP compression to fit higher sampling rates (not more channels)
on the same total bandwidth

See the specifications of DVD-video and DVD-audio compared:
http://www.disctronics.co.uk/technology/dvdaudio/dvdaud...


> because i don't
> have the machine and, before buying one, i will be pretty sure that this
> will work.
> Any experience or suggestions?

The problem I see is about physical outputs. The DVD players I have seen
have at most 5+1 physical outputs. I suppose the subwoofer channel can be
used as a normal channel, but you will have to check.

How do you intend to connect the speakers to the DVD ? Are you thinking
about powered computer speakers, or an amplifier and speakers ?
If you use an AV receiver, the DVD can be linked digitally to the receiver,
(just one cable, easier for the person seting up), and many mid-priced
receivers now have 6.1 or 7.1 channels.

--
http://www.mat.uc.pt/~rps/

..pt is Portugal| `Whom the gods love die young'-Menander (342-292 BC)
Europe | Villeneuve 50-82, Toivonen 56-86, Senna 60-94