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Pioneer DV 47-A DVD-A output analogue only

I just bought the new Pioneer DV47-A multichannel SACD and DVD-A player. It looks great and sounds wonderful, but when I output through the digital output to my Meridian 568 processor/preamp, DTS and AC-3 are not available on DVD-A. The player automatically recognizes the disc as DVD-A and outputs only through the analog outputs, per Pioneer technical help this morning. Of course DVD video discs output fine for both AC-3 and DTS. I knew that SACD only output through analog out but didn't realize DVD-A did too. The real frustration is that I can play DVD-A discs in my traditional DVD player and enjoy DTS or AC-3 multichannel decoding from my Meridian (albeit at lower resolution) , but there is no selection available to read the DVD-A as DVD-V from the 47-A. Since my Meridian doesn't have multichannel analogue input (it's supposed to be the processor) this unit's multichannel capabilites are only useful with pre-amps/receivers with analog multichannel input capabilites. I do have a Yamaha receiver that I can use for this but it adds another component in the chain, which may decrease the resolution gain of DVD-A or SACD.
gjames
flex
292 posts
 
The DTS and AC3 data on the DVD disc are formatted under the DVD-Video spec, while MLP (and most hi-rez LPCM) are formatted under the DVD-Audio spec. Both specs (DVD-A and DVD-V) can be included on the same side of a DVD disc. If the Pioneer declares the entire disc to be DVD-A and won't play DTS or AC3 (which are 44.1/48 khz formats) on the digital outputs, this is a choice by Pioneer based on their architecture, and is not a property of the DVD spec. Other players will handle it differently.
mdomnick
332 posts
 
I agree...I can't believe the sales guy didn't make that clear. I was such a fan of DVD-A and SACD, but now I'm burned out on these format issues, and I haven't even spent money!!!
flex
292 posts
 
Another comment on Gjames post -
Assuming I understand your post correctly, the thing to do is to use the Yamaha receiver for any AC3 or DTS streams on the disc, and use the player to play out the DVD-A signals. There will be no difference in resolution between AC3 and DTS decoded externally from AC3 or DTS decoded in the player, because they are 44.1/48 khz formats in the first place. The DTS 96/24 mode is recorded on disc as 48khz, but upsampled to 96khz in a processor, so unless your processor supports the 96/24 mode, you would not have this feature.
gjames OP
35 posts
 
I've enjoyed reading your responses. I should have been more correct in that my frustruation with Pioneer piece is that there isn't a way to choose to play the non-DVD Audio tracks contained on the DVD-A discs due to the internal architecture mentioned above. I would like to listen to the DTS encoded DVD-V audio tracks on the discs as well, not just DVD-A tracks. I will have to use my spare receiver to hook up the 5.1 analogue outputs to hear the multichannel tracks. I hope to get the setup done sometime this weekend to see how that goes.
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