DVD-Audio

DVD-Audio (DVD-A) is a special way to put very clear music on a DVD. Instead of having videos, these DVDs are made just for music, letting listeners enjoy high-quality sound.

The idea for DVD-Audio started in March 1999, and the first DVDs with this format came out in 2000. It had some competition from another music format called Super Audio CD, and because many people began to prefer downloading or streaming music, DVD-Audio didn’t become very popular. By 2007, it was considered almost gone, though a few small music companies still offer some titles on this format.

It’s important to remember that DVD-Audio is different from the music you might hear on a regular DVD movie. Movie DVDs usually use a different kind of music compression called MPEG-1 Audio Layer II.

Audio specifications

DVD-Audio can offer many different setups for audio channels, from a single mono channel up to 5.1-channel surround sound. The ".1" refers to a special low-frequency effects channel for deep bass sounds.

Because DVDs can hold much more information than a compact disc, DVD-Audio discs can include more music, higher quality sound, or extra channels for surround sound.

Audio on a DVD-Audio disc can be stored in many ways, using different bit depths, sampling rates, and channel setups.

For example, one track might use 96 kHz and 24-bit quality for 5.1 channels, while another uses 192 kHz and 24-bit for just two channels. The audio is stored in Linear PCM format, either without compression or using a special lossless compression method called MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing).

If a listener only has standard stereo speakers, a DVD-Audio player can mix down the 5.1-channel sound to regular two-channel stereo, if set up that way.

Player compatibility

When DVD-Audio was introduced, it was important that these discs could still work with existing DVD-Video players. Most DVD-Audio discs include standard DVD-Video data, so they can play a normal Dolby Digital 5.1-channel audio track. This track can be adjusted to two channels for listeners without surround sound.

Because DVD-Audio is part of the DVD family, one disc can hold both audio and video. A common setup is a single-sided DVD with both DVD-Video and DVD-Audio content. The high-quality audio needs special players to work, but the video part works on all DVD players. Some discs have two sides, with DVD-Audio on one side and DVD-Video on the other.

You can play DVD-Audio on a computer using certain free audio players for Windows, like foobar2000 with a special add-on. Some media players and sound cards also have built-in support for playing DVD-Audio discs.

Preamplifier/surround-processor interface

To play DVD-Audio, you needed a special device called a preamplifier or surround controller with six analog inputs. Unlike DVD-Video, which can send audio digitally to a receiver, DVD-Audio could not use unencrypted digital connections for higher-quality sound because of copying concerns.

Later, encrypted digital formats were approved, and HDMI 1.1 could carry DVD-Audio signals. There were several ways to send the audio to the amplifier:

1. The player could decrypt the audio and send it through six standard analog cables.
2. The audio could be decrypted and re-encrypted into an HDMI or IEEE 1394 (FireWire) signal, which the amplifier would then decrypt.
3. Using the S/PDIF (or TOSLINK) digital interface, the player might turn it off, lower the quality to CD-level, or keep the original quality if the disc allowed it.
4. Some players could be modified to capture high-resolution signals and convert them to S/PDIF for full-quality digital sound.

Sound quality

In 2004, some people listened to music played back on certain equipment and could not tell the difference between DVD-A and another format called SACD.

There is some debate about the benefits of high-resolution audio, like the kind you can get from DVD-A. You can read more about this in the High-resolution audio § Controversy section.

Format variants

Some big music labels like Universal Music, EMI, Warner Bros. Records, and Naxos Records, along with smaller labels, released albums using a special sound format called DVD-Audio. However, there were not many of these compared to regular CDs.

New high-quality music titles came out in different ways, such as using a standard DVD format that could hold good-quality sound, or special packs that included both a regular CD and a DVD-Audio disc. Some music that first came out only on DVD-Audio, like The Grateful Dead’s American Beauty and R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People, were later released in these special CD/DVD packs or as DualDiscs.

Copy protection

DVD-Audio discs could use a special system called Content Protection for Prerecorded Media (CPPM) to stop people from copying the music onto computers or portable players. This system was made by a group called the 4C Entity.

Because another copy protection system was broken, the launch of DVD-Audio was delayed. The creators of DVD-Audio made CPPM to better stop unauthorized copying. This system uses a special code to make sure only approved players can play the music.

In 2005, people found ways to bypass this protection using special tools. By 2008, more tools became available to help copy DVD-Audio discs. Using these tools might break laws in some places, like the United States. Even so, these tools were shared online.

Authoring software

OS X

• Sonic Solutions DVD Creator AV – The first tool for creating DVD-Audio discs. It worked only through commands and is no longer sold or supported.
• Sonic Studio SonicStudio HD – A tool for Mac computers to prepare high-quality audio for DVD-Audio discs.
• Sonic Studio OneClick DVD – Turned prepared audio files into the right format for DVD-Audio projects. This tool is no longer available.
• DVD audio Tools – See the Windows section below.
• Apple Logic Pro 8 and later – When saving, choose "Burn to CD/DVD" and then pick DVD-Audio as the format.
• Minnetonka discWelder – This tool is no longer available.
• Steinberg Wavelab Pro – This tool does not work with DVD-Audio files but can make slideshows and menus.
• Burn – A tool for burning CDs and DVDs that can create DVD-Audio discs. Choose "Audio" and then "DVD-Audio" from the menu.

Windows

• Minnetonka discWelder – This tool is no longer available.
• Cirlinca HD-AUDIO Solo Ultra – This tool does not work with DVD-Audio files and is no longer sold online.
• DVD Audio Extractor – This tool can take audio from DVD-Audio discs but cannot create new ones.
• Steinberg WaveLab Pro – This tool does not work with DVD-Audio files but can make slideshows and menus.
• Gear Pro Mastering Edition – This tool can burn DVD-Audio images but cannot create new DVD-Audio discs.
• DVD audio tools package – A free and open source tool called DVD audio Tools helps edit menus and take audio from discs. It can also work with DVD-Audio/Video discs.
• MAGIX Samplitude – This tool can edit DVD-Audio discs but has some limits.
• MAGIX Sequoia

Linux/Apple/Windows

• DVD Audio Tools offers free and open source tools for creating DVD-Audio discs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.