DualDisc - All else being equal, is it ok to own?

polkatese

The subject has been discussed before, and I am just being curious. A new Chris Botti album is about to be released this coming Tuesday:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000B9EYF2/qid=1129340852/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-3679074-6695062?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

and it comes in two flavors: Enhanced and DualDisc. I don't own a single DD so far, so I thought I give it a try with this new album. Having said that, is the CD quality side pretty much the same as regular redbook resolution? My expectation is at the redbook level, so if it is identical as its redbook version, then I'll proceed with the order. If anyone has done a comparison between the two (Redbook and DD audio side) anad found it to be inferior, please let me know.

Thanks all.

fireshoes

I own a couple and like them (Dave Matthews Band - Stand Up & 20th Anniversary Edition Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms). DS has Dolby Digital 5.1 and DVD-Audio. DMS is just stereo on the DVD side. They sound is great to my ears. I have ran into a couple players at work that fuss over the cd side (which isn't technically to cd spec), namely the Denon 3910 and the Bose Lifestyle systems. No problems on the DVD side in anything though. People have said DualDiscs and slot-loaded cd players is not a good idea either.

polkatese

Thanks, FS. Hopefully it runs ok on my Philips and/or Denon 3800.

billbillw

polkatese wrote:

Thanks, FS. Hopefully it runs ok on my Philips and/or Denon 3800.

Chances are the Dual Disc CD side will not play on your Denon. I also have the DM Band Stand up DualDisc. It does not play on my Denon 2900, which is very similar to the 3800. The CD side will only play on one CD player in the house and only 1 out of 4 computer drives recognize it. It is the last DualDisc I will ever buy.

polkatese

bill, what CD player that it plays on? thanks.

Demiurge

It most likely won't play on your computer either. It all depends on how old your CD player is. The fact it won't play on my computer is a surprise since it's a relatively new drive. It plays in my car though, and that's all I really care about.

F1nut

DualDisc isn't even hi-rez......why bother???

polkatese

true, Jesse. My curiousity got the better of me on this album. Given the choice of RBCD and DD, I thought, why not? all else being equal to redbook. We'll see.

fireshoes

F1nut wrote:

DualDisc isn't even hi-rez......why bother???

What, 96khz ain't good enough for ya?

F1nut

Ah, but the specs for FoolDisc only say that the DVD side has to be as good as the non-redbook side, so you don't know what you're getting.

fireshoes

Guess you'll have to research it.

aaharvel

F1nut wrote:

Ah, but the specs for FoolDisc only say that the DVD side has to be as good as the non-redbook side, so you don't know what you're getting.

exactly. DTS.

billbillw

polkatese wrote:

bill, what CD player that it plays on? thanks.

It plays on my Marantz CC-4000, which uses the Phillips VAM-1201 transport.

polkatese

To close the loop on this topic, I got the above DualDisc (Chris Botti) and.......it works on my beloved Philips 1000, phoeey. Close call for almost getting an expensive coaster. It works both sides too (i.e. the Philips is also a DVD player). I am a happy camper tonight.

billbillw

polkatese wrote:

To close the loop on this topic, I got the above DualDisc (Chris Botti) and.......it works on my beloved Philips 1000, phoeey. Close call for almost getting an expensive coaster. It works both sides too (i.e. the Philips is also a DVD player). I am a happy camper tonight.

Have you tried it on the Denon 3800? What happens there?

jdhdiggs

Bill,

I have had zero issues on any system with my single dual disk (8 players in all) CD. Might be a stupid question, but are you sure you used the CD side on all players?

Polkatese:
I would recommend that if you don't have to buy the dual disk, to avoid it just in case.

polkatese

Bill, I haven't tried it on D3800. I've been watching Titanic on the 3800 for the past two nights. The truth is, given these two players, my most concern is on the Philips, since it's my main player, and my D3800 has been possessed by drawer demon, need to perform exorcism on it It has served me well over the past 3 years (bought it in 2002), so waiting for the Blu-Ray next gen DVD to show up in the marketplace

billbillw

jdhdiggs wrote:

Bill,
Might be a stupid question, but are you sure you used the CD side on all players?

Sorry, but yes it was a stupid question. The CD incompatibility is well known on many players. I didn't have any troubles with the DVD side. But on the CD side, I was lucky enough to get playback on 2 out of 3 stand alone players, but only 1 of 4 computer drives (all less than 2 years old). It seems to be a disc by disc/player by player compatibility issue and that is why I will avoid them in the future.

Most of the major equipment manufacturers have disclaimers on their website regarding DualDisc compatibility.
Here are a couple examples:
Pioneer
Denon

Danny Tse

Here's an article on DualDisc compatibility and the various manufacturers with "advisories".....

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/news/news.asp?newsnumber=12610938

tomhayes

Do yourself a favor and buy the Talking Heads 8 Dual Disc set called "Brick" if you have a DVD-Audio player. It is AWESOMELY, jaw-droppingly great. It's awesome.

Here's a thread on it at another message board I like:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=61569&page=1&pp=20

polkatese

I am sure it's a CYA attempt by most manufacturers, "just in case"

The question I have is, when the records company issuing these flipper disc, who did they work with? If there are 12 manufacturers said, It ain't gonna work with my machines, how did the specs get the go-ahead to proceed with productions and adoptions? hmmm, I have no doubt is "political" even more than "economics", cause nothing comes out of thin air, especially from within the recording industries, without some sort of blessings from a major (read: influential) manufacturer.

Well, the fact that it works on my Philips, it's good enough for me. It's simple economics: $13.49 for a regular Redbook (RBCD) or a DualDisc, all else being equal, the free 3 songs live performance beats the RBCD.