Difference between songs in CDs and DVDs

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sandipb
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#1 erstellt: 26. Nov 2007, 12:21

Let me talk only about hindi movies here. We have the music in stereo sold in ordinary audio CDs. And we also have the multichannel audio of the movie on DVDs having the same song in them.

If I compare a song from the audio CD with a clip of the same song from the DVD, how do they normally differ?(I understand that this depends on the audio engineering of the song).

Let me explain my question again. When we listen to the audio CD on an AVR or amp, the sound is rendered only in stereo. If I am not wrong, most AVRs will only use the front two speakers to render it. How would the rendering differ in the AVR if the DVD clip is played?

Do the current crop of hindi movies record the songs differently for the two media?(stereo for audio and multichannel for DVDs?) If that is the case, will the DVD sound better for the song?

souravin
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#2 erstellt: 27. Nov 2007, 09:15

Sandip,

I collect old hindi movie songs (R.D.Burman only)in Audio CDs as well as some in DVD. I must say Audio CD's sound better. I use 2.1 speaker ( one sub woofer from ICON and two front bookselves from Sonodyne as the satellite speakers ). Only EROS ent make good quality DVDs ( like Yadon Ki Baarat, Hum Kisise Kam Nahin, Pyar Ka Mausam etc.). Nowadays DVD's and VCD'S are becoming so cheaper that it's not possible to keep the good audio quality.

Even older Audio CD's from HMV ( Made in England ) sound differnt and much better than those re released these days.

Rgds

Sourav

sandipb
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#3 erstellt: 27. Nov 2007, 09:19

souravin schrieb:

I collect old hindi movie songs (R.D.Burman only)in Audio CDs as well as some in DVD. I must say Audio CD's sound better.

But, Sourav, music in those days, as well as movie soundtrack were both in stereo(even mono, in earlier days).

I am talking in relatively modern movies where the music is sold separately in stereo, and the movie is in dolby/dts with the soundtrack embedded in it.

particleman
Stammgast

#4 erstellt: 27. Nov 2007, 10:32

I am not familiar with Hindi movies as I do not watch them very often but I would guess that the song would still be in stereo just as in the cd. I am not familiar with any instances of songs upmixed to multi-channel surround for movies. But yes, songs in the movies do sound different from their CD counterparts. My guess would be that it has to do with the compression and other treatment used to make it sound more exciting and "airy". To better fit the mood of the scene.

It isn't easy to compare DVD Audio (not talking about DVD-A) to CD Audio because it depends largely on the format used. While the average DVD soundtrack is the mundane Dolby Digital 5.1 (usually 448 kbps) or DTS (usually 768 kbps), concert DVDs (if they are sensible) use the always appreciated Linear PCM coding which offers 24-bit audio at 48 Khz (although more often it is 16/48). In such an instance it has the ability to sound better than the CD. Usual factors apply of course - quality of sound engineering, player/DAC used, etc. Not too many movies, Indian or Foreign, seem to use LPCM for lack of disc real-estate -- gotta cram those extra features in. So what you end up with usually on a DVD is this "dhinchak" sound that gives the impression of being better than CD though it is technically inferior.

As for how AVRs render the sound... I wish it were true that they used only the fronts just like stereo amps. Sadly the abomination that is Dolby Pro-Logic II is an option present in most AVRs that attempts to convert stereo to multichannel. Thus single-handedly destroying the efforts of the poor bloke who engineered the album.

Short answer: CD audio wins over DVD audio (most of the time).

SDhawan
Stammgast

#5 erstellt: 27. Nov 2007, 20:22

In DVD a lot more space & bandwidth is dedicated to video and only a small fraction to audio - the entire movie+soundtrack+songs compressed in 4 GB

In audio CD all the necessary space is for the songs / music - e.g. 10-15 tracks in 700 MB

PCM is a lot better format for music than Dolby Digital or DTS.

Only the MLP format in DVD-A is comparable (or superior).