Does my 16X Lite-On DVD-ROM drive play DVD-Audio discs?

[thatsright]

I bought this 16X Lite-On Internal DVD-Rom drive back in June from New Egg for my new Rig. Now I just bought a Audigy 2 card and it can play DVD-Audio discs, but I'm wondering if the Lite-On drive can support the DVD-Audio format. Of course that this being a OEM drive, it doesn't really say.

Anyone have an idea. Thanks

 

[Nebor]

I believe any DVD drive will play DVD audio...

 

[A2KLAU]

Alternatively the next best thing you could do it to obtain a disc and see if it will work.. thats the best way of knowing.. if possible borrow a DVD Audio disc first to save your forking out money to buy one to test.. and find it it won't work.. but to be honist you have a very high chance of one working.. Can't see why they shouldn't..

Albert.

 

[Goi]

Currently, it won't unless you have a Creative Audigy or Audigy2, as well as either the Creative player or WinDVD with the DVD-A patch. No other soundcard supports DVD-A currently even though a lot of them have the required hardware capability.

 

[uart]

Currently, it won't unless you have a Creative Audigy or Audigy2, as well as either the Creative player or WinDVD with the DVD-A patch.

Goi, I know nothing at all about DVD-Audio disks, but couldn't you still get it to work with any old sound card as long as you played it through the analog out (Analog rather than DAE).

 

[Goi]

Well, you will have to play it via analog even if you have a Creative Audigy, since S/PDIF doesn't have the neccessary bandwidth. As for how the signal goes from the drive to the soundcard, I'm not too sure about that but I believe it should be via DAE via the PCI bus. The analog cable in this case is only for stereo sound and the S/PDIF cable again doesn't have the neccessary bandwidth. Also, digital extraction is prohibited due to copyright issues.

 

[uart]

I'm not too sure about that but I believe it should be via DAE via the PCI bus. The analog cable in this case is only for stereo sound

That's what I meant, shouldn't the analog cable still supply an audio stereo signal that you could listen to with any old sound card. Sure it would be a kind of crippled solution, but if you really wanted to listen to it you should be able to.

 

[Pariah]

There's nothing unique about DVD-A discs. Any current DVD-ROM drive can read them, though without the proper soundcard and software player you won't get the high-fidelity audio track. All the audio travels over the PCI bus. It cannot go through the analog out on the DVD-ROM drive because the drive has no idea it's an audio disc and doesn't know how to decrypt the encryption on the disc. If you don't have the Audigy 2 with the proper software, you may still get audio, depending on the disc, but it will be a lower quality Dolby Digital track not the high fidelity DVD-A track. The only reason there is no digital out on soundcards for DVD-A is to prevent copying. You can get it on some HT equipment, either through propietary means or the new I-Link connection which is a firewire implementation that will be the standard for future digital audio transfers.

 

[Goi]

Pariah is correct. Without an Audigy, you'll be stuck with the lower quality Dolby Digital track rather than the LPCM 24/96 or 24/192 DVD-A track. The analog cables can't be used due to reasons mentioned above.

 

[eriqesque]

Originally posted by: thatsright
I bought this 16X Lite-On Internal DVD-Rom drive back in June from New Egg for my new Rig. Now I just bought a Audigy 2 card and it can play DVD-Audio discs, but I'm wondering if the Lite-On drive can support the DVD-Audio format. Of course that this being a OEM drive, it doesn't really say.

Anyone have an idea. Thanks

To answer the orignal question about that DVD player if you have the audigy2 and use they're software DVD-A player YES you will be able to do it.

 

[thatsright]

Ahhh, thats what I like. Someone just finally says it succinctly. Yeah or nay.

Thanks guys.