DVD-A On the Way

The vinyl records have been shipped to the antique store, the 8-tracks are in the nostalgia box and the cassettes long lost or unraveled.

Now, it may be time for that final resting place for CDs, too.

At least that's what Acura hopes will happen. Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s luxury brand is the first to latch hold of the 5.1-channel digital surround audio technology, a format developed for compatibility with DVD-Audio recordings.

The '04 Acura TL may be the first, but Panasonic Automotive Systems Co. of America, which developed Acura's ELS Surround sound system, says plenty more will follow — starting with select vehicles from the '05 General Motors Corp. lineup.

Down the line, the technology will be found on Lexus (some Lexus models in Japan now have it), Nissan/Infiniti and Audi models, and more. Some vehicles will use Panasonic's ELS Surround system, while others will use units still under development at other car audio suppliers.

Officials won't confirm the ELS-GM tie-up, but the relationship seems likely: ELS Surround billboards, boasting “A concert in your car,” recently began springing up around metro Detroit — even though no car, other than the TL arriving in October, has it.

The technology, whose hook is purer sound, was said to blow away GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, who, Panasonic says, became a champion of the technology and squeezed it into the lineup.

The multi-channel DVD-Audio is mated to a premium 8-speaker surround-sound system. It uses six distinct channels, compared with two on typical premium sound, to deliver resolution 500 times greater than with a CD. The system results in very distinct, more-realistic sounds emerging from each speaker. The technology virtually wipes out the background noise and hissing normally found at high volume with conventional audio.

“We spend so much time in our cars, so the car has always driven the broad acceptance of new audio formats,” says Elliott Scheiner, DVD-Audio pioneer and veteran record engineer and producer. Now helping Panasonic spread the word about the new technology, Scheiner has worked with icons such as Van Morrison, REM and the Eagles, as well as popular contemporaries Beck and Faith Hill.

“Often I take a mix I'm working on and play it in my car to get a feel for what it will sound like as people are out driving,” Scheiner says. “I began thinking that DVD-Audio in a vehicle would really be a way to take the control-room, studio-sound experience and let everyone enjoy it.”

Cars are perfect for the format, he says, because, unlike homes, they present a defined listening space with controlled, pre-existing conditions.

The difference between DVD-Audio surround sound and a typical CD played on standard premium car audio is striking. Enhanced clarity, definition and detail have the power to transform an old, well-worn track, such as the Eagles' “Hotel California,” into something that sounds fresh — like a live performance. As Scheiner points out, all 14 guitar parts from the original recording now can be heard — something not possible on vinyl or CD formats.

But adoption of the new system may rankle as many music lovers as its superior sound pleases. The system does nothing to improve the sound of a regular CD. And while CDs play on the system, DVD-As won't work in standard CD players.

That is, if you can find any. Thus far, few recordings have been remastered to the new format, and few new albums are being released in the DVD-A format. Panasonic officials assure this is about to change as larger labels begin to embrace the new technology. The markup, if any, on DVD-As relative to CDs remains to be seen.

Also, the system doesn't incorporate an MP3 player — something skeptics may attribute to the tight relationship between the music industry and those forging the new technology that would shut out illegal downloads. Plus, ELS Surround won't make radio broadcasts sound remarkably better — only DVD-As.

But music purists who enjoy the sensation of sitting in the middle of the stage will be hooked immediately. They just need to make some extra room on the shelf next to those old 8-tracks.