The ML DVD-Audio quality is excellent, and with the Nav hack is even very nice to look at the graphics/videos together with the music.

But... I just bought a new DVD-Audio from Silverline Records:
Author: Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
Title: XXL
Barcode: 6-7662882069-8
Year: 2003

It's an excellent multi-channel orchestrated jazz recording, and it sounds great at home in my 'audiophile-like' system as a DVD-Audio, or even in my PC as a normal DVD in Dolby Digital.

But when I inserted it (more times...) in my IS ML system the support wasn't recognised: the disk was accepted, put in the next free slot, but nothing appeared in the IS display close the the slot number to identify the media type.
I explain better: I can see the usual six slots buttons with "1 DVD-A", "2 CD", "3 DVD-V",..., "6 " (nothing written to indicate the recognised media type of XXL).

I managed to play in my Mark Levinson with no problems:
- Other DVD-Audios (eg. Donald Fagen, Clapton & BBKing, Elvis, etc. both older and newer than XXL)
- Normal DVD's (eg. Star Wars, test disks, etc.)
- DualDisc (both DVD and CD sides, eg. Bruce Springsteen)
- SACD (but only playing the CD layer, not the SACD one)
- Normal CD's

Have you got any clues? Or had similar experiences?
Are there any different DVD-Audio specifications that could be not compatible with Lexus systems?
My Lexus (italian) model: IS 220d, year 2006, Luxury & Multimedia Pack (Nav + ML). Nav Disc V 05.00.31.

Thanks! Gianluca

 

If it doesn't meet the official standard or the disc is too thick/thin to spin up correctly it won't go. I haven't run into it yet though. Keep an ear out and tell me if your DVD-As drop the back channel surround in your ML system. Mine do, as do all the other ML 2IS in our parking lot.

 

Hey, finally I hear a similar perception!
In fact, in a different post (www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232452) I was asking if anyone had understood the surround switch usage...
"When you use multi-channel DVD-Audio, do you keep inserted or not the SURROUND mode in the DSP Audio menu?

I notice some differences when you switch on/off the surround option, while I expect that when you are hearing at native, discrete multi-channel music that option should be useless/disabled (as in my Rotel pre-processor at home) and the amplifier should 'directly direct' the multi-channel sound to the respective speakers (maybe with the little difference that DVD-A are encoded in 5.1 and the ML enables 7.1 with its ten channel ampli).

Bottom line: I'd like to be sure NOT to introduce surround artifacts in original multi-channel music. But I even wouldn't like to force mchannel music to stereo mode..."


I've even tried a pure DVD-A sampler/test disk from Denon and I have some "difficulties" in hearing the test tones that SHOULD directly come only from the back/surround speakers. This is way I was wondering the surround mode usage...

Instead in my opinion the music/movies encoded in dolby digital or DTS do a right usage of the back speakers.

Is this the same from you?