discWelder Bronze Basic DVD-Audio Tool
Minnetonka
Audio Software has recently announced their new discWelder™ BRONZE product,
a basic DVD-Audio authoring program that for the amazingly low price of $99 allows
users to create high resolution surround recordings on DVD-recordable media. Stereo
PCM tracks can be as high as 24-bit/192 kHz and 5.1 surround recordings can be
as high as 24-bit/48 kHz. Both WAV and AIFF file formats are supported. We installed
the discWelder™ BRONZE software on our Sony PCV-RX550 equipped with a Sony
DRU-510A DVD±R/W drive. Installing the software is simple, yet requires
users to register their software within 14-days to be able to continue using it
after that period. Currently, the software is only available for Windows 98/2000/NT/XP.
However, a beta version for the Mac has recently been released for testing.
The discWelder™ Bronze software does not support Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP), which is required for 24-bit/96 kHz (24/96) and 24-bit/88.2 kHz (24/88.2) tracks in the 5.1 surround mode due to bit rate limitations (9.8Mb/s) of the DVD format. Instead, 24/96 and 24/88.2 tracks in 5.1 are downconverted to 24/48 and 24/44.1 respectively. This is an automatic feature of the Bronze software, but the user is prompted when the conversion is about to take place. Fortunately, two-channel recordings at the full 24/192 resolution do not require any compression and is fully supported. Lower resolutions and sample rates are also supported as defined in the DVD-Audio specification.
Making
a DVD-Audio disc
For the Windows version we tested, creating a DVD-Audio
disc was a very simple process with discWelder's drag and drop interface. The
user interface is intuitive and provides a great deal of information on the disc
being authored. The process starts with the user selecting an album name. Only
a single group is supported with up to 99 tracks. The user selects between two-channel
or 5.1 audio formats and then assigns the audio tracks using the application.
The user can drag an audio track to the appropriate channel indicated on the screen.
The lower right corner of the application window displays the current project
size in gigabytes and the percent of disc capacity utilized. It is recommended
that disc capacity be kept below 95% due to disc and player headroom requirements.
The user can also define the track gap in milliseconds using the Properties
window.
Once the tracks are defined and the disc is ready for recording, the process is as simple as pushing the red record button on the toolbar. If more than one DVD recorder is installed on the machine, the user can select which drive to record to. The user has several options that can be selected including Test, Write, Verify and Eject When Done during the recording process.
Conclusion
The discWelder™
BRONZE is an easy to use product that allowed us to create our own high resolution
DVD-Audio discs. We are a fan of the format and the ability to author our own
discs is an exciting capability. The software was fast and stable during our evaluation
period and we experienced no problems. If you are looking for a way to create
high-resolution 24/192 stereo or 24/48 5.1 surround recordings, Minnetonka has
an inexpensive solution for $99. The
software does lack the ability to encode or read MLP files for surround recordings.
However, Minnetonka does offer this capability with their CHROME II version of
the software when used with the SurCode MLP encoder. Sure,
there are more powerful applications available that let you fully exploit the
DVD-Audio format with menus, multiple groups, stills and videos, but nothing comes
close to the simplicity and low price of this software. If simple DVD-Audio authoring
is what you desire, then the discWelder™ BRONZE will satisfy your needs.
- Kevin Nakano