I've ordered the forthcoming and an older NIN dualdiscs. And reading about DVD-A in the other thread has me really interested in this.

But.... how do I play these back in 5.1? My only DVD player is in my computer, which I mainly listen to using headphones. My only audio output is an old Technics amp with two old wood cabinet speakers.

Will I really need an entire stereo overhaul to get into DVD-A? Or can I get some software to play them through my DVDR drive into my headphones? Or is piping DVD-A through headphones a mortal sin? But they're good headphones!

NIN - The Downward Spiral Dual Disk does not take full advantage of the DVD-A format. The CD was recorded onto DAT like fidelity, so it maxes out at 48khz (rather than CD's 44.1). So, playing that DVD on a standard DVD player doesn't hurt much. But the true magic of getting that disk is the 5.1 mix, so listening to it downmixed to stereo via your headphones isn't going to be as great. The CD side of the disk features a remastered version, but you only get a little bit more dynamic range.

In order to get true DVD-A features (better than Dolby Digital 5.1) you need a special DVD-A player AFAIK.

According to this, you will be able play the new album on a standard DVD player and get Dolby Digital 5.1 on it (and Dolby Digital 2.0).

Ah, thanks for reminding me how simple it is to get 5.1. When sound involves speakers instead of headphones, I always worry it'll be really complex.

My Audigy probably does 5.1. If not, I'm sure I can get a cheap oem "Audigy 6 gold 5.1 THX" etc etc. Throw in some simple 5.1 speakers and I can determine if a full blown 5.1 setup is really worth it. Thanks!

Positional audio as pie in the sky? Not at all. People have been working on true positional audio for decades. A friend of mine digs deep into the geek researcher labs and finds all the goods. It's out there, at the end of some deep Google searches. I'll try to get some good links from his knowledge base.