Recording 96kHz, 24 bit PCM to DVD

I had this wonderful idea for an article, which I promptly put to the editor of Australian HI-FI and which he equally promptly accepted. The idea:

Obviously recording LPs to CDs is old-hat. But now that DVD burners for computers are coming down in price, I wonder if it might be interesting to do an LPs to DVDs piece. The idea is that you install a high quality sound card (something that supports 96kHz, 24 bit) and record at high resolution. Now I’m assuming that there is DVD burner software around that supports 96kHz, 24 bit LPCM audio. I’ll look into that. But assuming there is, what do you think of the concept?That might give LP lovers the best of both worlds. The convenience of digital discs and what ought to be pretty damn close to the sound of LPs.

Incidentally, it would have to be on a computer. All consumer DVD recorders use Dolby Digital 2.0.

There’s only one problem. After making some enquiries, it seems that none of the software bundled with DVD burners, and none of the relatively affordable consumer-level DVD recording software, support 96/24. Some apparently support 48/16. Wow. Hardly better than CD’s 44.1/16. There is super-expensive professional software, but this is unlikely to appeal to someone who only wants to archive a couple of dozen LPs, not become a DVD distributor.

If I have this all wrong, please hasten to let me know! Remember, the software would not need to manage the 96/24 recording. I would (indeed do) use other software for that. All it would need to do is be able to transfer a 96/24 WAV file, unaltered, to a DVD-R or DVD+R.

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