Glossary of CD Terminology D-H
DSD (Direct Stream Digital)
Analog-to-digital converter, used for recording Super Audio CDs. It has a sample rate of 2.8224 MHz, which can be converted to any of the industry standard sample rates. Designed by Sony and Philips.
DST (Direct Stream Transfer)
Used in SACD production, DST is a lossless compression technique (no data is lost during compression). This technology allows for two programs of content to be printed on the same disc: a 2-channel program and a 6-channel program. Designed by Sony and Philips.
DTS-CD
A CD encoded with DTS-formatted sound. A regular CD player can play this CD only when a line is run out of the digital output through a DTS-capable receiver, otherwise the audio will come out as static-like noise. A CD player's analog output will not work. A DVD player is not required since DTS is encoded differently on a DTS-CD than it is on a DVD. A DTS compatible DVD player should be able to read these discs when run through a DTS-capable receiver. The multi-channel output is 5.1.
DualDisc
The DualDisc, is a single CD/DVD-sized disc featuring a full-length CD on one side and a DVD on the other. The CD is playable in any standard CD player, and the DVD - which features an enhanced version of the album and a wide array of bonus material (such as video clips, documentaries, lyrics, etc.) - is playable in any standard DVD player.
DVD Audio
Anyone who has seen the incredible picture quality of a movie on DVD can tell you that videotape is now obsolete. Along with the stunning image quality, the amazing sound quality of DVD has made the DVD format the most quickly adopted new video format...
Enhanced CD ( Cd Blue Book standard)
An audio CD with interactive material ( typically links to websites and Mpeg1 video) contained on the disc to be used on a computer similar to a CD-ROM.
EP (Extended Play)
Usually contains five or fewer songs, although there are exceptions. It can be considered a long single, or a short album. ( now often contain videos as a bonus)
HDCD (High Density Compatible Digital)
A format of CD encoded with 20 bits of information instead of 16. An HDCD player or an HDCD receiver is required, but not both, to achieve the full potential of the HDCD encoding. A normal CD player will play the CD but will not enhance the sound. HDCD sound has more body and more dynamic range than a normal CD.
Hybrid SACDs
Discs with a Super Audio layer and a CD layer are called Hybrid SACDs. These SACDs can be played on regular CD players. Sony does not make Hybrid SACDs. Therefore, Sony SACD's cannot be played on traditional CD players. The SA layer is a semi-transmissive layer, which a normal CD player's laser will read through in order to read the CD layer.
Hyper CD
Includes links to a website(s) affiliated with the audio content (i.e.: the artist's website). Not to be confused with the Hyper CD-ROM, which is a storage format.