I created 2 DVD-R's using two diffrent authoring programs. The discs play fine on my Apex 1200 player, but on my Hitachi player there is no audio; the video looks great.

Authoring settings are:

NTSC drop frame (29.97 fps)
Field order A
MPEG files
24 Bits, 720 x 480, 29.97 fps
(DVD-NTSC)
Video data rate: 4096 kbps
Audio data rate: 384 kbps
Layer 2, 48 kHz, Joint stereo

Any idea why I might be experiencing this problem?

Thanks for any & all input!

DVD-specs for NTSC dvd requires lpcm or dolby digital audio - officialy mpegaudio is not supported. Most players like the apex does not have any problems with this - but a few like the hitachi may be so strict about specs that it will not play.

My Pioneer has a setting for PCM or Mpeg, or PCM AND Mpeg. Changing the setting allows Mpeg Audio to play.Don't know if your Hitachi has a setting to change this or not, but you might want to check it out.

Tim

You guys are awesome. My player audio setting was on "bitstream". I changed it to PCM and now the audio on the DVD-R works fine!

By the way, when would one use "bitstream"? For MP3's maybe? For "hollywood" DVDs, my receiver is Dolby Ditital 5.1 and DTS 6.1 compatible.

Thanks again!

Mpeg1 Layer 2 audio sure is Supported as Part of the DVD Specification, They Just do not use it As Often in North America..The Specification actually states that for Pal Mpeg1 Layer 2 is Fully Supported, and For NTSC Mpeg1-Layer 2 is Only supported if one of the Other audio tracks on the DVD Has AC3 or PCM..

Lusifer is entirely correct. To restate it so no one misunderstands, MPEG audio is valid for NTSC only if there is at least one other audio track on the DVD that is PCM or AC3. It can not be the only audio track on the DVD. MPEG audio is valid for PAL DVD as the only audio track. Some European DVDs do use this as the only audio track. My personal belief is that the NTSC restriction on MPEG audio has to do with the influence/power Dolby has on Hollywood in the US. MPEG audio was a format Philips proposed to compete directly with AC3, but it never became as popular. Since Philips is a European company and PAL is a European video standard, it makes sense that MPEG audio is valid for PAL DVD. Some of you might be interested to know that although DVD Maestro will complain if you make NTSC DVD with only MPEG audio, it will allow you to do so with a warning message that it's not valid. My Apex has no problems with such discs, but of course as mentioned, your player may enforce the standards more rigidly than Apex does.