DVD-A thoughts...

Sorry I can't be of more help, @daveyf .

Out of curiosity, what happens if you stick the disc in a regular CD player?

I just looked at the manual for my unit, and it will ONLY play (output) DVD-A to the analog out jacks, so surround isn't even an option for me. (I never even realized this until now...)

Sounds like you have the exact opposite problem.

I don’t own a regular CD only player, but I seriously doubt this DVD-A disc would play in one if I did. My player is a Universal unit, meaning it can also play back DVD video to a home theater system. I don’t utilize it this way, as the SACD capability and the standard Redbbook SQ is excellent. 

You should have the choice of which "soundtrack" to play as for the video DVD but oviously only from the menu that will appear on the TV screen. Probably it will be possible from the remote control too but not sure if you will see it on the player display. Which player do you own?

I have a bunch of DVD-As.  I bought most of them at a fire sale when Tower Records went bust.  They play fine on my Oppo 103 and 203, but not all play on a newer Pioneer Elite Universal player.

  Regarding your playback issue, it may be a compatibility issue with your amp/processor.  DVD-A isn’t a priority for the newer machines 

@katylied   The player I own is a Esoteric DV60. The display seems to indicate that the disc is playing only the surround sound layer. Sounds fine, but I suspect the stereo only layer, mastered by Doug Sax, would sound a lot better. The other DVD-A discs I own all play on the stereo layer only, probably because there is no embedded video layer. I actually prefer the XRCD discs to all of these from a SQ perspective. Nonetheless, the DVD-A's I own were all bought for less $$ than the XRCD's.