DVD player for backing track and video playback? other solutions?

[outdoorminerbob]

i'm trying to figure out the best way to incorporate backing tracks into a live show for a five piece rock/pop band so i read all the posts i could find about it. i just upgraded to the new logic studio and mainstage 2 has a nice new feature just for that.

trouble is i'd rather not take my laptop to gigs anymore. much less the added hassle of bringing an audio interface. someone suggested using a dvd player with 5.1 audio and the stems routed discretely to the different outputs of the player. this seems like a very simple and cheap solution with the added bonus of synchronized video but i'm wondering if it is possible for me to do this. it seems too good to be true.

first, are DVDs able to playback true 5.1 audio? i was under the impression that dvds used an interpolation of a stereo file to get surround sound and that true 5.1 sound was only possible on blueray/HDDVD/SACD etc. I would be very happy if someone corrected me on this matter though.

second, i use logic pro which supports 5.1 mixing but i'm guessing that what i actually need is a more powerful video editing program (i have iMovie) to create the movies with the 5 stems separated to each channel. i assume i'd also need a better dvd authoring program than iDVD.

third, can you buy dvd players with 6 analog outputs? every one i've seen had a digital output that needed to be decoded in the receiver.

if it did work, this would be a pretty cheap solution but at the other (expensive) end of the spectrum, what do bigger bands use for synchronized video playback?

i realize that this post stretches the bounds of what might usually be included in a forum for remote recording but i suspect that some members know the answer to my questions so i'd be grateful if you can offer anything.

thanks!

-bob

[bishopthomas]

Are you mixing your live shows in 5.1?

[outdoorminerbob]

Originally Posted by bishopthomas

Are you mixing your live shows in 5.1?

no, the idea is that the different channels would be used to send separate tracks to FOH and a click to the drummer. for example; a click on one channel, bass on another, percussion on the third and maybe a stereo pair for synths and FX. basically just like playback from a multitrack recorder.