POLL: DTS vs DD5.1

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boyRacer

Lifer
Oct 1, 2001
18,569
0
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Originally posted by: Electric Amish
I know I couldn't tell the difference and I'm not a vain, elitist A-hole that claims he can.

Me neither... but there's several archived threads about this... DTS uses less compression than DD for the same thing... and most of the time DTS was louder which gave the impression of being 'better'.
 

richardycc

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2001
5,719
1
81
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
I know I couldn't tell the difference and I'm not a vain, elitist A-hole that claims he can.

So I am a vain elitist A-hole, just because I have slightly better hearing, and maybe slightly better equipment...hmmm ok whatever.

rich
 

amnesiac

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
15,781
1
71
Technically DTS is better because it uses more bandwidth.

However, any "quality increase" people may hear in DTS over DD is almost purely because DTS is mastered at a higher gain than DD, and because it's LOUDER many people hear it as being BETTER.

In controlled tests, it is virtually impossible to tell a pure SOUND QUALITY difference between the two.
 

Ornery

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
20,022
17
81
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
I know I couldn't tell the difference and I'm not a vain, elitist A-hole that claims he can.
Oh screw you! I can tell the difference between 12Ga. and 14Ga. speaker wire... after they've been properly burned in, of course.
rolleye.gif
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76
Originally posted by: Ornery
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
I know I couldn't tell the difference and I'm not a vain, elitist A-hole that claims he can.
Oh screw you! I can tell the difference between 12Ga. and 14Ga. speaker wire... after they've been properly burned in, of course.
rolleye.gif

Yeah. Amazing isn't it?

Although you don't really need too long for burn-in.
 

Wingznut

Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
16,968
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Originally posted by: Electric Amish
I know I couldn't tell the difference and I'm not a vain, elitist A-hole that claims he can.
Oh yeah? What kind of A-hole are you? :p
 

yellowperil

Diamond Member
Jan 17, 2000
4,598
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I usually select DTS although I usually think they sound the same, except for the ~5dB higher gain with DTS. The main reason I go with DTS is for that cool trailer before the movie starts. :cool:
 

mboy

Diamond Member
Jul 29, 2001
3,309
0
0
Also depend on the DTS bitrate as a lot of DVD's do not use the full bandwidth, but usually use about half to save space for other things on the DVD.
I usually go for DTS if I have a choice on the disk.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,484
8,345
126
Originally posted by: yellowperil
I usually select DTS although I usually think they sound the same, except for the ~5dB higher gain with DTS. The main reason I go with DTS is for that cool trailer before the movie starts. :cool:

Thought that was THX :) :confused:

With my rather humble setup I doubt I could tell the difference between them.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,484
8,345
126
Originally posted by: Wingznut
Why is it that DVD's that support DTS are relatively rare?

One reason may be because many people want extra stuff along with the movie. From what I've heard, DTS soundtracks + the movie can take up much of a DVD's capacity leaving no room for extra stuff to be added in.
 

kyutip

Golden Member
Jul 24, 2000
1,729
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I prefer DTS too because it's "louder" on action movies.
It does not make a difference if it's drama.
I think with DTS, the high and low have extreme differences.
 

murphy55d

Lifer
Dec 26, 2000
11,542
5
81
DTS tracks take up quite a bit more space on a DVD. Not as compressed as DD tracks, so yeah, space is the #1 reason there aren't as many DTS movies as DD. While legally backing up my DVDs, I have noticed that DTS tracks can be around 4x as large as DD tracks.
 

Mrburns2007

Platinum Member
Jun 14, 2001
2,595
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I was convinced DTS was better til I went to a blind listen and found that I sometimes prefered the DD sound over DTS. Some other audiophiles also were surprise that they picked DD over DTS.

DTS may have a higher bitrate but DD is suppose to be a more effient codec, so it may all equal out.
 

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
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A lot of the better sounding DTS soundtracks are mixed better than the original DD soundtracks. If you took 6 uncompressed channels and listened to it in both DD and DTS, I doubt there would be a difference in quality.
 

Maverick

Diamond Member
Jun 14, 2000
5,900
0
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The reason DTS sounds better is because its a 1.5 mbit/stream bitrate to each of the 6 channels. I'm not sure what DD is but I think its around 256k. Either way you can't hear the diff unless you have a good home theater system.

Another thing is, many movies don't really do 6 full channels of Dolby Digital even if it says so on the box. Especially the older ones. A lot of the time the studio translates the Prologic soundtrack to DD, matrixes the front channels to the rear, and leaves out the sub channel. The Top Gun DVD is a good example of this.

With DTS, the movie itself has 6 full distinct channels encoded into the soundtrack so you always get exactly what was originally done, not a cheap remix.
 

MisterPresident

Golden Member
Mar 6, 2002
1,163
0
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Every DVD seems to have DD 5.1, so if available, I choose DTS for two reasons:

1) It's rare and exotic
2) I like the little intro test with the piano (I think... or some other instrument) better than the one for DD, if there even is one.
 

Goosemaster

Lifer
Apr 10, 2001
48,775
3
81
DTS is technically superior I believe 32bits vs DD's 24bits

Of course mastering matters immensely, but in the end if both are mastered equally well, DTS is superior.


period.