DTS vs DD 5.1

BrutalBodyShots · 01-04-07, 12:06 PM

I'm not sure if this is the best area of the forum to post this question... but anyway: I keep reading on here people saying that DTS is so much better than DD 5.1. In lots of those threads where people are talking about great home theater DVDs I often hear things like "Jurassic Park is good, but you've GOT TO hear it in DTS!" Can someone tell me exactly what the difference is in terms of what you hear?

I own a demo DVD that has the Episode I pod race scene in both DD 5.1 and DTS and I've watched both back to back at a very high volume and honestly cannot detect any difference between the two. Maybe my ears just aren't trained to detect these differences that so many on these forums make out to be night and day.

Can anyone offer me some insight as to what differences actually exist?

Ovation · 01-04-07, 03:10 PM

This particular forum is dedicated to music, so you might not find much in here (though many concert DVDs have both on them and many people argue about it). The debate is akin to the plasma/lcd debate in flat panels, DVD-A/SACD in here and so on. DTS uses a higher bit rate than DD and that has a lot of people convinced it is better (but the DD codec is entirely different and some argue its lower bit rate is simply more efficient). Ultimately, let your ears decide. It would appear, from my own non-scientific comparisons, that DTS is encoded a bit "hotter" in the bass region than DD, so with action movies and some concert videos, it appears to have more bass (and, let's face it, many HT owners are bass addicts--not that there's anything wrong with that

). On a properly calibrated system, it is probably not something the average person will be able to differentiate without some serious concentration, if at all.

Nachosgrande · 01-05-07, 12:13 PM

From what I can tell, DTS movies are more "tricked up" in the surround/bass department. Take the first scene from X-Men 2. The DD 5.1 effects and bass seem lower than the DTS version. Vocals do not appear to be different, but everything else appears to be louder and have more impact on DTS, including punches/gunfire/bullets/thematic music, etc.

boondocks · 01-05-07, 08:51 PM

I'm not heavily into movies/video. Having said that, my preference, especially with
music, is DTS. I find that a lot of broadcast Hi rez / DD 5.1 TV in particular is
severely lacking in rear channel volume, almost to the point of being nonexistant.
As for multichannel music encoding, I much prefer DTS over DD, although I prefer
to use MLP encoding (DVD-Audio) over the other formats for the music I burn to disc.
Another thing to remember is, the person at the end stage handling the audio
probably has more to do with the final sound than the format used.

judge_dredd · 01-07-07, 01:29 AM

I usually hear about people saying that dts sounds better and usually that the dts soundtrack is also louder than the dd one, but I have found the opposite with my new setup. I am running an Onkyo SR604 and a Panasonic DVD-S52 and with the movies I have checked lately (Lord of the Rings: Extended Editions and Sin City), the dd soundtrack sounds better and louder. Can any body else verify this, could it just by my setup?

Just realized this was in the music section, sorry about that.

CAVX · 01-07-07, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrutalBodyShots

I'm not sure if this is the best area of the forum to post this question... but anyway: I keep reading on here people saying that DTS is so much better than DD 5.1. In lots of those threads where people are talking about great home theater DVDs I often hear things like "Jurassic Park is good, but you've GOT TO hear it in DTS!" Can someone tell me exactly what the difference is in terms of what you hear?

I own a demo DVD that has the Episode I pod race scene in both DD 5.1 and DTS and I've watched both back to back at a very high volume and honestly cannot detect any difference between the two. Maybe my ears just aren't trained to detect these differences that so many on these forums make out to be night and day.

Can anyone offer me some insight as to what differences actually exist?

Data rates aside, both should do the same thing - that is deliver 5.1 channels of sound. DTS is said to be better as it uses a higher data rate to describe the same 5.1 channels as Dolby Digital which uses a fair amount less to describe he same 5.1 channels. Is it better? You have to decide.

As for the DTS version of JP sounding better, I'm not sure about the DVD, but the mix on the DTS LD had the surrounds of the mix not attenuated 3dB for the HT mix, and as a result delivered the surrounds 3dB too high. To the average person, this certainly does sound better. The LFE track is also 3dB too hot, encoded at -7dB instead of the industry standard of -10dB...

They have since corrected this, but there would be a few films out there with incorrect surround and LFE levels...

Mark

Dr. A · 01-18-07, 12:32 PM

I've collected and (thru Netflix) listened to a few dozen DTS-audio opera DVDs. I continue to be surprised at how much "better" my system sounds when playing these DTS releases. Everything seems more solid, bass more well-defined, etc.

SACD sounds even better, but DTS seems audibly better than DD 5.1.

01-04-07, 12:06 PM	#1 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a4ac4393' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:30&n=a4ac4393' border='0' alt=''></a>
BrutalBodyShots Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 260	DTS vs DD 5.1 I'm not sure if this is the best area of the forum to post this question... but anyway: I keep reading on here people saying that DTS is so much better than DD 5.1. In lots of those threads where people are talking about great home theater DVDs I often hear things like "Jurassic Park is good, but you've GOT TO hear it in DTS!" Can someone tell me exactly what the difference is in terms of what you hear? I own a demo DVD that has the Episode I pod race scene in both DD 5.1 and DTS and I've watched both back to back at a very high volume and honestly cannot detect any difference between the two. Maybe my ears just aren't trained to detect these differences that so many on these forums make out to be night and day. Can anyone offer me some insight as to what differences actually exist?

01-07-07, 01:29 AM	#5 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a591f81a' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:36&n=a591f81a' border='0' alt=''></a>
judge_dredd Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 215	I usually hear about people saying that dts sounds better and usually that the dts soundtrack is also louder than the dd one, but I have found the opposite with my new setup. I am running an Onkyo SR604 and a Panasonic DVD-S52 and with the movies I have checked lately (Lord of the Rings: Extended Editions and Sin City), the dd soundtrack sounds better and louder. Can any body else verify this, could it just by my setup? Just realized this was in the music section, sorry about that.

01-04-07, 03:10 PM	#2 \| Link
Ovation AVS Special Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: St. Hubert, Quebec, Canada Posts: 2,406	This particular forum is dedicated to music, so you might not find much in here (though many concert DVDs have both on them and many people argue about it). The debate is akin to the plasma/lcd debate in flat panels, DVD-A/SACD in here and so on. DTS uses a higher bit rate than DD and that has a lot of people convinced it is better (but the DD codec is entirely different and some argue its lower bit rate is simply more efficient). Ultimately, let your ears decide. It would appear, from my own non-scientific comparisons, that DTS is encoded a bit "hotter" in the bass region than DD, so with action movies and some concert videos, it appears to have more bass (and, let's face it, many HT owners are bass addicts--not that there's anything wrong with that ). On a properly calibrated system, it is probably not something the average person will be able to differentiate without some serious concentration, if at all.

01-05-07, 12:13 PM	#3 \| Link
Nachosgrande Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York Posts: 447	From what I can tell, DTS movies are more "tricked up" in the surround/bass department. Take the first scene from X-Men 2. The DD 5.1 effects and bass seem lower than the DTS version. Vocals do not appear to be different, but everything else appears to be louder and have more impact on DTS, including punches/gunfire/bullets/thematic music, etc.

01-05-07, 08:51 PM	#4 \| Link
boondocks 2 --> 5.1 Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Down in the boondocks Posts: 316	I'm not heavily into movies/video. Having said that, my preference, especially with music, is DTS. I find that a lot of broadcast Hi rez / DD 5.1 TV in particular is severely lacking in rear channel volume, almost to the point of being nonexistant. As for multichannel music encoding, I much prefer DTS over DD, although I prefer to use MLP encoding (DVD-Audio) over the other formats for the music I burn to disc. Another thing to remember is, the person at the end stage handling the audio probably has more to do with the final sound than the format used.

01-18-07, 12:32 PM	#7 \| Link
Dr. A Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 142	I've collected and (thru Netflix) listened to a few dozen DTS-audio opera DVDs. I continue to be surprised at how much "better" my system sounds when playing these DTS releases. Everything seems more solid, bass more well-defined, etc. SACD sounds even better, but DTS seems audibly better than DD 5.1.