Page 1 of DTS is nothing more than a marketing gimmick - discuss :)**UPDATE 2003, THE RESSURECTION!!**

Please go to the last page to see why i`ve resurrected this thread :)

I`ve heard a lot of people extol the virtues of DTS and how much better it is than 5.1 Dolby Digital, but having heard a few films in DTS I really can`t say it is that much better. In fact I reckon if it is better then we are talking between 5% and 10% at most.

I could be listening to the wrong discs, in which case this presents a very interesting discussion based on the following premis:

1) DTS supports much higher bitrates than Dolby Digital, and this is the main reason why it is supposed to sound better.

2) When the first DTS titles came out, you had to choose between the Dolby Digital version + extras, or the bare bones DTS version, because they couldn`t fit both a quality DTS track and extras on the same disc.

3) Now we have multiple soundtracks, both Dolby Digital and DTS, oh and extras too, all on the same disc. Therefore they cannot be using significantly higher bitrates for the DTS tracks as the Dolby ones, can they?

If you agree with the above premis, then doesn`t this make DTS nothing more than a marketing gimmick the way titles are being released to support it?

This item was edited on Friday, 14th November 2003, 22:30

I remember reading somewhere that DTS is/was recorded at a higher -db level then DD so that when you play a DTS track back over the same AV setup as a DD track it will sound louder and therefore people presume it sounds better!

I`m not sure how reliable the source was that I read this from. No doubt someone will correct me if I`m wrong :-)

r8sso

I find DTS tracks sound a lot quieter than their equivalent DD ones on the same disc, So that can`t be true, heh.

Dts uses less compression than Dolby digital so will inevitably sound quieter. Robert has touched on an interesting topic indeed, whilst i can agree on one part that some releases(i.e. most of the earlier ones), didn`t seem to have anything to differentiate them from the Dolby mix, i believe that a few key releases show that dts can be superior.
Case 1: Gladiator, the opening battle can sound `congested` in its Dolby form, whereas selecting dts allows the soundstage to `breathe` a lot more, plus the low end is noticeably more potent
Case 2: Galaxy Quest R1, this uses the full bitrate 1509kbps dts track and straight away the difference is immediate, with greater atmosphere in the surrounds, a crisper dialogue track, and less flabby bass.

These are just two examples of many. But i will add that it is all system dependent. You`re hardly likely to tell the difference on a system like Videologics Digitheatre, compared to a THX amp with all the bells and whistles, and this is where Rob`s point lies i think. On my own system i can clearly hear a difference on most of my titles, as do many others, but personally there`s nothing like the `upfront and boisterous` fun factor of Dolby Digital. As the industry standard, i believe Dolby will always have the upperhand as its easy to implement and is cheap to license. Dts cinema decoders are complicated and seldom used here in the UK, so for now Dts remains a `home exclusive`.
In the battle for consumer backing-Dolby wins every time, but i still love scaring the neighbours and indeed my mates with Saving Private Ryans awesome dts track :-)

Westy

On most region 1 DVDs i own the difference between DTS and DD5.1 is hardly noticable, but there is a few DVDs i own where the DTS option is clearly greater than DD5.1.

The Superbit version of the Fifth Element sounds much better with DTS but not a massive difference.

I am into my HongKong and Asian action movies and the latest ones that i have bought have much better sound quality than my Region 1s and 2s.
When switching from DD5.1 to DTS on these movies the difference is massive, its not only louder but much clearer with a richer sounding bass.

If you can get a hold of any of these movies you will notice the difference.

Bichunmoo

Shiri

Shaolin Soccer

Legend of ZU

Battle Royale

All of these films are very entertaining with amazing special effects and great Fantasy storylines.....All Recomended!

In my experience, where DTS and DD51 tracks co-exist on a disc, the DTS is better, but not by a great deal.

However, when the full bitrate is used, the range and power of DTS is clearly evident and is much better than the DD51 version.

In my experience, the only people who are anti-DTS are those early adopters whose hardware doesn`t support it and are desperately trying to justify why they should not go out and buy new kit!

However, there also truth in saying that a good DD51 system playign a good DD51 disc will sound very close to a DTS track...

This item was edited on Friday, 4th January 2002, 22:09

I would agree that the DTS tracks on a number of movies are no better than the DD equivalent. IMO there are some exceptions where the DTS tracks are far superior. The obvious movie discs that I can immediately think off are Saving Private Ryan (much clearer bass and effects steering) and Gladiator (much more expansive music soundtrack) as previously mentioned. However, there is one movie I can especially recommend for hearing a clear difference -- Jurassic Park 3. Check out the T-Rex/Spinosaurus battle and the on my system the (v. significant) bass sounds are somewhat vague sounding, although still deep, on the DD track, compared to the very clear individual bass effects (foot stomps, snapping jaws, snapping neck, etc) on the DTS track. Another movie with a very clear difference between DTS and DD tacks is Titan AE, where the DTS has again a much deeper and clearer bass IMO.

Having said all this, as a great music/concert DVD fan, I find the DD/DTS differences to be most significant on these disks. In almost every case, the DTS tracks are better that the DD track due to significantly clearer bass and sometimes, a more spacious sound with a bigger soundstage.

So far, I have yet to find an instance where the DD track sounds better than the DTS one.

Steve

This item was edited on Friday, 4th January 2002, 22:57

I can`t say i`ve ever really noticed the difference between DTS and 5.1, perhaps my system isn`t uber enough. Put it this way, I won`t go out of my way to buy a DTS disk over a 5.1 disk if the 5.1 is cheaper.

Well like all quality issues it`s probably a disc by disc thing.

Whilst not having actually compared a large number of discs which contain both DTS and DD5.1 I do remember being extremely impressed by the sound on the DTS release of Daylight, compared to the DD5.1 release it was like a different soundtrack.

I have a pioneer dvd player linked via co-ax to my Sony strde 445 amp ( DD and DTS). It seems to know when a dd track is being played as it will scroll "dolby dgital 5.1". but when i play Gladiator it doesnt say "dts" or anything just "dolby digital 5.1".

Am i supposed to "tell" the amp somehow to accept a dts signal to make it work?? I`m not quite clued up on it yet...