DVDFILE.COM Forum - View Single Post - The Battlefield: Dolby Digital vs dts (Official thread)

MtViewGuy88 · 02-26-2003, 01:28 PM

Folks,

I think in terms of Dolby Digital versus DTS, the only way to really find out is to try multiple disc sets.

For example, I have Atlantis: The Lost Empire Collector's Edition and the Extended Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, both sets sporting Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. Recently, my brother got the Logitech Z-680 surround-sound speaker set to complement his 61" Sony projection TV, a speaker set that has THX certification and a decoder for both Dolby Digital and DTS digital signals from SPDIF and coaxial sources.

Playing the two DVD sets on my brother's setup using the SPDIF connection from a Pioneer DV-434 player, I noticed the following:

Atlantis sounded better in Dolby Digital, mostly because rear channels sounded a bit clearer.

The Fellowship of the Ring sounded somewhat better in DTS, mostly because it doesn't have the overwhelming bass of the Dolby Digital track.

I've played both Star Wars prequels on my brother's setup and the Dolby Digital EX soundtrack (that's the only one available on the discs) are superb with excellent clarity on all channels. This indicates the sound engineers on these two discs know how to eek out the best sound quality out of Dolby Digital.

In short, if the sound mastering engineers on the DVD know how each sound encoding scheme works, both the Dolby Digital and DTS tracks on the same DVD should sound almost exactly the same.

02-26-2003, 01:28 PM	#41 (permalink)
MtViewGuy88 Actor Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Mountain View, CA	It really depends on the sound engineer! Folks, I think in terms of Dolby Digital versus DTS, the only way to really find out is to try multiple disc sets. For example, I have Atlantis: The Lost Empire Collector's Edition and the Extended Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, both sets sporting Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. Recently, my brother got the Logitech Z-680 surround-sound speaker set to complement his 61" Sony projection TV, a speaker set that has THX certification and a decoder for both Dolby Digital and DTS digital signals from SPDIF and coaxial sources. Playing the two DVD sets on my brother's setup using the SPDIF connection from a Pioneer DV-434 player, I noticed the following: Atlantis sounded better in Dolby Digital, mostly because rear channels sounded a bit clearer. The Fellowship of the Ring sounded somewhat better in DTS, mostly because it doesn't have the overwhelming bass of the Dolby Digital track. I've played both Star Wars prequels on my brother's setup and the Dolby Digital EX soundtrack (that's the only one available on the discs) are superb with excellent clarity on all channels. This indicates the sound engineers on these two discs know how to eek out the best sound quality out of Dolby Digital. In short, if the sound mastering engineers on the DVD know how each sound encoding scheme works, both the Dolby Digital and DTS tracks on the same DVD should sound almost exactly the same.