Dolby Digital Plus vs. DTS

[doggie750]

2 nights ago, I was scratching my head in front of the audio set up screen on w/c one is superior than the other. My guess would be the dd+, as far as i know dd+ has more bitswise capability than the normal dts but it's not all applicable when watching dvd unlike in hd dvd/ br movies. please advice.:cool:

[comfortablycurt]

I prefer DTS myself. It has less compression and a higher bitrate, and sounds a lot more natural IMO.

[BlueFox]

I prefer DTS myself. It has less compression, and sounds a lot more natural IMO.


Same here. Whatever the reason is has a bit more oomph (great technical word) than Dolby. The drawback is most DVDs do not offer it. I've always wondered why that is. Is there a technial reason? Is it a licensing issue? Does Dolby have a deal to keep other formats off the DVD? Is the DVD creator to cheap/lazy to include DTS?

[dpowell]

I always prefer DTS to DD. Not sure why but DTS seems more lively to me. I had heard a while back that DTS was dead but apparently that was incorrect.

Try both on the same section of movie and see which sounds better.

[comfortablycurt]

I believe a DTS soundtrack typically takes more time/money to master/encode, which is probably one of the big reasons that DD is more common.

DD soundtracks are simpler to create because they use a lot more compression, and take up less space on the disc.

Whenever I have the choice though, I always go with DTS.

[dudeinaroom]

Another +1 for DTS

[cnh]

Am I missing something here. Dolby Digital Plus is superior to DD...and should be equal or better than DTS...No? Isn't that the reason Dolby developed that format?

According to Dolby:

# Supports data rates as high as 6 Mbps.
# Bit rate performance of at least 3 Mbps on HD DVD and up to 1.7 Mbps on Blu-ray Disc.

DTS comes in at about 1.4Mbps on a DVD.

cnh

[appadv]

As far as I understand, there are many variables in the DD/DTS mixes that I'm not sure what I am hearing is due to the mix or the encoding. I prefer DTS over DD and DD Plus, but the mixes on the discs may be so different that it's hard to tell why.

[danz1906]

Another +1 for DTS

I prefer DTS also!

[doggie750]

Am I missing something here. Dolby Digital Plus is superior to DD...and should be equal or better than DTS...No? Isn't that the reason Dolby developed that format?

According to Dolby:

# Supports data rates as high as 6 Mbps.
# Bit rate performance of at least 3 Mbps on HD DVD and up to 1.7 Mbps on Blu-ray Disc.

DTS comes in at about 1.4Mbps on a DVD.

cnh

so DD+ wins right or ?:confused:

[disneyjoe7]

DTS here also, but has anyone seen any new titles with DTS? I looked some time ago, but don't see DTS any longer as an option.

[BlueFox]

Am I missing something here. Dolby Digital Plus is superior to DD...and should be equal or better than DTS...No? Isn't that the reason Dolby developed that format?

According to Dolby:

# Supports data rates as high as 6 Mbps.
# Bit rate performance of at least 3 Mbps on HD DVD and up to 1.7 Mbps on Blu-ray Disc.

DTS comes in at about 1.4Mbps on a DVD.

Apples and oranges comparison; Blu-Ray specs to DVD specs. On a DVD, DTS, at least to me, sounds better. The original post is a bit confused since he too is comparing Blu-Ray to DVD, and admits DD+ isn't applicable to DVDs, while DTS is.

[BlueFox]

so DD+ wins right or ?:confused:

Compared to stock DTS on a Blu-Ray, yes.

[dpowell]

Compared to stock DTS on a Blu-Ray, yes.

What really wins is what YOU like.

[comfortablycurt]

What really wins is what YOU like.

Exactly. We can throw out all the technical jargon in the world, and even if it says DD is better than DTS, it isn't changing my mind. All I know is that 9 times out of 10 I greatly prefer a movies DTS soundtrack to the DD soundtrack.

The important factor is which one sounds better to you.

I can't really speak for Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD MA though personally. I don't have a Blu-ray player yet, so I've never really gotten to sit down and compare the two directly on my own rig.

[cnh]

I agree....if we're talking about S-DVDs, yes...DTS over DD.

But on HD-DVD, Blu-ray....DD+ clocks a little higher. Bluefox is right though. We should stay on format.

So DD+ becomes somewhat irrelevant on Blu-ray because it is a lowly standard compared to Dobly Tru-HD and DTS-HD Master Audio formats.

cnh

[LuSh]

Perhaps some clarification:

1. Dolby Digital and DTS came out with two new formats during the advent of Blu-Ray/HD DVD. These included DTS-HD, DTS-HD Master Audio / Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus.

2. DTS-HD and Dolby Digital Plus were lossy formats used to allow consumers to hear benefits in sound even using existing wires (SPDIF). These new formats used higher bit-rates then legacy DTS and Dolby formats and were a marked improvement.

3. DTS-HD Master Audio / Dolby TrueHD are 'lossless' audio formats used to compress audio formats in a lossless way in order to preserve the original quality of multi-channel PCM. There has been considerable agreement that DTS-HD Master and Dolby TrueHD can be compared to directly to multi-PCM and hold there ground.

3. DD+ and DTS-HD were short lived as many studios opt'd to simply include the complete lossless audio tracks, many suppliers quickly dumped the DD+/DTS-HD encoders and followed suit.

4. PCM is the gold standard of audio. Many people preferred Dolby Prologic Laser-disc's with original two channel PCM soundtracks to later offerings in Dolby Digital multi channel. A direct reference would be Apocalypse Now. The laser disc is a revelation even though it's recorded in two channel and then encoded into Pro-logic 4 channel. The DVD cut was digital and multi channel but heavily compressed. Multi channel Lossless audio and PCM should over come these down falls provided studio's continue to support Blu Ray and streaming / downloading doesn't suck the life out of BD or any other physical media.

[dpowell]

I can't really speak for Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD MA though personally. I don't have a Blu-ray player yet, so I've never really gotten to sit down and compare the two directly on my own rig.

I'm really looking forward to getting a Blu Ray player and trying both of the new HD formats. I'm a DTS fan now but am certainly open to switching loyalties if I like what I hear better from DD than DTS.

[thuffman03]

I really can't hear the difference. If a DVD has DTS I will play that but DD sounds pretty good to me also.

[Knucklehead]

I like DTS a little better, seems to me the surrounds come to life a lot more and the front opens up more as well.

[cnh]

Perhaps some clarification:

1. Dolby Digital and DTS came out with two new formats during the advent of Blu-Ray/HD DVD. These included DTS-HD, DTS-HD Master Audio / Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus.

2. DTS-HD and Dolby Digital Plus were lossy formats used to allow consumers to hear benefits in sound even using existing wires (SPDIF). These new formats used higher bit-rates then legacy DTS and Dolby formats and were a marked improvement.

3. DTS-HD Master Audio / Dolby TrueHD are 'lossless' audio formats used to compress audio formats in a lossless way in order to preserve the original quality of multi-channel PCM. There has been considerable agreement that DTS-HD Master and Dolby TrueHD can be compared to directly to multi-PCM and hold there ground.

3. DD+ and DTS-HD were short lived as many studios opt'd to simply include the complete lossless audio tracks, many suppliers quickly dumped the DD+/DTS-HD encoders and followed suit.

4. PCM is the gold standard of audio. Many people preferred Dolby Prologic Laser-disc's with original two channel PCM soundtracks to later offerings in Dolby Digital multi channel. A direct reference would be Apocalypse Now. The laser disc is a revelation even though it's recorded in two channel and then encoded into Pro-logic 4 channel. The DVD cut was digital and multi channel but heavily compressed. Multi channel Lossless audio and PCM should over come these down falls provided studio's continue to support Blu Ray and streaming / downloading doesn't suck the life out of BD or any other physical media.

Nice discussion LuSh.

This pretty much covers it.

cnh