Is it my setup or is dolby true hd bad?

bansheesho

I thought dolby true HD and dts HD master were both supposed to be lossless audio formats, but it seems that I absolutely love dts and every time I see the movie is in true hd I groan.... To me the true hd sounds so much more thin and the low end just isn't there to shake the house like on dts?

Is this just the way it is or is there something I can do to make my movie experience better?

tonyb

I have found the same thing on Dolby true HD, sounds almost the same as standard Dolby Digital. DTS HD Master audio is where the magic lies for me.

What kind of BDP are you using ? How is it hooked up ? Did you set up the player and the receiver ? Check your settings ? Lots of little things can make a difference.

kuntasensei

I think it just depends on the movie more than the codec. On discs that have both formats, they sound identical to me... and there are some MONSTER TrueHD tracks out there that sound amazing and will shake the house. Off the top of my head, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, The Dark Knight, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Super 8 all have amazing TrueHD tracks.

bansheesho

I got the bdp before I started getting so interested in the audio quality, so don't judge. I would have gotten one that plays sacd if I would have known

It's a Panasonic dmp-bd75

So far I haven't had any issues as far as picture quality or audio quality on dts master.. it did have a glitch where if you update the firmware you need to unplug the Ethernet cable before you reboot it, but that is a fairly minor issue.

I liked super 8 but I still found it lacking in depth compared to a dts track... Even cheap low budget movies in dts sound better to me than good ones in dolby... They sound much more full...

tonyb

Honestly, I never listen to Dolby true HD when given a choice between that and DTS Hd MA. Some discs however don't give you a choice.
I don't think it's anything with your gear, but like all discs,some are just better than others.

bansheesho

I think I may have found the problem???

I took a screen shot if 2 audio settings options... Tell me what you all think. It was set to "bitstream" and "on" which if I interpret that correctly it is saying that it will default to regular dolby? If that's the case then that means I wasn't even getting true hd .. the receiver says dts hd master when I listen to a dts bluray but only shows the dolby digital logo when a true hd track is running


So what would you guys set it to in options?

bansheesho

Yay!!!! I got my true hd!!! Why on gods earth would they have a setting to default to a worse audio format when a better one is available?

Now there is another problem that I see is that it flashes dial normal before it goes to true hd on the receiver...

Also, anyone know what might be the difference between pcm setting and bitstream setting?

cnh

Is this the menu from your Blu-ray player? If so you do want everything set to "bitstream" so that the Pioneer can do the decoding into Tru HD sound.

Don't understand what's going on in the second window? PCM, shouldn't that be bitstream too? In theory outputting PCM means that the BDP is unpacking the HD soundtrack and sending a lossless decoded version out to the receiver which simply plays what it receives. What you want to do is have whichever DACs/decoding is better (AVR or BDP) do the decoding from the raw bitstream (in this case the Pioneer should do it).

I've also noticed little difference between some normal S-tracks and HD versions. A lot of that depends on how things are mastered, etc.

cnh

kuntasensei

The screens you posted tell you the deal. Turn Secondary Audio off and Bitstream will then send the unadulterated TrueHD and DTS-MA tracks to your receiver for decoding. Whether you'll notice a difference between bitstream and PCM is questionable.

polkfarmboy

There is no audible diff between bitstream or the player sending it . I have a/b this and done some blind testing on friends with my pioneer elite receiver in my gaming room. If there is a diff then only my cats can tell the diff but f'k them cats because they don't pay for all the equipment

BlueFox

bansheesho wrote: »

I thought dolby true HD and dts HD master were both supposed to be lossless audio formats,

They are lossless compression algorithms. Two different ways to accomplish the same task. When uncompressed you have the same file with either method. So, they both sound the same, or something is wrong, broken, etc.

leroyjr1

polkfarmboy wrote: »

There is no audible diff between bitstream or the player sending it . I have a/b this and done some blind testing on friends with my pioneer elite receiver in my gaming room. If there is a diff then only my cats can tell the diff but f'k them cats because they don't pay for all the equipment

Not true. Guessing it all depends on gear but I definitely like bitstream better. Having my receiver doing the decoding sounds better.

polkfarmboy

leroyjr1 wrote: »

Not true. Guessing it all depends on gear but I definitely like bitstream better. Having my receiver doing the decoding sounds better.

Well my Anthem avm sounds better with pcm than my pioneer elite does with bitstream and have had both hooked up to a 5 ch amp to test it. how come I can clearly tell the difference with these but not able to tell any diff with bitstream and pcm on the pioneer ? My speakers are revealing electrostats so I would hear it if it was clearly there

bansheesho

Can someone enlighten me on what "dial normal" is... It will flash on the receiver dial normal (+3) before going to true hd... The number will change though...

Tankman

The more i play around with all the DTS,Master and True HD the more i am thinking of going back too just 2.1.Does it sound better for moves yep,but then back in the day with four speakers in two channel was good for the day.Now with all this 9.1,11.2,just how much do we really need for a HT set up?Maybe i am just a lil old school but a nice amp nice speakers seems too be just fine for me these days.

kuntasensei

If it's right for you, Tankman, then do it! I'm happy with my 9.2 setup... as ridiculous as it may be. But hey, my guests say it sounds fantastic, and I love it. But I wouldn't blame you for wanting to go 2-channel one bit.

Mon40CSMM10

PCM (see also D-PCM) is going to end up downmixing the audio, which the receiver would have to upmix as part of processing it. Keep or set to Bitstream then it will output the direct digital audio which will be processed by the receiver with no downmixing involved. Or, if using a direct or stream direct type of mode, it will not be processed at all, just output.

Also, from what I can find searching for "av receiver dial normal" (without the quotes), this is dealing with the master volume. Dial Normal (+3) should mean that the master volume is increased by 3 dB. Nothing to worry about unless you didn't want the master volume normalized by a 3 dB increase.

deronb1

bansheesho wrote: »

Can someone enlighten me on what "dial normal" is... It will flash on the receiver dial normal (+3) before going to true hd... The number will change though...

I am not 100 percent sure, but I think it has something to do with MCAAC at setup. My Elite does it too, but says -4 mine doesn't change though. Always says "Dial Norm -4"

Tankman

kuntasensei wrote: »

If it's right for you, Tankman, then do it! I'm happy with my 9.2 setup... as ridiculous as it may be. But hey, my guests say it sounds fantastic, and I love it. But I wouldn't blame you for wanting to go 2-channel one bit.

..You are right about the 9.1.My Son has his set up in 9.1 and does sound great in HT.

kuntasensei

Here's what you need to know about dialnorm:
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_2/feature-article-dialog-normalization-6-2000.html

bansheesho

Very informative article.... Thank you for posting!!

Thanks for everyone's help !!

Tankman

@kuntasensei...Dude!Great link!Thanks!