dts 5.1 or dolby digital 5.1?

dave shepard · February 2003

Lastnight we went out and bought a couple new dvd's we watched Contender in dolby 5.1 lastnight and there wasn't a whole lot of anything going on in the surrounds even when there should have been, good movie just nothing as surround goes. Today we watched The fast and the furious but chose DTS and my god there is a whole lot of surround action going on. I really didn't care for The fast and furious when we seen it on standard tv but now have another opinion in 5.1 surround. My question is both movies have both formats which should be chosen for the best effects? It would appear that DTS has a better sound unless the Contender wasn't recorded properly for 5.1.

Thanks
Dave

scottvamp · February 2003

Hey Dave - you are comparing two totally different movies.
Apples and Oranges my friend. The F&F has both DTS and DD - listen to both and hear the diffence. It won't be night and day.
The F&F is just alot heavier on the surrounds. The Contender is not nearly as engaging. Movies sound different weither there DTS or DD it doesn't matter. It is still the same soundtrack. But many perfer DTS over DD on a "same" movie soundtrack due to less compression of the DTS soundtrack. Bass is tighter and more controlled and a bit more clarity in sound.

danger boy · February 2003

perfer DTS whenever it's available on a DVD. like scott said. sounds more open and better surround sound and clarity.

dave shepard · February 2003

Thanks Scott I was starting to think that maybe there was a big difference between the two formats because I never changed the formats in the menu before this, I always let the DVD play. This time I tried something diffrent and wasn't sure and would watch the Contender again tonight in DTS if there would have been a big difference between them. Well onto the next movie.

Thanks again
Dave

dave shepard · February 2003

After looking at the replies again I seem to get DTS should be the format to choose for better sound over DD, is that right?

Thanks
Dave

etrigan · February 2003

Not always - let YOUR ears decide.
Try "Saving Private Ryan"/"Apollo 13"/"LOTR-FOTR" etc,etc.
A lot of films and concerts have both formats avail.
(some on the same disc-"LOTR-Ext Edit"/"Se7en"/Terminator 2 Ultim.Edit. etc.)
Some have two diff. version discs ("Jaws"/"SPR"/"Apollo") - some of those kinds have to give up xtra features to make room for the DTS track. But in some cases-worth it! ("SPR"-if I'm not mistaken)
Some - not worth it ("Jaws") Of course all - IMHO

Try 'em out,Experiment,Enjoy. - I spend more time tweaking/listening/effin' w/speaker-sub placement-large/small speaker settings/x-over freq./sitting distance--than I do actually sitting down and enjoying a film or concert

I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this here-but that's just me

(I'm never satisfied-I always think "This can sound better")

But, then again-I'm a very picky and anal type of collector,and actually keep my cd's bagged in ziplock "yellow and blue make green" sandwich bags to keep the jewels "scratchless" :rolleyes:

Not to mention other things !

See 'ya - gotta continue gettin' my "Rooster on"

CHEERS ! jefff

danger boy · February 2003

etrigan, you are anal my friend.. ha ha ha. but to each his own. more power to ya!.

I fiddled with large and small setting quite a bit today, had the house to myself for a good 6 hours. I was listening to Diana Krall Live in Paris DVD concert. The sound is amazing on that disc. I actually thought the DVD itself had "to much" bass on it. WHile for movies i run all my speakers on small. I decided to expirement with the large/small/sub off settings and was amazed at what the RT800i's and RT1000i's can do.

I first watched the entire DVD with the speakers set to small. and the sub on. Then i turned the sub to off on the receiver and changed all the speakers to large. I actually like the sub off and the 800i's and 1000i's on large. I feel they are big boys and can handle the LFE without the need for a seperate sub. I was right.. they kept up without breaking a sweat.. and it also gave the CS400i a good workout too.

Although this is in no way scientific... it did sound slightly better with the mains and rears doing all the work without a sub. If anyone has this DVD, give it a try. (unless you only have small sat speakers, in which case, you may kill them).

anyway guy, what a fun day. I also rewatched the Matrix. I hadn't watched it in over a year. Since I last watched it.. i have added mono block amps to the front three speakers. They kicked in and warmed up pretty good to the touch. I could tell the front two mono blocks were doing most of the work.. the center amp was barely warm.

later guys. did anyone else have fun this weekend with their units?

scottvamp · February 2003

The question IS - What sub are you running?;) And you may just not be a fan of LFE.

STUFFMD · February 2003

I'm a DTS fan normally...but not all recordings are the same....the other day I was watching a movie switching back and forth on the soundtrack and went with the 5.1, it did not sound as large as the DTS but I thought it sounded a lot smoother, the DTS track on this particular movie I thought was a little too bright. That's pretty rare though.

DANGERBOY, I'm with you on the bass, I also thought the mike job on the piano sounded too far away, very much not as prevelant as some of the other instruments. It was almost as if all the piano mikes were placed on the floor,between the piano and the Bass player to cut down on the crowd noise. What kind of Monos did you go with???? How do you like them, I was thinking of doing the same thing, I also have the 800"S.
My 2 Cents Stuff

ChrisDurano · February 2003

I agree with STUFF and etrigan. It depends on the DVD. I listened to the Diana Krall many times. The DD puts out a ton more bass than the DTS version. With my "Seven" dvd, i like the DTS because the sound effects are more seamless. It really depends on the recording and the DVD. This discussion and debate seems to reappear every few months with really no true black and white answer as to which is the best. The bottom line is just to trust your ears and not to get too technical, or else you'll miss the whole picture......literally!

kberg · February 2003

...and I agree with ChrisDurano - it depends on the DVD. Try LOTR original DD release and compare it to the DTS extended version release (in case you have both) - the DD release has MUCH more bass - that DVD was overcooked! But, I like the DTS discrete version MUCH better overall. ALWAYS let your ears decide.

Dr. Spec · February 2003

I'm in the DTS camp - I like it better than DD most of the time. But DD has sime damn good stuff and the difference is usually subtle between the two.

Now since I have DD-EX (but not DTS-ES) decoding capability, the decision is more difficult.

Kevin, speaking of, you never did tell me how you made out on the ring drop vs. the Sauron reverse sweep. About the same volume, or is one louder than the other?

Shizelbs · February 2003

For newbies like me, does anyone know of a good resource on the web where I can learn more about DD, DD-EX, DTS, THX and all that sort of stuff? I want to learn more, but I don't want to pester all you to find out newbie stuff. Thanks.

Dr. Spec · February 2003

Dolby Labs, THX, and DTS all have their own websites with good stuff on them.

Also, check out and join www.hometheaterforum.com

danger boy · February 2003

Originally posted by scottvamp
The question IS - What sub are you running?;) And you may just not be a fan of LFE.

if this ? is for me.. my sub is a 350 placed in the corner. it's ok for now.. really want something better. but yeah that Diana Krall DVD has tons of bass.

danger boy · February 2003

Originally posted by STUFFMD
I'm a DTS fan normally...but not all recordings are the same....the other day I was watching a movie switching back and forth on the soundtrack and went with the 5.1, it did not sound as large as the DTS but I thought it sounded a lot smoother, the DTS track on this particular movie I thought was a little too bright. That's pretty rare though.

DANGERBOY, I'm with you on the bass, I also thought the mike job on the piano sounded too far away, very much not as prevelant as some of the other instruments. It was almost as if all the piano mikes were placed on the floor,between the piano and the Bass player to cut down on the crowd noise. What kind of Monos did you go with???? How do you like them, I was thinking of doing the same thing, I also have the 800"S.
My 2 Cents Stuff

STUFFMD, i'll have to listen to it again.. and pay closer attention to the piano mix.

The mono blocks are Marantz MA500 125w can be had on Ebay for about $150 - $170 a piece. Helped my sound quite a bit. I was running everything from my Marantz SR5000 which I felt was underpowered when running all 5 speakers. so I jumped from 70w to 125w. made a difference.. Also using your receiver as a pre helps too. Takes a load off the receiver giving the duties to each individual amp. Good interconnects from the pre outs to the amps is very important. Don't skimp here.

kberg · February 2003

Originally posted by Dr. Spec
Kevin, speaking of, you never did tell me how you made out on the ring drop vs. the Sauron reverse sweep. About the same volume, or is one louder than the other?

Dang, Doc! It totally slipped my mind - sorry about that.

I'll try to get back to you as soon as the wife and kids are out of the house when I can run the test (yep, that could be a while, which is probably what made me forget in the first place!).

Btw, given a choice, I prefer DTS over DD, as I believe generally there is more seamless surround in the DTS format, and minor ambient sounds seem to be more pronounced than in the same [movie] in the DD version - just my opinion here, of course. So, when I say "let your ears decide", mine generally decide DTS.

scottvamp · February 2003

Originally posted by danger boy

if this ? is for me.. my sub is a 350 placed in the corner. it's ok for now.. really want something better. but yeah that Diana Krall DVD has tons of bass.

Ya Danger the 350 - you can do alot better!!!!
Get a "better" sub and you may have a change of heart. You will not be able to live without the low freq. the rest of your speakers are lacking. Trust me.;)

Dr. Spec · February 2003

Originally posted by scottvamp

Ya Danger the 350 - you can do alot better!!!!
Get a "better" sub and you may have a change of heart. You will not be able to live without the low freq. the rest of your speakers are lacking. Trust me.;)

Scott:

Someday I'd like to see an FR sweep on that 1200. Polk has nothing about it on the website - it's like it never existed. I wonder how low it really does go. That's a really nice sub - it's just gotta rock. Do you have CD burn capability and an SPL meter?

Doc

dave shepard · February 2003

Thanks guys, I guess that I will have to watch the movie again in DTS to compare for myself but think that DTS will be the better of the two.

Thanks again

Dave

danger boy · February 2003

Scott and Dr. Spec, while I will probably never have a PSW1200 how does the PSW650 rank in terms of low end and output? Seems that is only goes down to 25Hz, which is better than the 350 i am using now. but within my price range.. a HSU VTF2 is probably more closer to reality. Or even a small SVS

jdavy · February 2003

DTS is not as compressed as DD. If you have a well ballanced system, DTS should always sound better. Someone commented on extras on the DVD and said they prefered them to the DTS sound track. I could care less about the extras. In fact some of the best DVD's out, are the Superbit's with a DTS soundtrack and increased data for the video. Little or no extras included.

Checkout http://www.superbitdvd.com

dts 5.1 or dolby digital 5.1?

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