5.1 settings (DTS vs Dolby)

[Brian Griffin]

My lovely bride is scheduled to work this weekend so I'm going to have a full day of hunkering down with my "A" system

I had a similar situation the day after Thanksgiving, and it turned into a 5.1 fest

I realized that I have a couple hundred DVD-A, SACD, and DTS discs, most only played once or twice as I tend to do with DVD's before filing them away

Got to the 40th Tull / Brick, Yes / Close, Crimson Red and LTA, and Nektar Journey - a great trip overall

Back to the title, many have both DTS and Dolby layers - do you aficionados have a preference, and is there any reason to compare these layers?

I suppose it may vary disc to disc but was curious as to why both would be included

I seem to remember some debate around the Genesis boxes as to which sounded better - seems pretty redundant

BG

[trurl]

Traditionally DTS has been considered better, afaik. It had a lower minimum data rate and the data compression algorithm was said to be better. This was the days of basic DVD DTS vs. DD though. When the newer high quality versions appeared with HD-DVD and BluRay I'm not sure any of that applies.

[Valen]

I remember my first experience of 5.1 at home.

Once I'd got it set up, I stuck on the Gladiator dvd at the opening battle in Germania and kicked off with 2 channel stereo - very nice.

Then I moved up to Dolby Digital 5.1 - wow, you could hear those arrows flying all across the room.

Then when I moved it up to DTS - blimey! You'd have thought the walls were going to cave in around me! It was THAT loud, compared to the previous two settings.

Not the best way to wake my wife at 1.00am, especially as she'd surprised me earlier that night by arriving home with the kit (after months of saying 'No!'), and then my meticulously planned candelight dinner for two going out the window as I became bogged down in wires and speakers

Purely from a listener enjoyment pov, I'd always recommend DTS - to my ears it sounds that bit clearer, wider and more immersive, not to mention deeper on the subwoofer. Same goes for choice between Dolby Tru and DTS Master Audion on blurays - DTS still sounds more fun to me.

[Jimmy Giant]

DTS is supposed to be uncompressed while Dolby still has compression. That was my understanding of it.
Generally I think DTS does sound way better.
But the Genesis 5.1 discs threw me a curve. I haven't gone back to them since I bought them, but my order of listening is usually SACD, DTS, Dolby. I've moved since then and need to test the sound again. I found that the SACD didn't sound the best with those. In fact, I remember that all 3 encodings did have distinct differences in EQ, which I wasn't expecting. I think this new room will sound different still.
In any case, they all sound better than their CD counterparts.
Enjoy the music. I love wrapping myself in it too.

[Brian Griffin]

I think the Genesis discs are what threw me a bit as well - I also seem to remember the Dolby and DTS layers sounding different

Tentative 5.1 playlist for tomorrow.....

Floyd / Wish
Genesis / Selling England
Oldfield / Ommadawn
Yes / Close
ELP / BSS
Tull / Benefit
Crimso / Wake
Nektar / RtF

Snow is forecast and well stocked with a variety of spirits

This could get ugly

BG