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A personal DTS observation... (1 Viewer)

Dan Kaplan

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Bumping up the volume has long been a favourite trick among unscrupulous audio dealers: increasing the playback volume of a given system by only a couple of dB results in the perception of better bass, clarity and soundstaging.
On the other hand, if the source material is sub-par, increasing the volume will actually reduce the listening experience, so it all comes back to which is sonically superior to begin with. ;)
I find it odd how often the DTS vs. DD debate comes down to people thinking it's merely a matter of the 4 dB boost. Don't people adjust the volume setting accordingly? I always lower the volume 3-4 clicks for DTS soundtracks (I like to enjoy the listening experience, not make my ears ring), and all my favorite soundtracks are DTS ones.
Dan
 

Yee-Ming

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ironically, most times I use the DD track so that I can engage "night" mode, which only works on DD and not DTS. sadly, I live in an apartment which I have found has very thin walls, and most times I have to watch in the evenings after work. although it's only, say, 8-11pm, I don't think my neighbours would appreciate my rig going full blast.
 

Adam Barratt

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Don't people adjust the volume setting accordingly?
Probably not. Most people, even experienced home theatre users, are unaware of this technical difference so never adjust playback volumes to compensate (and most who are aware aren't able to completely compensate for this difference in any case).

4dB is the most common difference in playback levels, but there are cases where this difference is much greater (just as there are titles for which there is no attenuation and therefore no volume difference).

I don't think anyone would attribute audible difference solely to differences in volume, as there are so many other factors to consider. Even so, many people seem willing to attribute audible differences solely to the compression system used, which would be just as simplistic.

Adam
 

DaViD Boulet

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And Dreamworks will come right out and tell you, Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan are a TOTALLY DIFFERENT MIX on the DTS version.
Jeff,
Your above statement is correct, but what it applies to is that the DTS mix for Saving Private Ryan is different than the dolby digital DVD mix which itself has been DRAMATICALLY altered from the theatrical mix, which actually makes it *possible* (though not proven) that the DTS mix does, in fact, more faithfully represent the theatrical mix.
Most people don't realize, but every Dolby Digital mix on DVD has been dramatically remixed for "home video" by your DVD producers. Very few, if any, are duplicates of the theatrical mix. Aside from changing surround and bass levels, they do other things like dialog normalization, and moving bass in/out of the mains to and from the LFE channel...and even sometimes alter the channel content more profoundly in order to produce good-sounding "2.0 downmixes" for prologic viewers if a separate 2.0 signal can't be placed on the disc.
DTS mixes historically (on laserdisc) have pretty much been transcriptions of the theatrical mix without any further modification. This is one of the reasons they sounded so good and one of the reasons we had that Jurrassic Park snafu when the DTS version came out on DVD (which had been extensively modified).
Bottom line is that we stand a better chance of getting the theatrical mix with the DTS version, but you're right that the DVD producers can muck up anything. Oddly, they all seemed convinced they need to alter mixes to make them sound better in the home-environment but it always seems that when the option is available, the HT enthusiasts prefer the original theatrical mix.
Personally, just like with Edge enhancement and DVNR, I think most DVD mastering houses suffer from the "the more dials we turn and buttons we push on our expensive AV equipment the better it will be" syndrome. Ask any old-time audiophile if this is true for his 2-channel stereo and he/she will emphatically tell you that (leaving out issues of necessary restoration, naturally) the best sound is the one that has the least processing applied.
-dave
 

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