Robert AG
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2003
- Messages
- 129
You are quite right. However I also said somewhere in one of those threads that while I preferred DTS, I knew why I did, and it had nothing to do with the DTS codec itself, but rather with the way the sound was altered. I just liked their EQ and the way the surrounds were pumped up. There was also a comment in there somewhere where I said that the DTS was smoother. It could have been that the DTS was genuinely smoother sounding in the LOTR DVD that I was listening to in that particular thread. This could have been the result of the DTS codec or of the EQ - I didn't delve that far into that particular finding at that time.
Do keep in mind that my work does not concern the sound quality of the finished DVD's of films I work on. I am only concerned professionally with maintaining quality from the original music scoring sessions through the final film mix. Any interest or experimentation on the sound contribution of lossy codecs is as a listener, just like you. The only difference is that I have a few more resources available, like the masters.
If you search around, you will also see a report on a direct Dolby Digital verses DTS verses original 35mm magnetic film master shootout that took place on a dubbing stage. This was done privately for a film director who was interested in what the differences in sound quality between them were, so that sound format release decisions could be made. I was one of a few people at this shootout. In this particular instance, there was essentially no sonic difference between the compressed formats, nor between them and the 35mm magnetic film Dolby SR master!
I guess it all boils down to being able to spot sonic manipulations verses sonic degradation. They are very different animals, and digital processing when it does degrade the sound does so in ways that do not effect the timbral balance or volume levels of the source. Digital degradation is easy to spot when you have enough exposure to it, as are the various sonic manipulations that are possible. I process digital sound as part of my work, and I manipulate sound by EQ, compression or any number of ways, so I am familiar with the sonic effects of both of them. In the subsequent direct comparisons I have done between my master copies and the released DVDs, the sound quality differences due to the codecs are easy to spot, as are the sonic manipulations that have been made, and it is easy to seperate them.
Do keep in mind that my work does not concern the sound quality of the finished DVD's of films I work on. I am only concerned professionally with maintaining quality from the original music scoring sessions through the final film mix. Any interest or experimentation on the sound contribution of lossy codecs is as a listener, just like you. The only difference is that I have a few more resources available, like the masters.
If you search around, you will also see a report on a direct Dolby Digital verses DTS verses original 35mm magnetic film master shootout that took place on a dubbing stage. This was done privately for a film director who was interested in what the differences in sound quality between them were, so that sound format release decisions could be made. I was one of a few people at this shootout. In this particular instance, there was essentially no sonic difference between the compressed formats, nor between them and the 35mm magnetic film Dolby SR master!
I guess it all boils down to being able to spot sonic manipulations verses sonic degradation. They are very different animals, and digital processing when it does degrade the sound does so in ways that do not effect the timbral balance or volume levels of the source. Digital degradation is easy to spot when you have enough exposure to it, as are the various sonic manipulations that are possible. I process digital sound as part of my work, and I manipulate sound by EQ, compression or any number of ways, so I am familiar with the sonic effects of both of them. In the subsequent direct comparisons I have done between my master copies and the released DVDs, the sound quality differences due to the codecs are easy to spot, as are the sonic manipulations that have been made, and it is easy to seperate them.