JURASSIC PARK - audio and video issues (MERGED THREAD) (1 Viewer)

I figured I would ask all of you guys...

I recently got surround sound and have been very satisfied with it. I have upgraded my Saving Private Ryan and Jaws to DTS versions.

My question is:

Are Jurassic Park and the Lost World worth upgrading to DTS versions? Is there really an audible difference between the DD and DTS versions?

Note to respondants: Please do not bring this to a "which is better? DD or DTS" thread. I would like an honest answer. If there isn't much difference, that's fine. If there's a big difference, please let me know.

Like Private Ryan, DTS did tweak the JP soundtrack so it sounds better than the Dolby Digital version.

I haven't seen The Lost World, but the first JP sounds incredible in DTS.

You should know that some of the DTS DVDs for JP are defective. Read more

in this thread.

I knew that some were defective. Thanks, though. Anyone else?

The dts version of Jurassic Park is definately better. Overall cleaner sound, more ambience and deeper LFE. I thought the Lost World DD and dts tracks sounded pretty close.

Yup, the corrected DTS DVD Jurassic Park is more closely in line with the fabulous DTS laserdisc. It's a system killer!

Get it and make sure on the inner hub of the disc it says "D2R2" within the manufacturing data. That's the key to knowing if you have a corrected version.

Dan

The corrected DTS version of Jurassic Park is a significant improvement over the Dolby Digital version.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park is much closer, with the two versions neck and neck.

I would definitely recommend upgrading to the DTS version of Jurassic Park, but if you already have the Dolby Digital version of The Lost World: Jurassic Park I don't think the small differences justify a new purchase.

Adam

The differences between the DD and DTS versions of JP2 are very slight, but I would say the DTS version has a slight edge. But as people have said, the corrected DTS version of Jurassic Park is incredibly completely massively different than the DD version. The LFE on that disc will make people run from your house like 13 year olds from R. Kelly! Plus, the soundstage is a lot more spacious on the DTS version. I had both versions sitting on the shelf at one time and did quite a bit of A/B comparison before selling the DD version, and if my mother heard the difference then you can too.

Adam,

How does the Jaws DTS disc sound compared to DD? Did you find it worth an upgrade, if so what was the main diffrence you noticed between the two versions?

Honestly, Mark, I haven't listened to it yet.

Just curious since these discs had a good deal of extras on them and wondered if adding a DTS track sacrificed picture quality at all. Anyone do a comparsion?

Well, considering they subtracted extras for the DTS version to make room for the audio, I'd guess the transfers would be close if not identical. They were probably compressed in the same way and take up the same space, too. But I haven't seen for myself, nor have I heard they are any different.

But, the extras they subtracted were very small I think. I'm guessing the DTS still took more bits. But, this may or may not have made a difference in picture quality. The reason I am asking is because Universal's Apollo 13 DD 5.1 had extras, but a sharper picture than the DTS version with no extras.

True, Apollo 13 has a different picture, but it seems to be the only one affected as so. 12 Monkeys, Dragonheart, Dante's Peak, etc. do not appear to have this difference. Not to mention the DTS on Apollo 13 is full-bitrate while JP only uses half-bitrate. Hopefully someone can chime in who has seen for themselves?

I'm no expert on the matter, but Van Ling said about this subject during the recent HTF Chat:

When there are multiple releases of the same title with the only ostensble difference being the audio format, they usually contain the same compressed video. Only the audio configs are changed. This means that since DTS takes up more room than DD5.1 the film would be encoded to accommodate the DTS track plus the required Dolby 2.0 and the DD5.1 version would use the same video encode and thus have more unused space on the DVD!

Seems pretty logical to me....

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Hey I was watching Jurassic Park, the dolby digital version not the dts one, and the voices sounded really harsh. I mean almost half the time you could hear distortion in it... You can still make out the voices and all but it is just bothersome. I have heard this on two different home theaters of mine and this is the only dvd that this occurs. My question is can that particular dvd just be defective (music, sound effects, picture is fine) or is it just a problem with the original dolby digital transfer of jurassic park? Thanks.

I own the DD disc and hear no problems.

There's a fair bit of dialogue/centre channel distortion on this disc (the T. Rex roaring at the kids in the Ford Explorer is particularly bad) which is present on both DTS and Dolby Digital versions. Considerably less than was found on the LaserDisc, though.

Adam

I'm surprised the studio hasn't re-released them in Ultimate Editions.

I also find that the dialog sounds particulary worse on this disc than on others, especially on the chopper ride to the island.

It was the first movie I played through my speakers. At first thought that my speakers just weren't that good, but playing other movies convinced me it was not the speakers.

I bought Jurassic Park and The Lost World when I still only had DD capability. I was going to sell these and get the DTS versions hoping it would be corrected, but now I might just sell these, as much of their real appeal was the sound mix anyway (although sound effects are still pretty good).

The only other times I have been really dissatisfied with dialogue reproduction was for the outdoor Venice scenes of The Italian Job (2003) before the opening heist, a lot of Face/Off, and a couple scenes in U-571.

There is some harshness in dialog on the DTS as well. It seems it's just a part of the mix for this movie.