A question to all you audiophiles on DVD Sound (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Garman]

Hello. Here's a question for all you audiophiles out there. We always debate and say that we want both Dolby Digital and DTS tracks on our beloved DVD's. Now, if a DVD were to contain a Dolby Digital track and say a LPCM track too would you buy it? I for one prefer on many older films to listen to the original stereo/dolby stereo mix. With my vast laserdisc collection, I have that option on everything. Some notables include Top Gun and The Lion King. For those of you who have not heard a Dolby Stereo track on Laserdisc, I suggest you do because on some films, LPCM sounds better than the 5.1 track. Is it me or does LPCM just do the trick sometimes? I know The Lion King had much more depth on that track than the Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Oh, and I am not talking about lame Dolby 2.0: I WANT LPCM! Anyhow, to put it simple again: Would some of you out there prefer to have a LPCM track on those DVD's that contain remastered 5.1 tracks such as Top Gun or even Dick Tracy (If Disney would ever release it here!)? Adieu!
Aaron James Garman

 

[Dan Hitchman]

For stereo or mono films, yes. No Dolby Digital 1.0 or 2.0.
For 5.1 and 6.1 tracks, I'd rather see full bitrate DTS 24/96 5.1 and DTS-ES Discrete 6.1.
For HD-DVD-- 1.0 to 7.1 discrete DSD (Direct Stream Digital).
Dan
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Stop HDCP and 5C-- Your rights are at risk!

 

[Sean Conklin]

Welcome to the Home Theater Forum Aaron!
I do not consider myself an "experienced" audiophile, but generally a good sound critic.
Yes LPCM is great sounding. And yes I would probably prefer the PCM on the Top Gun LD over the 5.1 DVD remaster, for some reason I do not like the remixed 5.1 on Top Gun.
I'm sure many here will agree that SOME LPCM on certain movies sounds better than it's DD 5.1 remastered counterpart.
But as a whole I think a "GOOD" DD or dts 5.1 DVD sounds much better than PCM.(FOR MOVIES)
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Sean
"I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"
[Edited last by Sean Conklin on October 30, 2001 at 12:51 AM]

 

[Anders Englund]

The way you put it, I'd have to say yes. I would prefer a LPCM track over a DD2.0 (if space permits it, both), but only if the orginal track is a stereo/stereo surround track. As for new titles which have a 5.1 mix to begin with, I couldn't care less.
--Anders
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[YANG]

The PCM DOLBY SURROUND track of laserdiscs will always be more stronger than the DVD of the same movie.More stronger.

 

[CamiloCamacho]

Only if it the theatrical sound is Dolby Stereo / Surround / ProLogic (I think the only name they use was stereo, excuse me).
If it was 5.1, i want to get at least a DD 5.1 Track with the real master (not like some Dreamworks titles). And if it can afford a DTS ES Full Rate, i will be more than happy. (Thank you anchor bay)
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http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollect...lias=Jugernaut

 

[Aaron Garman]

As I think again, I'd have to say I would really want LPCM only if the movie was 5.1 to begin with. With Star Wars somewhere down the line, I'm afraid we are just going to get the 5.1 soundtrack. Now I'm not saying it is bad, but it just doesn't feel as robust as the original track. I have both the originals and SE's on LD and I do prefer the original soundtracks. The only exception to this would have to be the speeder bike chase in Jedi. As for Top Gun, I've got the THX LD with Dolby Digital and LPCM Dolby Stereo on it. I did a side by side and the LPCM just blows it away. I've also heard the DVD of Top Gun is just shallow in terms of sound. Another question too: is LPCM on DVD 48khz as opposed to 44khz? Does LPCM sound better on a DVD than a LD/CD? Adieu.
Aaron

 

[Rich Malloy]

Offhand, I can think of two titles that include PCM soundtracks: Criterion's Do The Right Thing and Criterion's The Magic Flute. For Do The Right Thing, Criterion also included a Dolby Digital track. IMO, the PCM track is much nicer.

 

[Sean Conklin]

Aaron, I'm not sure there are any DVD movies that use LPCM.
As far as LPCM being "STRONGER" than it's Dolby 2.0 counterpart is a fair statement.Uncompressed PCM should sound more robust than compressed DD 2.0.
But I don't think any PCM can touch a GOOD full bitrate dts or a quality 448KB DD 5.1(again for movies only), I mean most newer movies with the original soundtrack in regular bitrate DD or dts is going to sound better than PCM because it's discreet!
Most of the time a DD or dts 5.1 will sound better than PCM,that is why the format exists, because in most cases is superior!
But for sure Aaron, there are certain movies that will definitely sound better in LPCM than it's remastered counterpart.
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Sean
"I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"

 

[Sean Conklin]

Offhand, I can think of two titles that include PCM soundtracks: Criterion's Do The Right Thing and Criterion's The Magic Flute. For Do The Right Thing, Criterion also included a Dolby Digital track. IMO, the PCM track is much nicer.

Really? Al I didn't know that! Thats pretty cool that Criterion would add an uncompressed PCM track!
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Sean
"I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"

 

[Ken Stuart]

What is the "L" short for?

 

[Sean Conklin]

What is the "L" short for?

Linear, I think.
Linear Pulse Code Modulation.
Maybe I'll have to hook up my Analog connection and check out some of those PCM Criterions.
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Sean
"I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"
[Edited last by Sean Conklin on October 30, 2001 at 12:26 PM]

 

[Rich Malloy]

Sean, if you pick up The Magic Flute in a B&M, make sure you get the second pressing (it'll say "second pressing" in the small type on the back of the box). The first pressing has the R and L channels transposed.
(If you accidentally get the first pressing, just send an email to [email protected] and he'll exchange it for you.)
Re Do The Right Thing, I definitely prefer the PCM track over the DD track - and I spent quite a bit of time switching back and forth between the two. I'm not an audiophile, however, and I'd love to hear what you guys with the really, really amazing ears and equipment think.

 

[Sean Conklin]

Thanks for the info Al!!
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Sean
"I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"

 

[Tom J. Davis]

The entire top gun dvd is weak. Sub-par picture and sound.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

quote: Maybe I'll have to hook up my Analog connection and check out some of those PCM Criterions.[/quote]
Or you can use your receiver or pre/pro; those with DD/DTS all handle PCM via their optical/coaxial inputs.
As far as I'm concerned, all stereo and mono movie DVDs should have a PCM track, no 5.1, unless there is no good analog master available. The, 5.1 is OK, as long as the analog track is still included.
[Edited last by Michael St. Clair on October 30, 2001 at 01:19 PM]

 

[RobertR]

This thread addresses a question I've had about the use of the terms "weak" and "strong" when subjectively describing picture and sound.
Is the term "weak" being used interchangeably with the word "poor", and the term "strong" interchangeably with the word "good"? Or is there some other subjective quality that's implied beyond that? If so, exactly what is it?
[Edited last by RobertR on October 30, 2001 at 01:21 PM]

 

[Sean Conklin]

Michael wrote:

Or you can use your receiver or pre/pro; those with DD/DTS all handle PCM via their optical/coaxial inputs.

Yes but it is sent in code via digital, then has to be processed by my receivers DAC's, if I use analog I can use source direct and bypass the processing and send the PCM signal directly to my amp, less processing = truer, direct sound.
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Sean
"I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"

 

[PatrickM]

Yes but it is sent in code via digital, then has to be processed by my receivers DAC's, if I use analog I can use source direct and bypass the processing and send the PCM signal directly to my amp, less processing = truer, direct sound.

Sorry Sean, but this doesn't make sense to me. If you choose a LPCM track from your DVD's audio menu then you'll have LPCM coming out of your digital connection to your receiver which can obviously decode PCM since it'll decode CD's quite easily. You have to have either the DVD player or the receiver decode the PCM track and since for the most part the DAC's in a given receiver are usually better than the DAC's in a DVD player why wouldn't you use the receiver?
Am I missing something about your statement above?
Patrick
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Evidence of my obsession.

 

[Sean Conklin]

Patrick, maybe I am missing something here
My thought was that the DVD player sends the now encoded (compressed?) PCM track through the coax then my receiver needs to decode it then amplify it.3 steps
If I go analog I thought it would send the PCM uncompressed through the RCA jacks and directly to my amp using source direct.Therefore bypassing any processing.2 steps
Am I wrong? it works for my CD's, but then again anything on a disc is probably compressed to a certain extent whether decoded by the player or the receiver.
If I am wrong in thinking the Analog would be less processed, then I won't worry about it and just send it through the digital coax, because YES I believe generally a receiver has better DAC's.
Maybe DVD really doesn't contain a completely uncompressed PCM track?
Or the DVD player has to pull a compressed PCM off the DVD and send it through the digital coax to be uncompressed, processed and amplified.
I believe this is why I have "Source Direct" to avoid at least one step of processing.
OR......Are CD's different than DVD's when it comes to audio storage?
Please straighten me out if I'm wrong!
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Sean
"I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"