Dobly digital vs. dts vs. 5 channel surround? (1 Viewer)

[MitchJS]

On some movies that have DD 5.1 soundtracks, the sound seems to sound better (and louder) with more surround sound when I set my receiver for 5 channel surround rather than Dolby Digital. I can set the receiver to Auto (which determines the audio signal on it's own), DD, DTS Cinema or 5 channel sound. I know that DD is supposed to have better effects and channel seperation. My receiver is a Marantz SR8000 and has DD and DTS decoding with 5.1. What is the preferred audio setting? Anybody else have the same experience?

 

[Michael Reuben]

What is the preferred audio setting?

The "preferred" setting is the one that sounds best to you. And I mean that seriously.

M.

 

[Harry Lincoln]

Generally speaking DTS tracks are around 4db louder that the DD track on DVDs, this extra spl can be misleading when comparing the two formats, if you have a SPL meter, use that to match the levels and then compare the two.

As Michael said - go with the format that sounds best to you.

Harry.