DTS CD's (1 Viewer)

[Shane Bass]

I was wondering if you have to have a special CD player to go with a DTS receiver in order to get the benefits out of a DTS CD or can any CD player work as long as the receiver is DTS? Sorry if this is a stupid quesiton, but I am definitely new here. Thanks for any help! Shane

 

[John Garcia]

Player must be able to decode DTS.
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[Alan_Horner]

Shane --
You need three things to enjoy DTS CDs:
1. A DVD player that can output a DTS signal. You can look on your DVD player or in the user manual to see if the DTS logo is present. If it is, you DVD player can output the DTS signal.
2. A receiver or integrated amplifier that can decode the DTS signal it receives from your DVD player.
3. A DTS CD!
It's my understanding that most DVD players do not decode the DTS information, which is why Step 2 is required.
Hope I'm not totally offbase. I'm pretty much a layperson too. I'm not nearly as proficient as some of the posters around here!

 

[jeff peterson]

ANY CD player with a digital (most common on CD players are optical outs) output will PASS the DTS signal. A receiver that has DTS decoding built in (Or a standalone DTS decoder) must then decode the signal.

 

[Shane Bass]

Thanks for all the information everybody. I have a DVD player with DTS capabilities and I did not even think that it plays CD's as well. Shows you how new I am to this stuff. I will try to play the CD on my DTS DVD player and use my DTS reciever to listen to the music. I think that it will work just fine from the info that you all have provided. Thanks again! Shane

 

[John Garcia]

sorry, meant pass signal, not DECODE.

 

[KeithH]

Shane, all DVD players play CDs. To play a DTS CD, simply run an optical or coaxial digital cable between your DVD player and receiver, and you're off to the races. This will work as long as your DVD player has a "DTS Digital Out" logo on the front panel and the receiver has a DTS decoder (there will be a DTS logo on the front panel there too).
To play DTS CDs on a DVD player using one of the digital outputs, you have to have a DVD player that can pass the DTS signal, hence the "DTS Digital Out" logo. Many of the early DVD players (circa 1997-1998) could only pass a Dolby Digital signal. All CD players with digital outputs (optical and/or coaxial) can pass a DTS signal.
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[Ken_McAlinden]

The mistake you do not want to make with a DTS CD in your DVD player is to have your receiver in a mode where the analog outputs from your player are being amplified. The bitstream from a DTS CD is treated exactly like analog PCM and will give you an unpleasant blast of noise through the analog outputs. DTS streams on DVDs and DVD-As have flags that prevent this from happening.
Similarly, you do not have to have a "DTS digital output" on a player for a DTS CD to work. Any player with a digital output that can do 2-channel 44.1kHz PCM, including first and second generation DVD players, can pass the DTS CD signal to a receiver with a DTS decoder. My Pioneer DVL-909, for instance can play DTS CDs and laserdiscs, but cannot play DTS DVDs & DVD-As.
Regards,
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Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[Alan_Horner]

>>Similarly, you do not have to have a "DTS digital output" on a player for a DTS CD to work. Any player with a digital output that can do 2-channel 44.1kHz PCM, including first and second generation DVD players, can pass the DTS CD signal to a receiver with a DTS decoder.

 

[Alex Shk]

All CD players and DVD players with digital outs will output the multi-channel signal of DTS CD's (note: do not confuse DTS CD's with DTS DVD's, different animal, different rules). The multi-channel decoding will be done by the DTS decoder hooked up to the CD player (whether the decoder is stand alone or built into your receiver).
If you use a CD player to play these discs - be certain that your receiver is set for a digital (not analog) signal from your player. In other words, you must use the DAC inside your receiver for digital to analog conversion. If you are using the DAC in your CD player with analog outputs, you can get some nasty, speaker damaging noise when playing a DTS CD.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

What Alex said. DTS CDs (and laserdiscs) "hide" their 20 bit compressed 5.1 soundtrack in what looks to a player like a 2-channel 44.1KHz 16 bit PCM bitstream. Any player that can output PCM digital can output this signal to a DTS decoder that will "know what to do with it" to achieve 5.1 sound. One reason I like this is that I am able to make DTS mix CDs with a regular CD burner.
Regards,
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Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[JohnRice]

Shane,
You've gotten so many wrong answers I just wanted to emphasize the correct one. The last two answers were right.
This is what you need.
1. A DTS receiver or pre-pro.
2. ANY DVD player (even an early non-DTS compatible one) or a CD player with a digital output. A DTS DVD is a totally different animal than a DTS CD.
Make sure you are using a digital connection between the player and receiver or pre-pro and that DTS is enabled. THAT IS IT.