DTS vs 5.1 (1 Viewer)

[John_Davis]

Hi all,

Can soneone please explain to me the main differences between DTS and DD 5.1?

Just getting into this hobby with a Denon 2802, and eager to learn.

Thanks,

john

 

[Sean Conklin]

Both Dolby Digital and dts are capable of and usually are 5.1. The only difference is each have their own type of codec. Both DD 5.1 and dts 5.1 are discreet formats.

They are 2 different companies that offer sound formats and are competing(for lack of a better word) companies.

DD offers their version of the soundtrack and dts offers their version of the soundtrack.

Both are state of the art and both sound great, your ears will have to be the judge as to which one you like better.

BTW most DVD's are still DD, but dts is becoming increasingly popular and is preferred by a good percentage of HT enthusiasts, I myself like both and am happy that both exist!

Also DD and dts have 6.1 formats, DD EX(matrixed I believe) and dts ES which is 6.1 discreet.

 

[Jason P. Brett]

Hi John. All of what Sean said is absolutely correct. Another significant difference between the two formats is the amount of data compression they use. DD uses more data compression, so the same sountrack will take up less space on a DD DVD then on one encoded with DTS. DTS offers theoretically higher sound quality due to the lesser amount of compression involved. But, as in all things audio, your ears should be the final judge of that!
If you're really interested in the nuts and bolts of how these systems work, the companys' respective websites www.dolby.com and www.dtstech.com have a wealth of information.
Jason

 

[Nicholas A. Gallegos]

Basically, they are simply two competing surround formats. It's highly debatable which format actually sounds better; generally, it all depends on how much attention to quality is given to the soundtrack in the mixing room. I've heard very well-executed DTS soundtracks, as well as very bad ones. The same can be true for Dolby Digital 5.1.

THEORETICALLY, DTS is "supposed" to be a better format because it uses less compression and thus has a higher bitrate (more quality). Keep in mind too that a good 90% of DVD movies available make use of Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks instead of DTS because of the extra storage space required by a DTS soundtrack. Some distributors favor more bonus features over using more space on the disc for the soundmix.

As mentioned earlier, DTS also comes in a 6.1 variety known as ES. Only a handful of movies currently support this. There are discrete and matrixed (the rear center is phantom; i.e. simulated) flavors of ES. Dolby also has their own "6.1" called EX, but it's just matrix.

 

[Steve_Ma]

Here is a link with a pretty good explanation/history.
http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/adbarr/page1.html
--Steve

 

[John_Davis]

THanks all for the replies and the links. This forum is excellent for newbies like myself.

John