most home entertainment formats come with
either Dolby or DTS.

but it seems more blu-rays come with only Dolby True-HD 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks.. apart from the legacy DD 2.1 and LPCM 48kHz.

i like Dolby for its lower frequency dynamics
however for dialogue normalization, i find DTS is better

THX system is not a recording technology, and it does not specify a sound recording format.

THX and Dolby Cinema are in the same category, matrix decoder to emulate best possible surround experience.

Dolby Prologic and DTS-Neo:6 is another category, this ones are for upmixing. i.e 2.0 -> 5.0, 2.1 -> 7.1 etc.

DD, DD+, Dolby True-HD, DTS, DTS-ES, DTS-HD HR, DTS-HD MA are encoding technologies.

every encoder and decoder muz meet the requirements set out by the individual licensing companies.

all products must be done by the following procedures:
self testing>application for testing>approval>(commonality application)>licensing>royalty

i myself have done testing for Dolby and DTS related products.
to say, i prefer Dolby because its certification procedure is simple, straightforward and easy to decipher. DTS on the other hand is a total pain in the ass.


Example of Dolby actual test documentations.. sorry cannot show insides.. confidential~



This post has been edited by lee_lnh: Dec 2 2010, 06:52 PM

reason: trend for comin 2011 dolby getting less and less is because of royalty issue~

dolby do not charge application & licensing fee.. but charges royalty per unit item sold to market..

remember that the encoding is lossless~ but in the end the decoder and its hardware play the most vital role to accurately reproduce. Nothing is fixed, everything has tolerance~

there are many difference:
major ones are such as THD+N vs freq, THD+N vs level, SNR, dynamic range compression, frequency response with/without emphasis, dialogue normalization, downmixing coefficient, speaker remapping.
only those possess high quality audio system and a keen hearing can discern until the very detail~

This post has been edited by lee_lnh: Dec 3 2010, 02:13 AM

same system.. but dolby decoder is independent of dts decoder. How can it perform the same? and depend on the system hardware configuration, the way the decoder software parameters are written, it affects the actual output.

at output stage, same system only share the DAC and amp, of course include same grounding and pinjack~

OK 1st solution is assuming ur using BD/DVD player HDMI 1.3 with CEC function > goin through a CEC able amplifier + surround speakers 5.1/7.1 > then to TVin order for the sound to come out in surround and TV mutes

1) set a player to output bistream through HDMI (either Auto or non-PCM)
TURN OFF "Mix" or "Secondary audio" options well

2) set at amplifier or TV HDMI option = speaker to "amp only". Not "amp+tv".
juz set either one.. CEC will handle it.

3) make sure amp is set at DIRECT. Not STEREO.

4) amp speaker layout 5.1/7.1/7.1 with rear surround A & B, or individually configured speakers (Denon amp have tis function)
coz some amp have upmixing or even prologic/dts-neo:6 kick in


2nd solution if dont have CEC

at step 2) set at both amp and TV

then during movie/content option. select either Dolby/DTS


3rd solution if using coaxial or optical to amp (which support up to 5.1 only)
this 1 is not so accurate... but for Sony BD player.. these are the guidelines

keep amp and TV settings like previous

at player set Coax/SPDIF to Dolby/DTS and never PCM. some have combined option.. some seperates

a) for BD player set "mixing" on.. to enable re-encode into bitstream

b) if "mixing" is set off. SPDIF Non-supported bitstream is decoded at 7.1ch codec and output as LPCM 5.1

---

Added on December 9, 2010, 1:52 amalso still depend on DAC and op-amp performance

i.e SAMSUNG C5900/C6500 uses cirrus logic 4353c, SONY S370/S470/S570/S770 uses Wolfson WM8524

2 different maker... go check their spec sheet already shows different performance
but final performance is influenced by many other performance such as EMC, power line noise/ripple, DVD/BD drive capability~

This post has been edited by lee_lnh: Dec 9 2010, 01:52 AM

the correct term to define this symptom is called "dialogue normalization".

Dialogue or vocal, which has the usual range of 400 Hz to 4kHz is not attenuated, That why DTS often sound "sharper" in the "trebel" region.

for Dolby formats the dialogue normalization is usually between -27dB to -31dB.
for DTS formats is 0dB.

apart from dialnorm.

another thing to consider for Dolby is Dynamic Range Control (DRC)

most players now have 3 options:

Auto: DRC setting follow bitstream metadata
ON: DRC is always at full or some setting specified by decoder
OFF: No DRC

im lazy to explain about DRC.. there a plenty of resources out there

what AVR are you using and does it support True-HD?

from what i know.. the True-HD portion (harry potter, nine inch nails, etc) only contains True-HD tracks.
otherwise if the amp does not support. it will juz come out as Dolby Digital 2.1 (is a seperate audio track)

unlike DD+ 7.1 when amp not supported, it will juz take the DD 5.1 portion and decode.
if DD+ is supported, then amp will provide downmix depend on number of speakers enabled on the amp.

unless if BD player support Dolby True-HD decoding

then can juz set at BD player to PCM. And will pass over to AV receiver.

like that you still can enjoy Dolby True-HD 5.1