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Topic: do you prefer DTS or Dolby ?

David Baum
Film Handler

Posts: 90
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 02-23-2002 06:25 PM

and why ?

(take out the practical aspect, dolby being on the film, dts on a CD: just the sonic differences-advtanges, clarity, details, dynamics etc )

I hope I have not opened a can of worms......

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-23-2002 06:40 PM

Don't worry about opening a can or worms. That happens here on a weekly basis!

I prefer both of them but in theor seperate processor form in conjunction with a stand alone analog processor like the Cp-65 or Panastereo CSP-1200.
Why? I have had too many problems with digital processors getting the hicckups or belching and looosing their settings, thus requireing a re-load of the data, and or locking up thus requireing a re-boot. Digital processors may be more convenient but they generally do not sound as good as the analog seperates do. I WAS caught up in the digital mania sect but fortunately I have been released by them and all their associated problems. Also, this way if your digital system won't play back cause the tracks are too worn or U don't get the disks, or dies, you can go right on with the highest quality analog SR playback.
Mark @ Home

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Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 02-23-2002 06:48 PM

I own/operate a screening room in Chicago and the bulk of my work is running previews for critics. I have Dolby Digital and DTS. In my case owing to the earliness of many previews I only get disks for DTS-tracked films about a quarter of the time. Plus far more films have SR-D--even many foreign ones--so between those two issues I run SR-D more than anything. However, when I do get the disks I will use them most of the time. Partly just to do something different and partly because in theory the higher bit rate should sound better. Should. I can't honestly say that I have established that personally.

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-23-2002 07:05 PM

So Steve when do we get pictures of your screening room?

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Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 02-23-2002 07:40 PM

Here ya go: http://www.filmteknik.com

No booth pics on that site but it's XL's with 5 Stars & Kelmar basement readers, CP500D, DTS, QSC's and a couple of Magna-Tech dubbers. The only really noteworthy thing in the booth is a CP100 frame kitbashed to hold 6 Cat.280T SR cards (& 6 meters) for running 6-track mag. The surrounds you see in the pix are JBL Control series and the idea was to use a larger number of smaller speakers for a more even soundfield. Screen curtain looks rather retro but hey, at least I gots one and I do use it.

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-23-2002 08:05 PM

That is a nice screening room definitly Film done right there next time I am in chicago I would like a tour

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 02-23-2002 08:35 PM

Where does Roger Ebert usually sit?

Nice screening room!!

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Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 02-23-2002 08:59 PM

Thanks. Sure, not much to see but I'll be glad to show you if you're in town.

David: Roger usually sits in the last row nearest the door.

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Mike Olpin
Chop Chop!

Posts: 1852
From: Dallas, TX
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 02-23-2002 09:04 PM

I like DTS best.
The audio is digitized at a lower compression creating a higher bit rate. The result is audio with a higher frequency response. For those of you familier with MP3, a good comparison is like comparing a 128 kbps MP3 versus a 256 kbps. The one with the higher bitrate (256) sounds cleaner and crisper. Likewise, DTS sounds cleaner and crisper than Dolby because there is more audio data put through the system.

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Don Sneed
Master Film Handler

Posts: 451
From: Texas City, TX, USA
Registered: Aug 2001

posted 02-23-2002 09:47 PM

I like them all, I can tell you if the sound is in Analog or Digital, but to sit there & say ..."Oh that's DTS, that one is SR-D, & that one is SDDS"....no way, I cvan't tell the difference between the three, but I prefered the sound of the Sony DFP-3000 processor, in 3 or 5 channels, I think the Sony has a much richer sound quality, easy to adjust....I normally install in Japan Sony DFP-3000 processor, Dolby DA-20, & DTS-6D, with JBL speakers, & QSC DCA amplifiers...

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-23-2002 11:00 PM

Personally I think its time for an advancement in Digital Film Sound Technology. With Home CD's and Audio DVD's going up up up in sampling rate, the present digital film sound technology is now entering the dark ages. I donno how Dolby could do it unless they use both sides of the film. The DTS system I suppose could do it with DVD's quite easily if they wanted to. But Telarc Audio is now sampling with an new custom engineered DSD A to D convertor that runs at 2.8224 mhz! Now thats some sampling rate.
Mark @ Home

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 02-23-2002 11:59 PM

Well Mark, dts is the one format that could easily accomplish that task! Just imagine receiving several discs per feature and loading them up into the hard drive for true uncompressed sound. That would give them one hell of an edge in the digital playback industry.

(Did ya catch that Karen? )

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 02-24-2002 12:07 AM

In my various blind listening tests there has been a trend in what has been preferred by the listeners. The ranking has not been intuitive. At the Uptown, I'll occasionally get the home theatre O phile explain to me why one sounds better due to bit rate or compression (my favorite rational)....So I offer him the challenge. During the film I'll randomly use either DTS or Dolby digital (switching at the reel changes). The most common response...they couldn't tell the difference. The fun response, they picked the Dolby digital track and had to somehow justify to themselves why the higher compression system sounded better to them. The last form had them picking DTS and Dolby as sounding better since they couldn't tell and on a particular reel they thought sounded good happened to be one, and on another reel it happened to be another.

Personally, I have found that I like SDDS the best in terms of sound quality when I have done my own shoot out. Since I knew which was playing, that test is a bit flawed (preconceived notions and all). I'll say that when all three are playing well (no dropouts), there is one I can almost always pick off from the audience...especially if the EV DH1 driver is being used.

Steve

------------------
"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"

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David Baum
Film Handler

Posts: 90
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 02-24-2002 04:37 AM

Mark

it sounds like "SACD" is coming to cinemas

and why not ? SACD crushes CD sound ( details, dynamics, bandwith etc....) however, we'll need high frequencies tweeters ! (SACD is filtered around 50khz, vs around 22khz for PCM on CD)

don't know if you guys followed the exchange of letters between Dolby and DTS some time ago...... (pretty much flawed tome, Dolby was running the test)

few audiences are "capable" to distinguish between formats. they either notice it's too low or too loud or drop outs but that's it.

if audiophiles or cinema experts as here were blind tested, that would be another story.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-24-2002 09:14 AM

David said...
"if audiophiles or cinema experts as here we blind tested, that would be another story."

There was a high end shoot out a few years back betwen Dolby Digital and DTS. I think it was published either in Widescreen Journal, or Stereophile Mag.

One other thought. Its time now for manufacturers to include 5.1 Non-Sync inputs for the outputs from SACD and DVD audio players on all processors. Hello Ray.....what do you think?
Mark @ Home

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