Poll: Should Sony use DTS-HD Master Audio or Dolby TrueHD?

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by ClaytonMG

I have an idea, though it takes up more space. USE BOTH. That way the uninformed people who don't understand these codecs will be happy and use DTS-HD MA and not Dolby TrueHD (since DTS-HD MA is digital and Dolby TrueHD is analog) and the ones that do understand can make their own decission. Or they could even do it as a test run for a while to see if people even notice a difference between the two.

Sony's been good with Dolby TrueHD, they haven't been using DialNorm or anything like that, so their TrueHD tracks would sound identical to DTS-HD MA (assuming DTS doesn't alter the tracks either) and there would be no level matching. So for like a 6 month time period (or longer as it seems Sony doesn't release too many movies anymore) they should use both. That's just my idea.

But why use both? If the "uninformed" are going to side with the DTS-HDMA track anyways, and both tracks are lossless and the same thing, why not just have the one DTS lossless track? If given a choice are the "informed" going to choose the TrueHD track over the DTS-HDMA one? And if so, why?

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by ganthc

But why use both? If the "uninformed" are going to side with the DTS-HDMA track anyways, and both tracks are lossless and the same thing, why not just have the one DTS lossless track? If given a choice are the "informed" going to choose the TrueHD track over the DTS-HDMA one? And if so, why?

[KubrickFan]

I wish Sony will start using DTS-HD MA just so this endless would be over .

[ScarredLungs]

Originally Posted by ganthc

But why use both? If the "uninformed" are going to side with the DTS-HDMA track anyways, and both tracks are lossless and the same thing, why not just have the one DTS lossless track? If given a choice are the "informed" going to choose the TrueHD track over the DTS-HDMA one? And if so, why?

That is what is was wondering, sort of. If they are both lossless, what is the difference between the two?

[darkblueme]

Originally Posted by ganthc

But why use both? If the "uninformed" are going to side with the DTS-HDMA track anyways, and both tracks are lossless and the same thing, why not just have the one DTS lossless track? If given a choice are the "informed" going to choose the TrueHD track over the DTS-HDMA one? And if so, why?

Well said.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by darkblueme

Well said.

How so?

It makes no sense to change things.

[srrndhound]

Originally Posted by Sir Terrence

DTS was able to demonstrate time and time again high bitrate DTS (1509kbps) was indistinguishable from the master. Dolby cannot say the same thing about DD at 448kbps or 640kbps, and they have never attempted to do so.

WRT to having never attempted to do so, does this count? Home Entertainment Article

[davcole]

Are we suggesting that if people's preference is DTSMA that they are somehow uninformed?

While i'll agree that some of the reasons for the preference that have been expressed may be uninformed. I think some have put out very well informed reasons for their preference.

[cdot2four]

Originally Posted by davcole

Are we suggesting that if people's preference is DTSMA that they are somehow uninformed?

While i'll agree that some of the reasons for the preference that have been expressed may be uninformed. I think some have put out very well informed reasons for their preference.

No its just that for some reason 9.55% of the people cant stomach that there vote doesnt matter and they have to post 100 times on here to try to get there point across. Moot

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by cdot2four

No its just that for some reason 9.55% of the people cant stomach that there vote doesnt matter and they have to post 100 times on here to try to get there point across. Moot

There's a lot of people voting based on misinformation (Top Gun, etc)

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by davcole

Are we suggesting that if people's preference is DTSMA that they are somehow uninformed?

While i'll agree that some of the reasons for the preference that have been expressed may be uninformed. I think some have put out very well informed reasons for their preference.

Well, so far, no one has been able to tell why upcoming discs like Air Force One or Ghostbusters (or any other Sony title for that matter, past or present) would sound better if they had been in DTS-MA. In the end, TrueHD is more efficient, and Sony would not be able to offer lossless tracks in other languages as they have been without impacting video bandwidth.

[cdot2four]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

No, it's because this poll is the equivalent of walking into a high school and asking the students if the drinking age should be lowered to 16.

Then let it go man. Yay! its 2pm Tigers are on I'm going to drink a 6 pack watch the game come back and read some more moot points. Have a wonderful day

[ClaytonMG]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Well, so far, no one has been able to tell why upcoming discs like Air Force One or Ghostbusters (or any other Sony title for that matter, past or present) would sound better if they had been in DTS-MA. In the end, TrueHD is more efficient, and Sony would not be able to offer lossless tracks in other languages as they have been without impacting video bandwidth.

That is a very good point. So then the people who's first language isn't English wouldn't even be able to use a lossless track. They'd either get stuck with lossy DTS or lossy Dolby.

But what Peter said is right, it is the equivalent of walking into a high school and asking the students if the drinking age should be lowered to 16. All this is doing is letting fanboys spread more of their misinformation and continue to use the word "moot."

[Hep]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

No, it's because this poll is the equivalent of walking into a high school and asking the students if the drinking age should be lowered to 16.

If you are suggesting that this poll is about asking people with a vested interest in a choice, then I agree with your analogy; many people who buy movies on BD have a preference for the audio used, and that is exactly the goal of this poll, to gauge preference.

I agree that many of the arguments are uninformed, but that really doesn't matter for the purposes of this poll. This is more about marketing, and if Sony thinks the masses prefer DTS-HDMA over Dolby True HD, then for a business it is a valid consideration. Nobody has provided proof that one codec sounds better than the other - because that proof doesn't exist. I'll say this again for emphasis, the poll results reflect perception (informed or not), and that is a major factor in the world of marketing. You can disagree, but at the end of the day, (from the perspective of SPE) a business decision to switch is as valid as any technical reason.

[redlikefire02]

DTS HDMA or PCM. I prefer PCM over all.

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

It makes no sense to change things.

It does if it makes Sony's customers happy, regardless of whether there is an audible difference. Isn't it Sony's job to provide what their customers want in order to sell their products?

[CAB]

Originally Posted by BIslander

For the most part, lossless is limited to English for discs released here. Some have a second lossless offering, but foreign languages generally get DD 5.1 regardless of the main English language sound track. And, from what I've seen, the encoding used on foreign languages is unrelated to what's used for the main English track.

There are exceptions but it could become the norm for catalog titles that tend to be region free. My example is Gattaca which is a Sony release. Gattaca has TrueHD in 3 languages with the only lossy in Spanish.

Is it safe to assume that all BD players support TrueHD through firmware upgrades? If so, I do wonder what the logic is in even having the DD track in the primary language.

Edit: I checked through all the players I've owned, S1, S300, Pioneer HD1, 95FD, 05FD. . ., and they do support internal TrueHD decoding.

Edit 2: I think it is safe to assume that all players can internally decode and bitstream the DTS core.

[Rob J in WNY]

FWIW, Top Gun (albiet Paramount) has both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio on it. I'm sure many people here own that disc.

Another caveat is that we hear one movie in Dolby TrueHD and different movie in DTS-HD Master Audio. Then, we make judgements. At least Top Gun may help some come to a more accurate conclusion (assuming both lossless tracks were encoded from the EXACT same audio master).

Any other movies with BOTH lossless encodes on them?

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

FWIW, Top Gun (albiet Paramount) has both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio on it. I'm sure many people here own that disc.

Another caveat is that we hear one movie in Dolby TrueHD and different movie in DTS-HD Master Audio. Then, we make judgements. At least Top Gun may help some come to a more accurate conclusion (assuming both lossless tracks were encoded from the EXACT same audio master).

Any other movies with BOTH lossless encodes on them?

The two tracks on Top Gun are not from the same master. They aren't even the same number of channels. So comparing them doesn't tell you anything about the codecs.

[davcole]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

In the end, TrueHD is more efficient, and Sony would not be able to offer lossless tracks in other languages as they have been without impacting video bandwidth.

Well all know it has a smaller file size than DTSMA, but can you show were it would be more efficient when you included the required 640 DD track as opposed to DTSMA where the required legacy track is already included?

I'd love to see a link if you can provide that?