is uncompressed pcm better than dts and dolby digital?

[paulfromtulsa]

just like the title says. i wondering this cause on the movies that do not have a dolby truehd and dtsmahd would you wnat to listen to it uncompressed pcm appose to dts and dolby digital?

[musicman1999]

On my system the difference is like night and day, PCM is way better.

bill

[sokrman14]

Yes, PCM is the original audio track, the actual master audio track. DTS and DOLBY are compressed (worse) versions of it. DTS HD and DOLBY TRUEHD are compressed (though equal) versions of the PCM/Master track. Take advantage of PCM if you can. If you cant then use the compressed versions.

[tjhart78]

yes, yes it is - for me at least!

[tofur69]

In a word...yes.

dts and Dolby are compressed. The uncompressed pcm is completely untouched and is left as the director intends it. As posted above, the quality is night and day if you have the equipment to handle it.

[Robmx]

HUGE FAN OF LINEAR PCM........ AWESOME.

I'm sure when I can hear DTS-HD MA I will also love that !

[bassbone57]

Originally Posted by Robmx

HUGE FAN OF LINEAR PCM........ AWESOME.

I'm sure when I can hear DTS-HD MA I will also love that !

DTS HD-MA is amazing.

-K

[Canada]

PCM rocks, it is the best format for me since I have a PS3 and cannot access the full DTS MA track through my sysytem. Even though I can only get 1.5 MBPS Live Free or Die Hard is one of the best audio tracks I have ever heard.

[sleazypig]

Now it sucks quit honestly. Dolby True Hd is superior because Hd Dvd players have Dolby True Hd decoding built in the player. Meaning you don't need new audio equipment to take advantage of it. Pcm youll need a new Stereo. And both pcm and True Hd sound identicle.

[paulfromtulsa]

ok one more question i have a hdmi 1.3 receiver(integra 7.8) and a panasonic bd30 hooked up via hdmi . if i choose the uncompressed option on the movie do i need to change to pcm on my blu ray player or can i leave it on bitstream?

[sleazypig]

Dolby True Hd is a zip file but the decoder unzips the audio code thus saving disc space for special features. Every audio reviewer has said they sound exacly the same. And with the decoders built in the players that gives Dolby True Hd the edge in my opinion.

[owa]

I always select uncompressed PCM if it's available and it's preferred (imo).

Originally Posted by sleazypig

Dolby True Hd is a zip file but the decoder unzips the audio code thus saving disc space for special features. Every audio reviewer has said they sound exacly the same. And with the decoders built in the players that gives Dolby True Hd the edge in my opinion.

That's not true. They should be the same but for whatever reason, they don't always seem to be. Not sure they ever figured out why though. Some were speculating it might have to do with the dialog normalization or whatever.

[JJ]

Via optical cable, I prefer bitstreamed DTS and DD to my receiver over matrixing 2.0 PCM into 5.1 - I prefer the surround experience that matrixing does not provide. Also, selecting Linear PCM to pass audio over Bitstream is not as good - then again, I don't have any HD capable sound equipment.

[nhaase]

Originally Posted by sleazypig

Now it sucks quit honestly. Dolby True Hd is superior because Hd Dvd players have Dolby True Hd decoding built in the player. Meaning you don't need new audio equipment to take advantage of it. Pcm youll need a new Stereo. And both pcm and True Hd sound identicle.

With PCM you do not need new equipment as long as your receiver has an HDMI audio input (for PS3 as a blu-ray player) or analog inputs if you have another BD player. Also, what does it matter that Dolby TrueHD decoding is built in the player? You still need the same connections I mentioned above, as a regular optical fiber will not pass the lossless sound. By the way, when the TrueHD is decoded internally, it is passed from player to receiver as a PCM stream. So to run TrueHD you need the same equip. as for PCM. If you're running through optical, you just extract the core Dolby Digital sound, which is lossy.

Also, why are you talking about HD DVD players here, a BD forum? Just wondering, since you didn't mention BD in your response.

[Luis_A51]

Originally Posted by sleazypig

Now it sucks quit honestly. Dolby True Hd is superior because Hd Dvd players have Dolby True Hd decoding built in the player. Meaning you don't need new audio equipment to take advantage of it. Pcm youll need a new Stereo. And both pcm and True Hd sound identicle.

Outright lie. Unless you have a player that has analog outs and a receiver with analog inputs, you have to upgrade to an HDMI receiver to get ANY of those 3 sound formats (PCM, TrueHD, DTSMA)

Whether or not you need a receiver with internal decoding depends on the BD-player you use. Some players can decode new audio formats and send them as PCM, some cant and can only bitstream, and some can decode OR bitstream.

[RickL]

Im still trying to understand this a bit better so bare with me. DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD are still compressed? The PCM is not compressed? Is it basically a personal prefference what one likes or is the uncompressed the way to go?

Also what type of reciever do you need to achieve all options? My reciever is a cheap pioneer that I bought a couple of years ago but when im playing my blurays and and switch to uncompressed it sounds quite a bit better then dolby digital and it says Linear PCM 5.1 at the top when I hit select on the ps3 controller, meybe its in my head. lol Am I not getting true uncompressed. I don't have any hdmi on my reciever. I have the hdmi running out of the ps3 into the tv then an optial going out the tv to the reciver. I've tesed running an optical from the ps3 to the reciever but didn't sound any better or worse so I just left it.

Sorry didn't mean to highjack the thread, just trying to lean about this.

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by RickL

Im still trying to understand this a bit better so bare with me. DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD are still compressed? The PCM is not compressed? Is it basically a personal prefference what one likes or is the uncompressed the way to go?

Also what type of reciever do you need to achieve all options? My reciever is a cheap pioneer that I bought a couple of years ago but when im playing my blurays and and switch to uncompressed it sounds quite a bit better then dolby digital and it says Linear PCM 5.1 at the top when I hit select on the ps3 controller, meybe its in my head. lol Am I not getting true uncompressed. I don't have any hdmi on my reciever. I have the hdmi running out of the ps3 into the tv then an optial going out the tv to the reciver. I've tesed running an optical from the ps3 to the reciever but didn't sound any better or worse so I just left it.

Sorry didn't mean to highjack the thread, just trying to lean about this.

DTS-HD MA and TrueHD are both losslessly compressed formats. LPCM is the uncompressed digital soundtrack (for instance, CD = 2 channel LPCM). All things being equal (word length and sampling rate), LPCM is considered the gold standard-- DTS-HD and THD should theoretically reproduce the LPCM exactly, but the best that can be achieved is the original LPCM track. Now, whether THD actually achieves that or not is arguable, as dialogue normalization is usually applied to the THD track. The reason why lossless compression is attractive is the space savings. If you can reproduce the original LPCM exactly, then why not save the space? The bottom line will lie in our ears when we compare the exact same soundtrack in LPCM vs losslessly compressed.

If you have a PS3, the only way to experience LPCM or TrueHD is via an HDMI connection to a receiver that is HDMI audio capable. The optical connection from the PS3 to your receiver is only capable of 2.0 LPCM or bitstreaming Dolby Digital or DTS. When you switch from DD to LPCM, all you are hearing is a 2.0 downmix of the LPCM track. Not bad, but you are missing the 3.1 surround channels. Your receiver can expand a 2.0 track to 5.1 speakers by applying Dolby Prologic II or some such algorithm, but the DD 5.1 is probably still going to sound better in the surrounds.

[Edh63]

Since my Bose doesn't have HDMI, I have my BP connected to the plasma via HDMI cable and BP connected to receiver via optical cable. I have Bitstream selected on the BP rather than PCM and it's a night and difference in sound quality. I can only pass 2.0 via PCM because my Bose receiver is S-Video and component. So I have to bitstream the sound via optical cable from the BP to get 5.1.

Although PCM may sound best because of the way the disks are being coded, bitstream in 5.1 is no slouch. I have no desire to purchase a new surround system anytime soon and my Bose performs nicely. I'm not into utilitarian equipment sitting around in my den so the Bose does a nice job in minimizing that issue... with me. I've had my Bose for about 5 years with zero issues and the Blue Ray has added a new level of sound quality to it.

I'll share another recommendation with you on how to brighten up your sound on your system, nothing new under the sun, but I also use a PanaMax Power Regulator that every component plugs into. It gives you true nonfluctuating power to each component and cleans up the signals nicely. After hooking everything up to this component it really brightened up the sound nicely. I bought the PanaMax prior to getting the BP, so I know it wasn't just the BP and the improved sound quality making that difference. It was the PanaMax.

I'm sure you could have great results like this with a different brand PR, but I just happen to buy this one and this is my take on this specific brand. The PR comes with a guarantee which will replace any component connected to it for life if a power surge damages the equipment. Basically, it takes the place of a surge protector and gives you much more enhanced benefits.