Bitstreaming DTS-MA and True HD make a big difference?

[FuzzyReets]

Hi folks. I have a PS3 for my blu ray player which cannot bitstream DTS-MA or TrueHD audio. It decodes then passes it to the receiver. Would getting a device that can bitstream it right to the receiver make a big difference?

 

[MDS]

There will be no difference in sound quality. The advantage of sending it as a bitstream is that the receiver can then apply other processes to it.

I don't know if the receiver actually has any features that it can apply to a DTS-MA or TrueHD bitstream but it's the same principle of sending Dolby Digital as a bitstream rather than having the player decode it. The receiver can act on metadata in the bitstream to do things like dynamic compression (aka 'late nite' mode). If your receiver has any of the new features like Dolby Dynamic EQ or Dolby Volume, they likely need to see the bitstream and not uncompressed PCM.

 

[GlocksRock]

Bitstreaming may also be a few db louder, but should sound exactly the same. The only difference is where the audio is decoded, with bitstreaming the audio is decoded in the receiver, otherwise it's decoded by the player.

 

[PENG]

Theoretically there is a difference between the two. Which way is better will depend on which device has a better decoding system. Regardless, it is unlikely (though possible) that such difference will be identifiable in a properly conducted blind test.

 

[MDS]

The result of decoding any of the lossless multi-channel formats is multi-channel PCM. Theoretically, there is NO difference and it does not matter where the decoding is done. Think of it this way: if you unzip a zip file and then send all the individual files to a remote machine would that be any different than sending the zip file to the remote machine and have it unzip them?

However, in the real world some devices may alter the bit depth or sample rate but if it does, it is not conformant with the spec.