Is Dolby TrueHD Worth the Investment?

[croseiv]

I don't think I can tell much difference but I am an Audioholic and vow to buy everything that comes out that has something on it that I don't already have.....

There ya go!!!!!

 

[croseiv]

Analog... as in multi ch analog? .

No. I was referring to Pro Logic vs Dolby Digital. A huge difference could be heard to me.

 

[zumbo]

No. I was referring to Pro Logic vs Dolby Digital. A huge difference could be heard to me.

Ya think?

 

[jostenmeat]

No. I was referring to Pro Logic vs Dolby Digital. A huge difference could be heard to me.

Yeah, the biggest benefit probably being a discrete center channel, as opposed to a matrixed center.

 

[allargon]

Hey, I'll do this. "Red Cliff" has PCM, TrueHD, and DTS-MA. I'll do an Unofficial Unblinded comparison and see. "Lust & Caution" BD also has DTS-MA and TrueHD. I'll check that out too and report.

Cloverfield, Transformers and Iron Man all have reference level Dolby TrueHD tracks.

Warner is the dialnorm loving studio that gives DolbyTrueHD a bad name. I have to crank the hell out of both my HD DVD's and my Blu-Ray's to hear the dialogue. (Warner also uses 48/16 rather than 48/24, but that is minor.) DRC is an issue for people that don't know how to use their players and receivers--period.

Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind has all 3. There's also that TrondheimSolistene: Divertimenti that has all 3 in 192/24!!!! (None of that 48 or even 96 stuff--just all that lovely high frequency noise! ) It also includes a DSD SACD for comparison.

 

[Emusica]

I won't go that far. Like I said, I do have some possibly unfounded fears of TrueHD implementation. But, again, there should be no difference in theory. And, again, you can't compare an apple to an orange. You need to compare the exact some movie soundtrack to know. And even when you do that, you need to level match the tracks. Not many movies offer both MA and T-HD on the same disc. Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind is one of the few, for example.



For legacy tracks, I totally agree. However, on DVD, we are talking about 448 kbs for DD vs 768 kbs for DTS. And DTS offered discrete 6.1 tracks. (EX is a matrixed track, AFAIK). LOTR ES versions, Xmen3 were some of the more impressive 6.1 discrete tracks that I've heard for action DVDs.

You happen to have any recommendations for some reference quality Blu rays? You know, something to give my system a good shake down LOTR extended editions have excellent DTS 6.1 tracks. I need something along those lines in blu ray Something besides Transformers, I've seen that movie WAY too many times....

 

[fmw]

So, have my ears deceiveth me? The DTS sounds so much better, or are my ears broken? I've always thought DTS sounded better than DD.

No, your ears aren't broken. Your testing methods are broken. Comparisons of this type need to be done blind and level matched. You simply can't do it by yourself and get a valid result. We all suffer from biased listening. The audio companies count on your not doing valid tests.

 

[jostenmeat]

You happen to have any recommendations for some reference quality Blu rays? You know, something to give my system a good shake down LOTR extended editions have excellent DTS 6.1 tracks. I need something along those lines in blu ray Something besides Transformers, I've seen that movie WAY too many times....

Hm, not really I am afraid. I really shop for PQ now first. I did watch 5th element (remastered) recently for the first time. I thought the surround cues were well mixed within the front stage. Sometimes, there are titles that are very well known for audio, but the video leaves something to be desired, and I typically don't buy those, because as I said I am more interested in PQ for HT. Master and Commander would be one example of top rated AQ but less than stellar PQ. Here's a consumer generated list for you to peruse.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=918734

 

[tcarcio]

This is a tad off topic but does have something to do with True HD. I watched the new Indy movie today and used pcm because my reciever doesn't decode THD but my BD player obviously does. Now it say's on the disc case THD 5.1 and whenever I play a 5.1 my reciever matrixes the sound to include my back surrounds and it tells me that it is playing DD PLII. My question is why did my reciever just say PCM and all 7 lights were on telling me it was playing 7.1. Usually even in PCM it still reads PCM PLII. Is this encoded in 7.1 and it is wrong on the case or is this just a glitch of some sort? I hope I am being clear enough.......

 

[allargon]

Hm, not really I am afraid. I really shop for PQ now first. (snip)
Sometimes, there are titles that are very well known for audio, but the video leaves something to be desired, and I typically don't buy those, because as I said I am more interested in PQ for HT. Master and Commander would be one example of top rated AQ but less than stellar PQ. Here's a consumer generated list for you to peruse.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=918734

This is probably the wrong site to be stating how you care more about PQ than AQ. (says the man whose main setup is currently 3.0)

 

[dobyblue]

I'm not surprised, actually. I've done valid bias controlled listening tests between wav files and 320 mp3 files and found no audible difference at all between them. So I have a warmer and fuzzier attitude about data compression than most audiophiles do. In fact, my own personal music collection is encoded at 320 mp3 based on those tests.

Ah but that's 320 Kbps for 2-channel.
Dolby is using 448 Kbps for 6 channel.
320 .mp3 quality audio at 5.1 would be 960 Kbps.

What those tests showed was that legacy Dolby to TrueHD was very much noticeable, but when going to 640 Kbps the differences diminished and they found 1.5 Mbps DD+ to be transparent.

However where the medium allows there should be no reason to use lossy compression. You aren't infringing on video bandwidth nor do you infringe on disc capacity.

PCM = no royalties.

 

[allargon]

PCM = no royalties.

According to Amir at AVS, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA are free, too. (at least on the disc--the hardware is another matter)

 

[dobyblue]

According to Amir at AVS, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA are free, too. (at least on the disc--the hardware is another matter)

Well it wouldn't be the first time Amir didn't know what he was talking about.

You can't get dts on a disc without first paying for the hardware or the encode.