DTS/ DD 5.1 Audio Reciever

[c_hernandez32]

Are Dolby Digital (DD) reciever able to decode or process DTS audio off of DVD's. I own a cheap Durabrand HT-400 reciever with 5.1 speakers. Its great and serves the purpose of a consumer home theater. I saw the movie AI with DTS audio and was able to hear through 5.1 channels. Am I hearing true DTS audio (be it a bit crappy quality) or is the reciever/DVD player outputting the DD audio? The reason I ask is because I connected via a coaxial cable, and the reciever only says it recieves/decodes AC-3 (AKA DD) audio. Does this mean that the reciever can decode DTS audio?

[rallynavvie]

You need a receiver with DTS encoding. The 5.1 you hear coming from a DTS activated audio stream is either DD emulation of a stereo output or perhaps your player has DTS decoding on it or somthing. Oddly I've never heard anything from a DTS signal through my DD receiver.

On another note, isn't DTS pretty much a better surround quality since it uses 7 channels and utilizes digital optical connections? I've been wanting to get a DTS receiver to plug my computer into. Right now I'm just using my 7 channel sound card to use DTS on my computer but I have digital optical outs and would rather leave the decoding to a receiver (plus I have a remote control for my receiver). :P

[c_hernandez32]

Thanks for the help. I guess that my reciever players both DD and DTS. I have heard different sounds from the different channels. I have read that using coaxial connections are much better. Something about jittering caused by the movement of the laser. As for 7.1 DTS, I only have 5.1 speakers, but it sounds good.