Can you tell the difference between DTS and AC3?

[leghorn]

Like the title said, can you actually tell the difference between DTS 5.1 @ 1536 kbps and AC3 5.1 @ 448 kbps? I have to admit, I can't. That's why I mostly "downconvert" DTS to AC3. What about you?

[This was supposed to become a poll, but things wouldn't work as expected.]

[El Heggunte]

With the rise of Blu-Ray, DTS stopped restricting itself to only 3 bitrates and only 2 sampling frequencies (i.e., DVD-Video and DTS-CD).

Now that we have ffdcaenc, it's time for a brand-new series of ABX tests, in order to compare stereo AC3 to stereo DTS.

[johns0]

Unless you have a really good 5.1 audio system and have good hearing then you won't hear any difference.

[ndjamena]

If I point MediaInfo at the files it becomes fairly obvious. Other than that, human ears will adapt to anything. People complain about the audio mixing in the latest series' of the new Doctor Who, I'd watched every single episode and had never noticed. I was watching a few episodes with the full 5.1 audio track recently and finally noticed a section where it occurred, I thought I discovered that if I changed the mixing settings to stereo it would all sound better again so I decided to do some testing to confirm but somewhere along the way my ears must have adapted, because no matter what settings I chose or how many times I replayed the same segment I just could not hear the overbearing music anymore. It's like River Song and Lady Vastra and her menagerie, I notice they're annoying too but I forget very quickly and get on with watching the episode. I think some people just enjoy being judgemental (it must make them feel superior) and can't let things go.

[El Heggunte]

Adding more info, just for making things clearer......

source = http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=161957

there are not enough trained listeners with 5.1 systems.

I think testing 5.1 is more testing all six mono channels separately against original channels.

Completely false.

[redwudz]

I convert my DTS BD audio to 640 Kbps AC3 5.1. Don't know if it sounds better or worse, but it's sure a lot smaller in size.

[netmask56]

The whole biz is so subjective and with so many variables at play ie overbearing music..... does the setup concerned correctly balanced in other words what sort of 5.1 amp is being used, what speakers? are they all matched? (for efficiency and response). In the original mixing suite everything will sound great, top notch amps and speakers but an EP worth his salt will monitor the final mix at sometime on a crappy system, ie lowest common denominator to make sure the target audience is satisfied. One technique I always did in final mixes was to briefly switch over to Mono. If it sounded OK in mono then all things being equal should bloom in multichannel! I still feel manufacturers of amplifiers have missed the boat somewhat by not routinely including a centre channel volume control that will give some control over dialog especially.

As a retired sound mixer I have a pretty good system (5 x 15" Tannoy dual contentrics + 2 x subs) but with age related hearing loss and yes it happens to all of us I need to in reality unbalance the system by raising the centre channel so I can understand dialog clearly to the annoyance of everyone else....

This debate has gone on for yonks

[pandy]

AFAIK it should be better at fast transient response signals, beside to this i expect no significant difference.

[fritzi93]

I need to in reality unbalance the system by raising the centre channel so I can understand dialog clearly to the annoyance of everyone else....

I annoy my wife by turning on subtitles instead. Boosting center channel volume (in the receiver's speaker setup) will overshoot the mark for some content. Then everyone's annoyed, me included. If, as you suggest, there was a quickly accessible center channel volume control, I'd use that alright.

I can't tell the difference between DTS and AC3, or for that matter between them and lossless in my modest but okay HT. That is, unless there are both on a Blu-Ray for the primary audio. Then, comparing the two, I can easily tell they're mixed differently. In that case DTS always has higher perceived loudness.

DTS does something to the dynamic range, but I dunno what. Anyone care to comment on that?

For backups, I always convert DTS to 640 kb/s AC3 5.1. That's the only way my TVs will output 5.1 over optical to receiver or soundbar. Older receiver in the HT, no HDMI passthrough. Soundbar/sub connected to the living room TV.

BTW, you should read how the guys at AVS go on about streaming being unacceptable 'cuz the audio isn't lossless. Gawd. I just wish the Hulu Plus stuff was 5.1. Dolby Pro Logic II isn't half bad though for stereo streaming content. I wouldn't dare post that at AVS. Heh.

[ndjamena]

Well, at least this thread has clarified a few things for me. The guy on the Doctor Who forum who was directly blaming Murray Gold for the overbearing music was in fact an arse who should check his speaker configuration (that's good, sometimes I think maybe I'm missing something when I tell someone off and being an arse myself), and the reason I thought I heard it as well at first was because I was standing further away from the centre speaker, switching to stereo did in fact fix it and the reason I couldn't hear it later was because I was standing right in front of the centre speaker fiddling with the controls.

I've played a few MP4s with AAC audio that I'd converted from DVD AC3 streams, I can't find any diabolical flaws in them and they're much lower bitrate than anything this thread is about.