Dolby True HD vs. DTS HD

BTW, I have A-B tested War of the Worlds and yes, it is more 'dynamic' on lossless format, not necessarily louder though.

Since "War of the Worlds" won't be available on Blu-ray for two more months, what *are* you talking about?

BTW, you're right that the Marantz should be able to decode multi-channel PCM, though it's limited to 5.1 unless it's had a firmware upgrade.

It's coming out June 1, actually.
http://www.cinemablend.com/dvdnews/War-Of-The-Worlds-Invades-Blu-Ray-June-1st-23365.html

So you can't have tried the audio on lossless then - maybe you were switching between DTS and DD, hearing dynamic range compression in DD or even just differently mixed volumes.

Longhornguy, "I have A-B tested War of the Worlds and yes, it is more 'dynamic' on lossless format, not necessarily louder though."

Is War of the Worlds out in Blu Ray ???

There is no answer that is true all of the time Tlg. Most of the time DTS HD is better and uses less compression. But in some cases D True HD sounds better. It's easy to compare if your Bluray remote has an audio button as most do. Just start the disc and switch back and forth while it's playing.

I see the original post has been robbed. Let's see now, what was the original question asked?

So for those that don't have receivers capable of decoding the lossless codecs, how do the DACs onboard the Blu-Ray players compare? Would the lossless codecs through a somewhat inferior DAC sound better than the lossy ones through a better DAC?

Of course it's allways a matter of scale. The player I'm looking at is the Pioneer BDP-320, which has some mid-low range Burr-Brown DACs, although I can't remember the exact model.

I don't actually have a receiver, what I would do is hook up my preamp/amp for the front speakers and amp w/ volume pots for the rears directly to the player - I have a 4.0 system and I want to run a phantom center. Since my budget is limited (spent all on the stereo setup), my other option is to get an older pre/pro (like an Outlaw 950) or a receiver with pre-outs (preferably one that lets me disable the dynamic range compression of DD from downmixing).

I disagree with you Johnny. While true that the Marantz cannot convert the native bitstream DTS HD/DD THD it can read a PCM signal.

My PS3 is decoding the DTS HD/DD THD into a PCM signal and sending it to my Marantz via HDMI (no optical cable used).

I have confirmed this by checking the output on my PS3 (hitting select during playback) and it shows what is being converted within the player.

I was also skeptical about this at first and I have double-checked numerous AVS forum topics regarding this same exact set-up.

BTW, I have A-B tested War of the Worlds and yes, it is more 'dynamic' on lossless format, not necessarily louder though.

IMO both DTS-HD and DThd will, produce legacy DTS/DD signals (at their max bit rate) from BD discs on even low-featured players.

"The PS3 downconverts the lossless bitstream to DVD-standard DD or DTS, which is lossy. By this method the Blu-rays still sound a bit better than standard DVD because the downconvert operates at a higher bit rate than the DVDs did."
Thank you Johnnyb53. I stand corrected. My reports assumed I was listening to lossless, but I too am listening through an optical connection.

Longhorn, you're not even listening to lossless. The Marantz can't decode it. Its HDMI capability is limited to HDMI 1.2, so its HDMI feature is only functioning as an HD video switcher; it's not extracting the audio bitstream from your Blu-ray. The TrueHD and DTS-MA lossless bitstreams require HDMI 1.3. You're evidently getting your bitstream over the optical digital link, which doesn't have the bandwidth to transmit lossless multichannel. The PS3 downconverts the lossless bitstream to DVD-standard DD or DTS, which is lossy. By this method the Blu-rays still sound a bit better than standard DVD because the downconvert operates at a higher bit rate than the DVDs did.

Longhorn if your Marantz receiver doesn't decode the HD formats you won't be able to tell much of a difference. You will need to use the multichannel outputs on your Bluray player into the multichannel inputs on your Marantz to enjoy the true benefits of HD audio.

http://www.amazon.com/Akira-Blu-ray-Nozomu-Sasaki/dp/B001LMU182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1269786772&sr=1-1

Stratman what is the Akira title and does amazon have it. thanks Jeff

Don't confuse output levels with "more dynamic"! Listening to both formats the biggest difference I was able to hear came from comparing the standard DD and DTS lossy formats to DTS-MA and DD TRU-HD lossless formats. The lossless tracks have much better dynamics and channel seperation of information along with better low level detail you can hear in the background. Yes most Blu Ray discs are outputting 48khz.There are a few concert Blu Ray's that have 24/96khz. The "Akira" disc is 24/192khz! That's the one Blu Ray disc that has produced the biggest difference and the most impressive sound I've heard to date from any disc.

Hmmm...I always thought it was slight, I am going to do some A-B testing tonight to be sure all my settings are correct.

I'm currently decoding it through my PS3 and sending it (via HDMI) a PCM DTS HD MA or DD TD signal to a Marantz SR8001 using as a processor.

Times like this I wish I knew an audiophile personally that can help me test my system!

I vote with Rwwear.

To me, DTS-HD is a little more dynamic than Dolby True HD. But overall very close.
As stated above, Night & Day difference between the older bitstream DD & DTS and the newer lossless formats. Sound was a big factor to me when going to Blu-ray.

Rwwear is right, we heard a major difference! Night and day...

If you can't hear the difference between bitstream and lossless Longhorn you probably aren't playing the recordings back correctly. There is a major difference in quality.

Very slight, if any difference. I have heard that DTS uses less compression than Dolby, so that is the reason for marginally better sound.

However, I still cannot hear the difference between regular bitstream and the new lossless codecs.