DTS-HD Master Audio / Dolby TrueHD / PCM 5.1

It is hard to tell unless you have a movie soundtrack that has at least DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD to compare. It is easy to switch to PCM. It really depends on how it is done. I have heard bad DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. If you pointed a gun at me to ask me to choose, I would choose DTS-HD, although Batman Dark Knight (which has Dolby TrueHD) sounds very decent.

Before Blue Ray, I always preferred DTS to Dolby Digital. DTS has more presence and dynamic.

Please note that DTS-HD has a significantly higher bit-rate than Dolby True-HD. This means the disk tranport must spin at a higher velocity which may result in increased player noise.

In my case (Pioneer BDP-51FD) I can hear the player 10 feet away, inside an equipment rack with a plexiglass front cover. The fidelity of the DTS-HD is nullified by the noise of the transport (it's always something...).

Dweller - How can DTS-HD spin at a higher velocity? I thought all Blu-rays spin at a specified rate, faster at the be beginning, then gradually slower, as the laser goes from inner toward outer part of disc. Same as DVD, CD.

True Dat!

I have a DVD player that has HDMI connection.

If I wanted to get the best movie sounds coming from the 79, do I use the single coaxial cable, optical cable or HDMI cable? I have a receiver that will take HDMI connection. Right now, I have connected the 79 with the single coaxial for sounds. I then connected the HDMI cable from the 79 to the TV. My TV also got HDMI connection on the back.

Or do I connect the 79 to my receiver with single HDMI cable to the receiver and then from the receiver to the TV?

I just wanted to know which is the best way to get the best quality sound and picture from the 79.

Thanks for any advice!!!

Manta-
You listed them in the order of my preference.

As far as your DVD player, the audio will sound best through the coax or toslink, not the HDMI. Your Bluray player will however sound best when playing the high-rez formats (and only make sound)through the HDMI. If your watching a bluray with only standard DTS/DD soundtracks it may be worthwhile to A/B with a Toslink/Coax and see which sounds the best to you.

I have the Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD and I am confused about the HDMI Audio Out part of the setup. Right now, I have it setup to AUTO because I wanted to hear DTS-HD Master Audio. If I set it to PCM, do I still get better quality of sound from DTS-HD Master Audio?

PCM will remove DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD and revert to the older DTS and or Dolby Digital formats.

07-28-09: Drewmb1
PCM will remove DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD and revert to the older DTS and or Dolby Digital formats.

Not true unless the player lacks the ability to decode these formats. IIRC, this player can do both with a firmware update. The only other exception is if the user enables "secondary audio."

In any case, to get back to the OP's original question: There is no general preference, imho, as they are all lossless full-bandwidth channels. The mastering may be somewhat different in some cases leading to a specific preference but that is not generalizable.

Kal