DTS or Dolby 5.1?

[mid]

I used to have a sherwood amp, which I bought from richer sounds, and all the DTS disks I played sounded much more powerful than when playing the same through DD5.1, it was quite noticeable really, DD5.1 was good as well though.

Most discs that offer both, even when it's the same mix that has been encoded (and it rarely is), will have the DTS at 4dB louder than the DD 5.1. When it is the same mix, and you correct for the volume difference, telling between a 768bps DTS (anyone naming a movie disc that uses 1536 and is less than 3 years old gets my admiration) and a 448bps DD track is actually very difficult.

9 times out of 10, when someone says they prefer DTS, what they actually prefer is the superior mix that has been encoded, not the quality of the encoding. Most DD 5.1 tracks have been remixed for the home, so they sound less crap when the on-the-fly stereo mixdown is performed. Because DTS can't do that, they shove on the more powerful theatrical mix.

[gIzzE]

Also listen to the DTS mix of U-571 on dvd which is regarded as a bit of a reference recording, then listen to just how much better the DD mix is on D-Theater, stunning!
House Of The Flying Daggers is full bitrate DTS on the Aisan dvd, meant to be very, very good.

[NeilMcRae]

Sony 930 Amp is what I still use as my primary decoder and I've looked for a replacement for it. Simple fact is that without spending serious money its hard to beat it.

[mid]

Also listen to the DTS mix of U-571 on dvd which is regarded as a bit of a reference recording, then listen to just how much better the DD mix is on D-Theater, stunning!
House Of The Flying Daggers is full bitrate DTS on the Aisan dvd, meant to be very, very good.

Is the D-Theater mix correct, then? The "reference" U-571 disc's DTS track is just the DD mix with a monstrously overcooked LFE channel, due to an encoding cockup, and sounds fecking hideous on my system unless I compensate.

I didn't know about the full-bitrate HoFD though - thanks! I take it there is an English subtitle track? I've not yet seen the film, and this might be the push I need.

[gIzzE]

I didn't know about that on the U-571 mix, so many peopel call it "reference" and as I had the D-Theater version and it was stunning I thought I would get the DVD so I had a disc to compare, (region 1) and as you say it isn't too hot. The whole point is people consider boosted levels and artificially high bass as excellent, stick them in a room with a system that has been calibrated properly for DD, DTS, logic etc. and not only are they blown away with the openess and detail but also how little difference there is between switching from one format to another.

I guess there would be an english subtitle on HoTFD, I hope there is

[Bassman]

The new 2 disk Region 3 HoTHD (the one CD Wow do for ?9.99) has English sub-titles.

[Geoff D]

...and the DTS soundtrack is a corker.

Whenever I want to demonstrate DTS to someone, I use the Japanese Superbit release of Jurassic Park - it's unbelievable aggressive (not just in the bass dept either)