Dolby Digital/DTS malarky

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nath

Guest
Anyone know about this sorta crap? I'm planning on buying a what hifi mag later today, but until then does anyone know how to attain dts/dd5.1 related happiness?

I've read a few things here and there, there's these package deals that have the dvd player with inbuilt decoders and speakers, and some that are just decoders, amps and speakers which I assume you plug in to a dvd player.

Since I'm working (*cough*) now, I get cash and my first buy is gunna be a nice widescreen tele, I'm thinking the 28" panasonic tau.. the next month, I'll get some nice dvd player seperate, and give up using my shite dvdrom drive from my puter.. then I wouldn't mind getting the surround sound jobby thing. This is the part where I've got no clue.

So anyone who has any idea about this sorta shite, I'd appreciate some advice (I'd quite like the thing to be able to do both dd5.1 and dts.. if poss)

tia etc.

:m00:
 
O

Ono

Guest
Dolby Digital (DD 5.1) is a digital sound format adopted by 99.99% of DVD publishers. In essence it provides 5 discreet (ie. total separate) sound channels. Front Right, Front Left and Centre; Rear Right and Rear Left. What you will notice from a digital setup is more precise placement of sound effects on films eg. bullets whistling over your left and right shoulder in Saving Private Ryan; debris falling to the floor and crashing all around in Armageddon; helicopters circling around your head in Con Air etc...

There is also a discreet subwoofer channel which drives the low frequency effects (LFE) on things like explosions and dinosaur footsteps.

Digital Theatre System (DTS) works on a similar fashion to DD 5.1 but the compression on the sound is much less meaning that the sound is far clearer and more dynamic.

Most DVD players can output a DD 5.1 and DTS bitstream via either a coaxial or optical output. To get any digital sound though you need to feed it into a DD 5.1/DTS amplifier and from there into 5 (+ optional subwoofer) speakers.

Buying a DVD player with DD/DTS processing built in merely means that the processing of the sound is done on board but you still need to feed it to amplification for 5 discreet channels.

I would suggest going for a normal DVD player and either a DD/DTS amplifier or receiver. It is also *very* important that you get a multiregion DVD player because the majority of films are released in the USA months before they get a UK slot and also the discs tend to be cheaper (visit www.dvdsoon.com for really cheap DVDs) and also better specified in terms of extra material.

Speaker packages can be bought cheaply from places like Richersounds. (Mission package approx £200?)



It really makes a difference to your viewing and I would highly recommend the upgrade.


Any other queries let me know or visit www.thedvdforums.com for more in depth info (Nibbler, dysfunstion, Kippa and Glen!! are all there).
 
E

Embattle

Guest
An example is when you hear the Balrog of Moria in LOTR :)
 
N

nath

Guest
Nice one ono..

Yeah I did know about the dvd shitz though, wouldnt consider anything but multiregion dvd player. I'd have to disagree about the uk vs us dvd thing though. play.com sell exceptionally cheap UK dvds (the yank ones are slightly more) and R1 dvd's seldom produce as crisp an image as the UK ones. I also did have the sneaking suspicion that a combo dvd/decoder thing might be a bit lame so I'll look in to the receivers a bit more.

One of the major problems is sorting out where I can put all this shite.. There's not a great deal of space in my room at the mo, I'll have to completley shift things round to get speakers etc all sitting right.

One question I do have is thus: a lot of those home cinema packages come as an AV amp, and 5 speakers+sub, but the speakers are often satelites, are they shite?

Cheers again,
 
E

Embattle

Guest
Normall a lot of the oomph comes via the sub.
 
N

nath

Guest
Ja, just for bassy shite but what if I'm not watching generic action film #1121331mk2?

A friend has suggested that I get proper speakers for my cinema experience, a good idea or a pricey one?

edit: btw, why would you want video inputs in an av amp?
 
O

Ono

Guest
OK, points raised:

Play.com are indeed cheap for R2 stuff but compare them to DVDSoon and you'll find that they get undercut by about £3-4 per DVD!

As for the picture quality we are getting into NTSC vs PAL territory here and my view is that, unless you are ANAL and have a 50ft screen, it makes fuck-all difference. The fact is that generally R1 DVDs come out yonks before R2 and have more extras on them. Full stop.

I have over 300 DVDs from over 4 year's collecting and about 5% are R2, 5% are R3 and the rest R1.

On the subwoofer side of things you could just get a decent floor standing fronts and monitor rears and you may not need a Sub. I have medium sized fronts and rears as well as an active Yamaha sub but find that I rarely need to turn the sub on.


Video Inputs in an Amp? I don't use them. Some peeps like to control everything through the amp but the s-video connection is crap for my needs. I prefer the autoswitching SCART straight to my TV instead.
 
S

Scooba Da Bass

Guest
Video inputs are basically so you can easily switch inputs and connect more devices to one visual device (ie TV heh)

'Proper' speakers, as you put it will generally offer a better sound, especially if you get an audio subwoofer, surround subs very rarely have the response time that music (especially dance) requires. If you go for a set of Hi Fi speakers try to ensure you get an amp that will do them justice, so don't go for a cheap surround only amp, get something with a decent staging system for audio then you can put off upgrades due to finding the sound shite :)
 
O

Ono

Guest
Originally posted by Ono
Play.com are indeed cheap for R2 stuff but compare them to DVDSoon and you'll find that they get undercut by about £3-4 per DVD!
Click to expand...


Compare the prices on, say, Star Wars Ep2:

R2 at Play

R1 at DVDSoon

DVDsoon = £11.00 delivered

Play = £16.99 delivered

:rolleyes:
 
D

dysfunction

Guest
At last A thread worth reading!! :clap:

Unfortunately I have nothing to contribute but there is a lot of very good info here! :D
 
O

Ono

Guest
Originally posted by Embattle
That including Import tax?
Click to expand...


You will *NOT* get hit by import tax/duty for importing a single DVD. The threshold for HMC&E to begin to even bother investigating parcels is about £18.

Since DVDSoon do not give discounts on bulk order shipping I always order my discs on an individual basis ensuring that they are shipped as separate orders.



Oh, and I have NEVER been hit by customs. EVER!



N00bie. :p
 
N

nath

Guest
Ah, but shipping cost?

Also, the release date thing (thanks to dvd's) is now more or less a non issue. e.g. Star wars ep2 is out in uk on the 11th of nov. In the states it's out on the 1st.. I'd wait 10 days for what I consider a noticeable difference in quality.. and I've only got a crappy 18 odd inch 4:3 tele to notice it on. When I get me lovely widescreen thing, I'll notice it more.

edit: ok £1.50 for delivery not bad, but 6 weeks for delivery.. I'd rather pay the extra :/
 
O

Ono

Guest
Originally posted by nath
Ah, but shipping cost?
Click to expand...


The price I quoted for SW includes shipping. :rolleyes:

It is £9.89 without shipping.


Any more excuses you wanna throw my way? :p
 
N

nath

Guest
As said above, delivery time = pain in the arse. Also I have been stung by customs before, and probably will again. The point I made about the release dates still stands, and UK dvd prices are steadily coming down. I just bought training day R2 for £11.99 .. You could probably find it cheaper but that's a pretty good price whichever way you slice it.
 
O

Ono

Guest
Originally posted by nath
As said above, delivery time = pain in the arse
Click to expand...

ROTFL. Stubborn aren't you Nath.

:D

If you want to pay more for substandard releases which are released (sometimes) 6 months before I get them then that is up to you. :p

Each to their own but I hope that the sensible people that have read this thread take my advice. ;)
 
N

nath

Guest
Actually, imo you are getting the substandard release, the quality is lower as I have said about 3 times now. Also, find me a dvd from the states (yet to come out, or out now) that is out 6 months earlier than the better looking UK counterpart. Hell, find me one that's out 2 months sooner and i'll be impressed..

edit: having looked in to this it seems to be shite films like resident evil, that no one cares about, that have release delays..
 
S

Scooba Da Bass

Guest
Originally posted by Ono
I give up Nath.

*Really*. I do. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Because he doesn't agree that US releases are better?

Heh, quality
 
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old.[TBUK]Boris

Guest
Ono is there any low budget (£200 ish) av receiver youd recommend.
I have a dts sony dvd player and 5.1 compatible speakers alas no receiver :(
thanks in advance..
 
S

Scooba Da Bass

Guest
Sub £200 I've heard good things about the Technics SA DX750, no phono stage tho, so don't get if you wanna plug a TT in. If you can stretch your budget a bit the Sony STR-DE585 is about £210 (you can prolly bargain this down at a decent hi fi shop) and is a pretty much excellent all round decoder.
 
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old.[TBUK]Boris

Guest
They both look the business thanks SDB m8.
All the ones Id seen before had rather poor feedback on them with ppl having serious gripes with them.
Tempted to go for the sony :)
 
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