Originally posted by: zion
Compression and bit rate are the reasons why. DD tracks on DVD can be up to 448kbps, while DTS can be up to 1.5Mbps. The AC3 track on the LD is an even higher bit rate I believe. Also, I'd be willing to bet the DTS audio on the THX demo disc is just a recompressed version of the Dolby master.
However, if you compare a soundtrack mastered by DTS to a soundtrack mastered by Dolby, there can be distict differences. If anyone out there has both a copy of the DD version of Jurassic Park and the DTS version, compare the audio of the opening credits. I used to demo this for people when I worked at Circuit City. There's a part in the opening credits of the film where the bass kicks in with a solid "boom". In the DTS version, the bass is tight and solid. On the DD version, the bass is very weak and sounds muddy. The chirps of the birds and wind instruments are also much clearer on the DTS version. Is this the same case with your Superbit DVD gl?
Compression and bit rate are the reasons why. DD tracks on DVD can be up to 448kbps, while DTS can be up to 1.5Mbps. The AC3 track on the LD is an even higher bit rate I believe. Also, I'd be willing to bet the DTS audio on the THX demo disc is just a recompressed version of the Dolby master.
However, if you compare a soundtrack mastered by DTS to a soundtrack mastered by Dolby, there can be distict differences. If anyone out there has both a copy of the DD version of Jurassic Park and the DTS version, compare the audio of the opening credits. I used to demo this for people when I worked at Circuit City. There's a part in the opening credits of the film where the bass kicks in with a solid "boom". In the DTS version, the bass is tight and solid. On the DD version, the bass is very weak and sounds muddy. The chirps of the birds and wind instruments are also much clearer on the DTS version. Is this the same case with your Superbit DVD gl?
Actually, Dolby digital, or AC-3 on laserdisc was at the rate of 384kbps. So in the case of laserdisc, even though the dolby has the lower bitrate, it still is better than both the DVD's dolby digital at 448kbps and the THX demo's 754kbps DTS track. In my opinion, bitrate doesn't tell the story. DD on laserdisc has the lowest bitrate of all at 384kbps and it is very often superior to DTS or DD tracks on DVD that are at higher bitrates. Another one is Saving Private Ryan. I had the DD DVD and the DTS DVD, and the DTS DVD was the clear winner. I then got the DD LD and it bested the DTS DVD. Video quality was of course another matter.
I always felt that ld basically used the theatrical mix whereas DVD's are often "remixed" for home theater. When comparing the Star Wars Episode I DD DVD (at 448kbps) to the DD on the LD (at 384kbps) it is no contest. The LD is far more agressive of a mix and faithfully represents the theatrical viewing experience that I had. The DVD sounds "dumbed down" so to speak.
I have not compared the DD to the DTS on the R2 Jurassic park superbit. I know that the DTS is only at a rate of 754kbps and does not use the full 1509kbps as some early DTS DVD's did. DTS laserdisc for reference used a bitrate of 1235kbps. I remeber that when the R1 Jurassic park came out, the DTS DVD was very very weak and was easily bested by the DD DVD. It was found that an encoding error occured on the DTS DVD and cut it's LFE channel by 4db. A repressed DTS DVD was made available that was said to be created from the DTS laserdisc master and it shows. I believe that the Jurassic park superbit DTS is this same mix as it sounds very similar to the DTS DVD.