Supposedly, the MUSE LD have the same CDS remix; but instead of 5.1 DD 384kbps, it has uncompressed 4 channel 15bit 32Khz PCM track... which *could* sound better in some ways than the DD counterpart... or not?

I'll admit I don't know anything about MUSE tracks. If it is 4 channels, that probably means it is an LCRS layout, meaning the stereo surround information will be summed to mono, and the boom track may be absent altogether. (Though it could possibly be added to the L and R, but almost certainly at a reduced level from the six-track version.)

The 32 kHz sample rate is worrying . . . unless the anti-alias filtering is very good, there could be audible digital distortion happening in the treble range. Whether this would be less objectionable than lossy compression is hard to say. However, editing PCM is certainly easier than trying to resynchronize an AC3 stream without re-encoding.

Thanks for the write up hairy_hen. Your audio expertise knows no equal.

Heh well, I don't know if I'd go that far: I'm lucky enough to be mentored by one of the best music mixers in the world, whose knowledge of analog gear and instinctive ability to understand how a mix should sound are absolutely incredible. Compared to him, I am an utter novice.

Still, I appreciate the sentiment. ;)