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So I’m helping HAL out with encoding some 5.1 DTS tracks for him (regular 1510kbps DTS, not DTS-HD MA or anything), and I keep running into something that may or may not be a problem.
Using eac3to with Surcode’s DTS encoder, or using Surcode on its own, when I input 16 bit PCM audio, I get a DTS output that MediaInfo claims is 24 bit. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get a 16-bit end result.
So here’s question number one: How can I get 16-bit DTS output from 16-bit PCM input, either using Surcode/eac3to or another program?
But in Googling around to find the answer, I keep seeing multiple people over the years saying that bit depth isn’t actually a thing with (or at least, is irrelevant to) lossy audio codecs. So while MediaInfo is reporting 24 bit audio, it’s really not 24 bit because it’s lossy. But in a lot of these same discussions, I’m also seeing that regular DTS needs to be 16 bit for compatibility with some programs, so … I’m kind of lost.
So question number two: Does bit depth (24 or 16) actually matter when it comes to DTS encodes or not?
For reference, here’s the MediaInfo of my DTS output file (encoded directly in Surcode from six mono AIFF files):
General
Complete name : D:\97GOUTDTS\V2\ANHV2.dts
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
File size : 1.30 GiB
Duration : 2 h 3 min
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 1 510 kb/sAudio
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Duration : 2 h 3 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 510 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 1.30 GiB (100%)
