Podcast #1009: Dolby vs DTS - Does it still matter?

This week we take a look at a new Drywall Screw that supposedly will isolate your theater from adjacent rooms. We also take a look at the differences between Dolby and DTS. Does it still matter in the era of their high definition codecs? We also read your emails and discuss the week’s news.

New Spring-Loaded Screw Turns Drywall Into Sound-Absorbing Panels

The smooth featureless walls around your home are easy to paint and great for hanging artwork, but they’re also very effective at transmitting soundwaves from room to room—a less desired feature. Adding soundproofing is one solution, but a cheaper and easier way is to install drywall using these clever spring-loaded, sound-damping screws instead. Full article here...

Dolby Digital Vs DTS: What’s The Difference?

As home cinema has improved, new surround sound formats have sprung up, bringing more detail and realism to movie nights. But let’s go back to basics and look at the two most popular surround sound formats: DTS and Dolby Digital. Full article here...

Both DTS and Dolby Digital are audio compression technologies. In their most basic form, both DTS and Dolby Digital support 5.1-channel audio. And more advanced versions of the formats support 7.1-channels, HD surround sound and overhead speakers, in the form of DTS:X and Dolby Atmos. DTS is encoded at a higher bit-rate and therefore is considered by some experts to be better quality. Others argue that Dolby Digital’s technology is more advanced and produces better sound quality at a lower bit-rate. The first film to use Dolby Digital was Batman Returns in 1992. Since then, Dolby has released a slew of increasingly advanced codecs, including Dolby Digital Plus, which supports HD surround sound and up to 7.1 speaker channels. Want the best? Dolby TrueHD is a lossless format that promises to be identical to the movie studio’s master recording. Then there’s the object-based audio system Dolby Atmos. DTS (originally Digital Theater Systems) was founded in 1993 to compete with Dolby Labs. The first film to use DTS was Jurassic Park also in 1993. The major differences are the compression levels and bit-rates. Dolby Digital compresses 5.1 digital audio down to a bit-rate of 640 kbits/s (kilobits per second) for Blu-ray discs (448 kbits/s for DVD).  DTS is less compressed and supports higher bit-rates of up to 1.5Mb/s (megabits per second) (768 kbits/s for DVD). In HD formats, Dolby Digital Plus supports up to 1.7Mbps, while DTS-HD High Resolution supports up to 6Mb/s. In True HD vs DTS:HD Master Audio theoretically there shouldn't be any difference since both are lossless. 

Which is better: DTS or Dolby Digital?
Many people have done A/B testing of DD and DTS and in most cases DTS comes out on top. We too agree that there is a richer and more detailed sound. Even if you accept that Dolby has a better compression algorithm, in 1993, the computing power of machines were not strong enough to bridge the 1Mbps data rate gap. And probably more importantly, like everything in our hobby you need equipment that is precise enough to be able to hear the difference between these formats. If you have a $500 system, speakers included, you are not going to hear the difference. 

Fast forward to the Blu-ray era. Discs now have the capacity for more data storage and higher data rates. Compression is better and computing power more grew by 100X from 1992. Lossless is on the scene and there is no longer a difference. But both Dolby and DTS have lossy formats that claim to sound as good as their lossless formats. But DD+ does so at 4Mbps less than the other. 

We have done tests with DD+ and DTS MA High Resolution and can’t tell the difference between the two and their lossless counterparts. But who cares about the lossy formats because Bluray discs have enough space that there is no reason compress the audio anyway. True, but streaming does have bandwidth limitations and that’s where DD+ wins. Indeed there are some streaming services using DD+ in their streams.

What about Object Based Audio?

Both Dolby and DTS have object based audio. Dolby calls theirs ATMOS and DTS uses the X moniker. ATMOS is what the streaming services are using.

Why is Dolby Seemingly the Format of Choice?

We think it comes down to two things, data rate and tools. Currently, data rates limit the quality of streaming. The more bits you can set aside for picture quality the better it's going to look. If you can get studio quality audio at 1.5 Mbps vs 6 Mbps the choice is pretty obvious. Then there are the tools. Dolby has developed great tools and have trained the mixers to use them. They have plugins for all their formats built right into ProTools and other commonly used authoring software. DTS also has similar tools but were later to the game and have fewer mixers familiar with them. These two factors are huge for the adoption of Dolby.

Which one is Best?

It's like Bourbon. There are really good and extremely good Bourbons out there. You can find really good bourbons everywhere. You buy and enjoy them and know there is better but if you can’t find any, who cares? DD, DD+, and Dolby ATMOS are everywhere DTS is harder to find. Enjoy Dolby like a good Bourbon. But if you have a UHD player and you want to up your experience, pour yourself a Pappy pop in a disc and enjoy your DTS!