2011-11-11, 03:00
aptalca Wrote:I personally don't care much for HD Audio, because I simply couldn't tell the difference between DTS 5.1 and DTS-HD in a home setting. The jump from stereo (2.0) to 5.1 was a big one when DVDs came out. Because it gave you surround sound. For video, the jump from NTSC/PAL to DVD was easily noticeable by the average consumer, and so was the jump from DVD to HD. And as the TVs got larger, resolution differences became more and more noticeable.
But the jump from DTS to DTS-HD is more subtle and most average consumer cannot tell the difference (me included) in a home setting. It reminds me of the difference between CDs and records. My audiophile friends always tell me that records sound much much better than CDs and that CD quality is crap, but I honestly can't tell the difference "in a home setting". And in a home setting, I never crank it up high enough to notice it, otherwise my neighbors get really mad at me.
I think if I were to compare DTS and DTS-HD in a movie theater, I probably could tell the difference, but not in a home setting and neither would the average consumer.
On the other hand, doesn't xbmc already handle True HD by decoding it to LPCM 7.1 and sending it through hdmi? I realize for DTS-HD MA, the core DTS 5.1 track is bitstreamed, so there is no support for DTS-HD MA yet, but you still get multi channel audio although not lossless.
I'm with you on records vs. CD's. Records sound like crap to me - I don't want crackles and pops; I want clear audio.
When it comes to HT applications, I'm not an audiophile snob - but I can hear the difference in HD audio and standard def audio. The caveat is that you will need a semi-decent audio set-up, and it needs to be properly calibrated to hear the difference.
My guess is that people that say they can't hear a difference are probably either listening on a sub-par system ("meh I can't hear any difference on my computer speakers with my torrent super-compressed mkv file anyway") or they might not be listening at reference levels. Reference levels are fairly loud, but many of us who have home theater rooms do watch movies loud.
Regardless of what some 'scientific' studies say (show me any study telling you A, and I'll find you a study telling B), I do my testing with non HT-saavy people (i.e. my girlfriend, guests, etc). I don't tell them which clip is which and ask them which clip they prefer. If the non-saavy people can't tell, then I consider if its psych or placebo on my part. Trust me, play the same movie on DVD and the same on BRD, and people will be able to tell the audio difference (video differences aside).
I don't know about you, but I trust my own perceptions, experiences, and testing over what someone else tells me to think. Just because a study claims something does not make it true (or untrue).
