|   Are all DD/DTS encoders created equal?... | nick4433
Oct 8, 2001 9:08 AM | | I was over at a friends place yesterday and we watched Air Force1, a good movie for DD. He has a Sony STRDA555ES with Energy Encores and a Energy ESXL12 sub.
I thought the Sony 555ES did an excellent job in producing rear surround effects and the Sony created a better soundstage than my Denon 3801. I felt more surrounded by the action over at his place. I came home and watched some parts of the movie again and I concluded that the Sony 555ES was crisper in the back than the Denon 3801.
My speakers are placed as per DD suggestions and calibrated perfectly.
My question is based on the decoding "chip", would 5.1 performance in itself be different in different receivers? Would some receivers tend to enhance the surround performance in pure DD/DTS modes? I'm not talking about any DSPs here, just pure DD/DTS. |
| No......... | Terrence
Oct 8, 2001 9:26 AM | | No matter what chip is used whether it be Motorola, Zoran or others I cannot remember, the performance is the same. All of the decoding instructions are standardized. Where the difference lies is in the audio chain downstream from the chips. And that is usually where a manufacturer will go to define their product over another.
What you should take into consideration is the room acoustic that you where in. That more than anything will effect sound characteristics of the signals that leave the speakers.
Terrence |
| OK..... | nick4433
Oct 8, 2001 9:34 AM | | So is it possible then that once the "Audio chain downstream" has begun then the receiver's characteristics can enhance this sound somehow while still being in the DD mode? i.e., can a receiver's own characteristics make sound appear more lively in the back by some enhancement than some other receivers?
Now I am very familiar with speaker placement etc. and I believe my room is more accoustically friendly to DD/DTS than my friends but I still went away with the feeling that a receiver had some play in it. |
| There are too many variable in your quest. | Smokey
Oct 8, 2001 1:29 PM | | Hi Nick
Aside from room acoustic and speakers (as Terrence mentioned), the receiver amplifier circuitry also play a major role as its frequency response, THD, frequency roll-off and dynamic range will differ from one manufacture to the next.
I am firm believer that one receiver does sound different from another, but room acoustic will have more profound effect than receiver on how a system sound.
One sure way to find out the difference between your system and your friends is to go his house and replace his Receiver with yours and see what type of result you will get. I don't see any other meaningful way to compare two system.
Even if you bring his whole system ( Receiver and speakers) to your house, I bet you it will sound different than from his house. Room acoustic does funny things to your system audio response.
Good luck. |
| re: Are all DD/DTS encoders created equal?... | Woochifer
Oct 8, 2001 3:49 PM | | It would seem like a lot more variables are at play than just the format decoding in the two receivers. Unless you swapped out receivers at your friend's place, I would think that you're also dealing with different rooms and different speakers.
When I was speaker shopping, I tried out a home theatre set up at a local audio dealer. Using the exact same receiver as the one I have at home, the surround effect was noticeably more convincing than the one I got at home using the same speakers. In that case, the only difference was my room, which has numerous acoustic issues.
Although I'm not familiar with that Sony model, the DSP mode could have also made a difference in what you heard. With my Yamaha, there are two standard DD/DTS decoding modes, "Normal" and "Enhanced". The normal mode is just the DD/DTS decoding with an adjustable surround delay, while the enhanced mode goes through Yamaha's DSP alterations as well, which add some additional soundfield adjustments. The enhanced mode colors the tone somewhat, but the additional adjustments can simulate a larger soundstage than the normal mode does. I don't know if that Sony model does the same thing, but the Sony models I've tried out do more tinkering with DSP modes than the 3801 does. |
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