DIGITAL Muse "The Resistance" 5.1 DVD - DD vs DTS audio

[Dynamic Editor]

First "contribution" to the community here, so go easy on me. This is one of my absolute favorite albums, due to the symphony. My rating is 8/10. This is based on the errror in the DTS track, and the lack of creativity in some areas of the album that would have been amazing surround experiences. There is a clear error on the mastering of the DTS track. Somehow I was able to find a copy of the Dolby Digital / DTS disc at a local record store, and the difference in the dynamic range between the two is obvious. See the attached comparison. Top is Dolby Digital, bottom is DTS. Both from the same disc.

View attachment 86498

View attachment 86497

I wanna circle back on this. While some parts look more dynamic. A lot of it is is a bit more dynamic (the back channels for especially), but despite some more peaky points on the front channels, they do seem similarly-compressed during mastering. One thing that I've done is try to take the center channel of the 6th track ("Unnatural Selection") and make it more dynamic. Curious what you all thought of it.

What I'm presenting here are two 20-second segments of the original channel and my edits of the channel. The left channel is my edits, and right is the original. I think the original sounds a bit scratchier, but what do you all think?

• Unnatural Selection (Ch. 3; Left Edit, Right Original) (Excerpt 1)
• Unnatural Selection (Ch. 3; Left Edit, Right Original) (Excerpt 2)

And below is how the whole channel looks with my edits (top is my edits, and bottom is the original)

 

[ssully]

I wanna circle back on this. While some parts look more dynamic. A lot of it is is a bit more dynamic (the back channels for especially), but despite some more peaky points on the front channels, they do seem similarly-compressed during mastering. One thing that I've done is try to take the center channel of the 6th track ("Unnatural Selection") and make it more dynamic. Curious what you all thought of it.

I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to say here but if it's that the DD is just 'a bit more dynamic' than the DTS and is 'similarly compressed' compared to it, nebj00la's screen caps say you are very wrong.

Perhaps you can clarify.

 

[Dynamic Editor]

I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to say here but if it's that the DD is just 'a bit more dynamic' than the DTS and is 'similarly compressed' compared to it, nebj00la's screen caps say you are very wrong.

Perhaps you can clarify.

It's certain points, like the center channel of the 6th track, "Unnatural Selection" that look very similar. The punch of the kick and snare is mixed exclusively into the center channel, and you should expect to see more of a transience in the peaks there as a result, which isn't present.

 

[ssully]

Sorry, I still don't understand what you are claiming.

"looks very similar' to what?

 

[Dynamic Editor]

Sorry, I still don't understand what you are claiming.

"looks very similar' to what?

To the DTS version.

 

[ssully]

I grabbed these from the waveforms nebj00la posted earlier of the complete album, in both formats

The top is the center channel of the sixth track, Dolby Digital
The bottom is the center channel of the sixth track, DTS.

You're saying they look 'very similar' to each other?

 

[Dynamic Editor]

View attachment 99284

I grabbed these from the waveforms nebj00la posted earlier of the complete album, in both formats

The top is the center channel of the sixth track, Dolby Digital
The bottom is the center channel of the sixth track, DTS.

You're saying they look 'very similar' to each other?

Yes. If you look at the difference between the light blue (average sound pressure, I believe) and the dark blue (peaks) in both signals, it looks very similar. It is odd thot certain passages are completely different in loudness between the two versions, as a side point.

 

[ssully]

Except, the peaks in the DD version are mainly not there in the DTS version. They've been homogenized out of existence. It's nearly all peaks.