This goes here because it's a multi-format subject.
There's been a lot of discussion about the 2002 DVDA 96/24 + DTS 96/24 release (the Scheiner/May mix, not the rare Scheiner-only mix) and the 2005 DTS 96/24 release, most of it subjective impressions. I've now done objective comparisons. Just the facts ma'am.
Note that the 2005 release, when opened in DVD Audio Extractor, actually shows two copies of the 5.1 mix, one in the 'Title 1' folder, the other in 'Title 2'. Both are DTS 96/24. So altogether there are 4 versions to compare.
Part 1.
I begin with 'Prophet's Song'. Here is the front left channel from each version, displayed in Audition 3.0 as full-length waveforms. (All tracks were decoded to 96/24 .wav by DVD Audio Extractor v7.6.0). From top to bottom:
2002 DVDA
2002 DTS
2005 DTS Title 1
2005 DTS Title 2
Notice some things right away
1) the 2002 DVDA and 2002 DTS versions look essentially the same
2) the two 2005 DTS versions look essentially the same
3) the 2005 versions look far more compressed than the 2002 versions
4) the 2005 versions are significantly shorter than the 2002 versions. This is due to the beginning of the song -- the first 'wind swirl' - being deleted on the 2005 version. Truly deleted...it is not present at the end of the previous song, either.
Less obvious: all of the DTS versions, including the 2002, are slightly truncated at the end, compared to the DVDA...the chiming acoustic guitar chord rings out about 1 second longer on the DVDA. Happily in this case, the rest of the audio *is* tacked on to the start of the next track in all DTS versions, so it's just a track indexing blip in the DTS mastering. To confuse matters further the 2002 DTS Prophet Song/Love of My Life transition is in a slightly different place than the 2005 DTS!
What's also a bit less obvious (but true) is that the are all the same mix, differing only in length and in compression/EQ. Note that the a cappella section is an upmix in the 2002 version, and it is apparently the same in the 2005. In fact I can't find any part, either in the a cappella, or the rest of the track, that is mixed differently (in any channel) between 2002 and 2005. If you have heard one, please let me know and I'll look! The 'wind swirl' at the start and the guitar chime at the end don't count, for the reasons above.
Another thing not obvious: Each member in a pair is actually a different length, by about 0.4 seconds. In other words, neither of these pairs would 'null out', because they aren't time aligned. Here are the lengths from top to bottom
8:32:080
8:31:498
8:21:877
8:21:482
Most curious of these within-pair tiny length disparities is the difference between 2005 Title1 and 2005 Title2. They're both DTS 96/24, both the same mix. Why is there any difference at all? For that matter, why do two copies exist at all? What are 'Title1' and 'Title2' *for*, anyway? Both 'Titles' contain the same content: the 5.1 DTS mix, the 2 channel LPCM mix, and the 2channel AC3 'Director's commentary' on the 12 videos.
I won't ponder this too long, because it's obvious the 2005s have been seriously compromised with compression compared to the 2002s (and that's not even considering EQ differences, if any). The 2002 has been my go-to and will continue to be (except maybe for 'God Save the Queen', which truly has been remixed for the 2005 release, whereas the 2002 is a fairly staid upmix).
Next up: what about EQ ...and LFE?
There's been a lot of discussion about the 2002 DVDA 96/24 + DTS 96/24 release (the Scheiner/May mix, not the rare Scheiner-only mix) and the 2005 DTS 96/24 release, most of it subjective impressions. I've now done objective comparisons. Just the facts ma'am.
Note that the 2005 release, when opened in DVD Audio Extractor, actually shows two copies of the 5.1 mix, one in the 'Title 1' folder, the other in 'Title 2'. Both are DTS 96/24. So altogether there are 4 versions to compare.
Part 1.
I begin with 'Prophet's Song'. Here is the front left channel from each version, displayed in Audition 3.0 as full-length waveforms. (All tracks were decoded to 96/24 .wav by DVD Audio Extractor v7.6.0). From top to bottom:
2002 DVDA
2002 DTS
2005 DTS Title 1
2005 DTS Title 2
Notice some things right away
1) the 2002 DVDA and 2002 DTS versions look essentially the same
2) the two 2005 DTS versions look essentially the same
3) the 2005 versions look far more compressed than the 2002 versions
4) the 2005 versions are significantly shorter than the 2002 versions. This is due to the beginning of the song -- the first 'wind swirl' - being deleted on the 2005 version. Truly deleted...it is not present at the end of the previous song, either.
Less obvious: all of the DTS versions, including the 2002, are slightly truncated at the end, compared to the DVDA...the chiming acoustic guitar chord rings out about 1 second longer on the DVDA. Happily in this case, the rest of the audio *is* tacked on to the start of the next track in all DTS versions, so it's just a track indexing blip in the DTS mastering. To confuse matters further the 2002 DTS Prophet Song/Love of My Life transition is in a slightly different place than the 2005 DTS!
What's also a bit less obvious (but true) is that the are all the same mix, differing only in length and in compression/EQ. Note that the a cappella section is an upmix in the 2002 version, and it is apparently the same in the 2005. In fact I can't find any part, either in the a cappella, or the rest of the track, that is mixed differently (in any channel) between 2002 and 2005. If you have heard one, please let me know and I'll look! The 'wind swirl' at the start and the guitar chime at the end don't count, for the reasons above.
Another thing not obvious: Each member in a pair is actually a different length, by about 0.4 seconds. In other words, neither of these pairs would 'null out', because they aren't time aligned. Here are the lengths from top to bottom
8:32:080
8:31:498
8:21:877
8:21:482
Most curious of these within-pair tiny length disparities is the difference between 2005 Title1 and 2005 Title2. They're both DTS 96/24, both the same mix. Why is there any difference at all? For that matter, why do two copies exist at all? What are 'Title1' and 'Title2' *for*, anyway? Both 'Titles' contain the same content: the 5.1 DTS mix, the 2 channel LPCM mix, and the 2channel AC3 'Director's commentary' on the 12 videos.
I won't ponder this too long, because it's obvious the 2005s have been seriously compromised with compression compared to the 2002s (and that's not even considering EQ differences, if any). The 2002 has been my go-to and will continue to be (except maybe for 'God Save the Queen', which truly has been remixed for the 2005 release, whereas the 2002 is a fairly staid upmix).
Next up: what about EQ ...and LFE?
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