I have never taken much interest in the Dolby Digital vs DTS comparisons so many people get into as I have never had the same movie with both audio formats with which to make a reasonable comparison. Well tonight I watched War of the Worlds which has both audio tracks available. The difference was HUGE.
1) With DTS, I had to have my receiver turned down 10db to get about the same level. Why DTS is so much louder i don't know, but maybe that's just the way it is.
2) More importanly, the LFE were much more prominent in the DTS track. For those who have yet to see the movie, listen to the lightning strikes at 15 minutes 30 seconds into the movie. If you have an EP500 you'll probably break something. There is also a jet fly by at about an hour into the movie that also sounds much better in DTS.
I had always thought that the sound for a movie was mixed completely independent of the final delivery format. If that is the case, shouldn't both soundtracks sound about the same? I am not so puzzled by the playback volume level as I can adjust that on my receiver. But once I do that, the great variation in what I hear as opposed to the level I hear it at is what has me guessing.
Althought the LFE in this movie was at times overwhelming in DTS mode, I did prefer it for playback. Those of you who have seen this movie may have just pressed play and gotten Dolby. Try it again at least for the section from 15:30 to about 16:30. You won't believe the difference.
So does anyone know if soundtracks aren't just compressed for Dolby or DTS, but they may in fact me mixed differently?
Greg
