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Sound that can match the studio’s master tapes… the theoretical ultimate in sound quality. <\/strong><\/p>\n Most Blu-ray Discs have lossless audio, which means, obviously, no loss of sound quality.\u00a0 In short, the sound quality from Blu-ray Discs is capable of matching the master tapes from the studio.<\/p>\n If you have a sound system capable of using the lossless audio formats, the difference in sound quality is just as apparent as the difference in video quality.\u00a0 In fact, when doing demonstrations in my own home theater before I even get to explain that the sound as well as the video is high-definition the viewers make comments such as \u201cWow, the sound!\u201d or \u201cI\u2019ve never heard sound like that anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n What do I need to experience lossless sound?<\/strong><\/p>\n First of all, if you are just running the sound through your TV speakers there isn\u2019t going to be much difference.\u00a0 You need a separate sound system to really appreciate Blu-ray\u2019s fine sound.<\/p>\n There are several lossless surround sound formats available and older receivers, and even many current ones, do not support these new sound formats.\u00a0 Not all of the players support them, either.\u00a0 I\u2019ll start with the different surround formats, and then explain what equipment you need to experience them at home.<\/p>\n Blu-ray Discs have specifications listed on the box.\u00a0 This disc has an uncompressed PCM track with 5.1 channels of sound.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Blu-ray Lossless Audio Formats <\/strong><\/p>\n The lossless audio formats are:<\/p>\n PCM, LPCM:<\/strong>\u00a0 PCM and LPCM are the same thing.\u00a0 Some studios call it PCM, for Pulse Code Modulation, a lossless method of digital recording – think of it as generic digital audio.\u00a0 LPCM stands for Linear PCM.\u00a0 Sometimes you will see \u201c20 bit LPCM\u201d or \u201c24-bit LPCM\u201d or \u201c24 bit uncompressed\u201d on the disc cases.\u00a0 The more bits, the higher the resolution and the better the sound.<\/p>\n This disc also has PCM, but it is simply called Uncompressed in this case.\u00a0 With 24-bit resolution, this disc will have very high sound quality.\u00a0\u00a0 (Audio CDs are only 16-bit.\u00a0 This is much better!)<\/p>\n Uncompressed PCM takes up a lot of space on the disc, which could be used for better video quality or additional features.\u00a0 For this reason studios are moving towards Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA, which deliver the same sound quality but use less space.<\/p>\n Compared to Dolby TrueHD, fewer Blu-ray players decode DTS-HD MA.\u00a0 This is because DTS-HD MA requires more processing power than Dolby TrueHD, so you are usually looking at a higher-priced player.\u00a0 Two players that decode DTS-HD MA are the Panasonic DMP-BD55 and Sony BDP-S550.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t plan on upgrading your sound system to experience lossless audio, most Blu-ray movies have a standard Dolby Digital track, just like DVDs.\u00a0 It is a higher quality recording than you find on DVDs, so it will definitely sound better\u00a0 than you are used to but it won’t duplicate the quality of the lossless tracks.\u00a0 The DTS core found on DTS-HD discs is very high quality, too.<\/p>\n What You Need for Lossless Sound <\/strong><\/p>\n There are several ways to experience lossless sound.<\/p>\n The first is with a receiver with an HDMI input capable of receiving multichannel PCM, and a Blu-ray player that can decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA and convert it to PCM.<\/p>\n The player decodes the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA to PCM and sends it via HDMI to the receiver for playback. The PlayStation 3 is an example of player that uses internal TrueHD and DTS-HD MA decoding and an LPCM output via HDMI.\u00a0 Some others are the Sony BDP-S350 and the Samsung BD-P1500, though they only decode TrueHD.<\/p>\n If the disc has PCM lossless there is no decoding and the player will just send it over to the receiver for reproduction.<\/p>\n Bitstreaming takes the digital data from the disc and transfers it via HDMI to a receiver with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA decoding\u00a0 The receiver decodes the lossless formats and powers the speakers.<\/p>\n According to many who have tried all three methods, bitstreaming is the best possible way to reproduce TrueHD and DTS-HD MA.\u00a0 Theoretically there should be no difference, but enough people have said that bitstreaming sounds best that there must be something to it.<\/p>\n Bitstream and Menu Sounds\/Bonus View<\/strong><\/p>\n There is a drawback to this method.\u00a0 If you use bitstream you will not hear the disc menu sounds or the secondary track for Bonus View Picture-in-Picture features.\u00a0 The menu sounds are no big deal, but you may like Bonus View.\u00a0 Fortunately you are likely to watch the disc without Bonus View the first time and use the Bonus View during a second viewing, so there is a very easy workaround.<\/p>\n To hear the Bonus View track, go into the player menu and select secondary audio.\u00a0 You won’t hear lossless but you will hear both soundtracks.\u00a0 Set it back to bitstream after you have enjoyed the movie with Bonus View.<\/p>\n If you have an older receiver without HDMI, this is the method for you!\u00a0 You do not need to upgrade your receiver to experience lossless sound.<\/p>\n Set the player to decode the audio internally and connect the multichannel analog outputs to the receiver’s multichannel analog inputs.\u00a0 Connect the HDMI cable from the player directly to the TV.\u00a0 This will carry the video signal separately.\u00a0 You may want to turn your TV speakers all the way down so they do not add their sound to the sound from your sound system.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Multichannel Analog Outputs>>RCA Cables>>Receiver Analog Inputs<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are using the analog outputs, the player will decode the lossless audio, convert it to analog, then send the high-resolution sound from its analog connections to the receiver\u2019s analog inputs.\u00a0 In this case the surround settings are set on the player and receiver is just a volume control and an amplifier.\u00a0 When you use internal decoding you will hear the menu sounds and Bonus View audio alongwith the lossless soundtrack.<\/p>\n No HDMI or Multichannel Analog Inputs? <\/strong><\/p>\n Coaxial and Optical Digital Audio Inputs <\/strong><\/p>\n You can still use your receiver\u2019s coaxial and optical digital inputs with your Blu-ray player\u2019s corresponding digital outputs.\u00a0 It won\u2019t sound as good as the lossless formats, but the sound will still greatly exceed the sound quality you are used to with DVDs.<\/p>\n Select the Lossless Track<\/strong><\/p>\n Most discs do not select the lossless track by default.\u00a0 Before you play the movie (or after it starts with Warner Bros. titles, which launch when placed in the player) go into the menus and select the Dolby TrueHD or Uncompressed PCM track before you press play.<\/p>\n Some movies, such as Spider-Man 3<\/em>, contain both an Uncompressed PCM track and a Dolby TrueHD track.\u00a0 Looking at the specs, the PCM track is 16-bit and the Dolby TrueHD track is 24-bit.\u00a0 Since more bits are better, if your system can decode Dolby TrueHD you should select the TrueHD track for the best sound quality.<\/p>\n Why include both a PCM and a TrueHD track?\u00a0\u00a0Some older\u00a0players cannot decode or bitstream Dolby TrueHD.\u00a0 Having a PCM track allows\u00a0people with this player\u00a0to enjoy lossless with this title.\u00a0 With more and more equipment capable of bitstreaming or decoding the high-def audio formats, it is unlikely you will see much of this in the future.<\/p>\n If your disc has DTS-HD Master Audio, the system will automatically utilize the highest quality track it can process.\u00a0 If your system can decode the lossless Master Audio track, you will hear the lossless track.\u00a0 If your system cannot process the Master Audio track, it defaults to the high resolution\u00a0DTS core which will work with any Blu-ray player or receiver with DTS decoding.\u00a0\u00a0I know from email correspondence with my readers that many consumers aren’t selecting the lossless track when they play their Blu-ray discs.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0high quality Dolby Digital\u00a0 tracks sound good enough that they\u00a0do not know what they are missing!\u00a0 When I tell them to select Dolby TrueHD or PCM, try it again and write me back, the reaction is always “Wow!” or “Holy\u00a0**** my system never sounded so good, I can’t believe it!\u00a0 With DTS-HD Master Audio, you always get the best sound quality automatically.\u00a0 It’s a great benefit of DTS-HD Master Audio and\u00a0one reason I have come to personally prefer it over the other lossless formats.\u00a0 I look forward to seeing more and more players that can decode it internally.<\/p>\n Pioneer VSX-1018, an amazing receiver at an amazing price.<\/strong><\/p>\n Two Great, Affordable HDMI Receivers<\/strong><\/p>\n Need an HDMI receiver?\u00a0 Be sure to check out my page HDMI Receivers: The Two Best Buys on the Planet!<\/a><\/p>\n Recommended Blu-ray Players<\/strong><\/p>\n You can see some of the best player buys on my Recommended Blu-ray players page, linked below.<\/p>\n Recommended Blu-ray Players <\/a><\/p>\n Class dismissed!\u00a0 Have any questions?\u00a0 Contact Don.<\/a>.
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\u00a0\u00a0 Dolby TrueHD:<\/strong>\u00a0 This format uses lossless compression so the audio information takes up less space on the disc than a PCM file, but no sound quality is lost in the compression process.<\/p>\n![\"dts-hd.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/dts-hd.jpg\")
\u00a0 DTS-HD Master Audio:<\/strong> DTS-HD consists of two streams: a \u201ccore\u201d with a high-resolution (but lossy) DTS track and a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) track.\u00a0\u00a0 The MA track is a lossless track capable of duplicating the studio master tape.\u00a0 Like Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD takes up less space on a disc than uncompressed PCM.<\/p>\n\n
>>PLAYER DECODES TO PCM>> ![\"hdmiout.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/hdmiout.jpg\")
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