So, I’m ripping some Bluray audio disks to FLAC. They have both a DTS HD-Master and LPCM version of the 5.1 tracks. Is there any reason to choose one over the other?
Thanks!
A DTS HD master is a DTS encoded file. LPCM should be un-encoded. It should play whereas I suspect the DTS file won’t.
Is this a 2L disc?
AJ
I’m not sure. How would I tell?
Just to be clear, I’m ripping to FLAC. So, I would assume regardless of which format I rip from, Roon will play the resulting FLAC file?
I’d be surprised if Roon could decode a DTS-MA stream. I’d have thought PCM is the only option, but by all means try both.
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I suspect that the DTS-HD will decode to a multichannel PCM stream and so there may be little to no difference. It would be interesting to see if you detect any difference.
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Maybe I am misunderstanding how this works. But I don’t think I’m asking Roon to decode a DTS stream. I’d be sending Roon a FLAC file.
To ask my question differently… does it make any difference if I make the FLAC file from the DTS HD-MA stream or the LPCM stream?
Yeah, probably best to try both and see if I hear a difference.
Yes, anything other than an audible difference is just us being neurotic, right?
Maybe you already have thought this through. But you will need to have the means not only to rip a DTS-HD Master Audio file but also to decode it to PCM. While a DTS file can be encoded directly to FLAC – because that DTS file by design is masquerading as PCM – a DTS-HD Master Audio file likely cannot be encoded directly to FLAC.
AJ
Not necessarily. If a BD contains both a PCM track and a DTS-HD Master Audio track (or a Dolby TrueHD track), the separate lossless tracks could originate from the same master or from different masters. Even if they come from the same master, level differences in encoding or decoding – such as in dialog normalization – could cause audible quantitative but not qualitative differences.
AJ
I add this comment to the cause at hand. Despite its name, I successfully use Total Audio mp3 Converter (www.hootech.com/total-audio-mp3-converter) to convert a multichannel DTS stream into a 5.1 FLAC stream. It doesn’t divide the tracks up, so that has to be performed manually. JCR
[quote] But you will need to have the means not only to rip a DTS-HD Master Audio file but also to decode it to PCM.
[/quote]
DVD Audio Extractor can convert a Bluray audio to FLAC files.
What I’m doing currently is using MakeMKV to rip the Bluray to an MKV and then using Music Media Helper 3.0 to separate each chapter into a FLAC file.
Theoretically, there is a lossless stream in DTS-MA. So theoretically, the decoded DTS-MA stream and the PCM stream should create identical FLAC files. As above, the one difference could be in the mastering before encoding the DTS-MA if there is any done between the PCM stream and the DTS-MA encoding.
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So, it sounds like it probably doesn’t matter, but when both streams exist probably best to choose the LPCM stream to make my FLAC files. Thanks.
You could do a trial and see if either sounds better to you. I’d be interested to see if you hear a difference. But yes, I assume that the LPCM represents the shortest path from the original master to your FLAC file.
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Is there muxh LPCM Material around in 5.1? Only noticed this on one of my disks i have. Most of the formats are DTS or Dolby.
A fair amount. Many of the Blu-Ray discs have LPCM versions and I guess that was the original point of this thread. DVD-Audio is in MLP but that is a lossless compression of LPCM (IIRC) and so when those are ripped, the natural result should be an LPCM and that easily goes to FLAC. There is actually quite a bit of good material from DVD-Audio and in a few cases the surround versions are very compelling. (And then there are others that are plain silly - like Santana Abraxas where it feels like the musicians are running around you in a circle).
When you mention DTS and Dolby, are you talking about on Blu-Ray or legacy disks that are in the DVD format family? There are DTS “CDs” and many folks have converted their old quad and other multichannel recordings to DTS - there is a whole community out there if you like late 60s and 1970s material especially – the sound quality is not bad albeit not pristine.
This topic will be on my next to do list, but from looking at my collection some of the music i have in surround is in DD or DTS. I dont think roon fully supports this at the moment (its fine but maybe something which will evolve in the future). I have a few bluray, but some of the remasters like depeche mode violator (which is superb in 5.1) is in DVD format and I like to preserve the disk by putting it to my fileserver. I think I have only seen one LPCM so far (Foo fighters) which was interesting (and the bit rate jumped up!) but with SACD and lots of surround formats as well as quad, I hope there is a unified approach.
I really enjoy surround mixes, if you enjoy an album its really good to have a 5.1 mix to hear it in a different light.