# Improved HT Performance from Yamaha



## organm (Dec 5, 2009)

Hi,

I have been critical of my Yamaha RX-V1000 for a number of years for it's HT performance. Bought a Blu-ray a few months ago and just plugged and played. No real improvement although I did not expect it as the Yamaha does not have the HD formats. However the other day I decided to look at the Blue-ray manual and the choices you have at sending the signal to the receiver. They were:

* PCM
* Bit-stream (Re-encode)
* Bit-stream (Audiophile)

I was using PCM which was not impressive at all. So I read the manual and changed to Bit-stream (Re-encode) and WOW!!!, what a difference. The DTS light came on for the first time and the sound was amazing. Remembering that the Yamaha does not have HDMI and cannot decode HD formats. Pays to understand what you componets can do.

Ok, enough of the background and into the issue. Now that I can see what simply DTS is like, can someone tell me the degree of difference (improvement I imagine) of DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby True HD over simply DTS.

Is it enormous, astounding and all the rest or is is only subtle?


Thanks

Mark


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
Many people find that the new lossless codecs (True HD, DTS HD) make a huge difference. Bear in mind that DD and DTS are very compressed formats due to lack of storage on a DVD. A dual layer DVD holds 9 gigabytes while a Blu Ray holds 50 gigabytes. 

Thanks to having 5 times the storage, Blu Ray can store lossless tracks in addition to all of the added features and a native HD picture.

The use of high resolution Speakers is important to truly discern the advantages to True HD and DTS HD.
Or to put it another way, I doubt you would be able to hear the difference between DVD and BD on a Bose 3-2-1 System.

When using DVD's, I definitely prefer DTS soundtracks over DD. Some of this has to do with more aggressive use of the surround channels in a DTS track. 
Here is an explanation from Audioholics: 
"In order to minimize the limited space allocated on a DVD for audio soundtracks, DD and DTS utilize lossy data reduction algorithms, which reduce the number of bits needed to encode an audio signal. DD compresses a 5.1 channel surround track to 384 kbps to 448 kbps (DVD Standard limited, DD has the potential of up to 640 kbps) while DTS uses much higher bit rates up to 1.4 Mbps for CD's / LD's and 1.5 Mbps for DVD. A higher bit rate must imply DTS will be superior sounding right? In theory, the less compression used in the encoding process, the more realistic the sound will be, as it will better represent the original source. DD tends to boast that its encoding method is more efficient than DTS and thus does not require the extra bit rates. However, even if DD is slightly more efficient, it is still not 1.5 / .448 = 3.35 times more efficient.. However, both DD & DTS will boast data rates, efficiency, etc, but what actually translates to better sound is a very ambiguous matter as there are more factors involved here that goes beyond the scope of this article."
Cheers,
JJ


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## organm (Dec 5, 2009)

Thanks Jack,

Like all advances it is good to hear others experiences. I noticed a marked improvement in picture quality and general sound from DVD to Blue Ray on my Samsung HD (1024*768 not full HD) TV. I suspect I would notice a marked improvement in HT sound with the new HD formats over standard DTS.

Have a good Christmas!

Mark


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## selden (Nov 15, 2009)

Don't forget that slight increases in sound levels are heard as improvements in sound quality.

All receivers seem to generate sound about 4db louder for bitstream than for PCM, and DTS tends to be encoded slightly louder than DD. This makes it very frustrating to evaluate audio quality without using an audio level meter to carefully match sound levels.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

organm said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have been critical of my Yamaha RX-V1000 for a number of years for it's HT performance. Bought a Blu-ray a few months ago and just plugged and played. No real improvement although I did not expect it as the Yamaha does not have the HD formats. However the other day I decided to look at the Blue-ray manual and the choices you have at sending the signal to the receiver. They were:
> 
> ...


I've just been through this same exercise myself..

I have the RX-V757B which also doesn't have any HD decoders or HDMI..just analog connections which doesn't help since my Blu-ray player only has HDMI.!!

I had been using Bitstream-Audiophile on NORM. dynamic setting for DVD's since I bought the unit..But when I upgraded to Blu-ray,I found that I was getting a variety of dynamics for the different audio tracks..

I tried Bitstream-Re-encode and it worked fine on some audio tracks, but not ALL!

To cut a long story short..I was advised to set the dynamics to MAX. on the receiver and lower the overall volume..Also to use the Bitstream-Audiophile setting..
The end result is that I still get good dynamics on DTS-HDMA and Dolby TRUHD without blowing my eardrums or speakers..and it seems to work for most HD tracks..
It's also given new life to some of my older DVD's..:T


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