Home Theatre question

>>>I know this is a bit out of place here, but I *know* we have some Home Theatre guys out there so I will ask.

My Dolby 5.1 Surround Receiver does not decode DTS.

If I played a DVD that was encoded with DTS, what would happen? Would the receiver simply not produce any sound, or would it somehow play the DTS back in Dolby form?

thanks,

Mikey

 

I remember seeing warnings that you should not attempt to play a DTS track without a decoder- I would be careful on this one.

All the best - Andrew

 

I think it depends on the specific equipment, but I believe you would either get no sound or possibly get a digital "screech." Or it may just play the default 2-channel mix. I wouldn't worry about it damaging anything.

Then again, everything might just blow up.

 

>>>Thanks, RDK, I feel much better now!!!

 

Hi Mikey,

You may want to have a Gort move this to audio hardware..... you may get more of a response.

-Jeffrey

 

I seems to me the warning was that it would emit a screeching sound that could damage your speakers.

 

Since the DVD-V format REQUIRES a Dolby Digital soundtrack, all DVD-V's have one. When you select the DTS soundtrack, many (but not all) of them direct you to a "splash page" reminding you that you MUST have a dts decoder to properly hear this soundtrack.

I understand that resultant sound of the un-encoded track is somewhat "hiss like". Most report that there was no damage to their equipment, however - I would be cautious with higher end amplification and speakers that may result in some fried tweeters. It seems that cheap or mid-line equipment that may not reproduce the ultra high frequency range are impervious to the damage, but more sensitive equipment tries (in vain) to truly deliver the signal it's being fed....

 

>>>Thank you, Uncle Al. See you at Thanksgiving.

 

Some DVD players (e.g. a few Sony machines) will let you select how the player would treat DTS. It cannot be converted into Dolby Digital (these are two competing formats after all), but sometimes you can convert it into PCM.

If you have a DTS decoder in your DVD player and 5.1 analog inputs in your AV amp/receiver (with or without a DTS decoder), you can decode DTS at the player stage and send the analog signal to the speakers without further conversion.

It is generally not advisable to play a DTS track through a non-DTS receiver. At a high volume level it could damage the tweeters.