DTS-HD audio Yes/No

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Hub Discussions
1

Before anyone flames me, I HAVE read this forum for a clear answer.

Can anyone test and confirm for certain if HD audio (DTS-HD specifically) is passed through the Hub to a capable receiver when connected over HDMI and the audio setting is set to passthough mode.

Ideally within a MKV container AND/OR a .ts / .m2ts file…

Other posts seem to indicate that Dolby-HD IS supported in passthrough mode, but the DTS-HD support is still missing.

Thanks,

BR

2

DTS-HD Audio = NO.

3

The unit is capable of it; WD simply can’t (won’t) implement it without explicit permission from DTS.

The Hub, like the Live and Plus, is not licensed for DTS-HD / MA.  Supposedly, there IS no such license for a non-BD player device like the Hub. 

We’ve tried pointing out the number of other non-BD players that bitstream DTS-HD but WD just shrug their shoulders.

If you want DTS-HD audio, there are currently no products in WD’s lineup that will meet your needs.

4

Mine appears to have passed DTSHMA and DTSMA (appears on screen and on my AVR) and quite a few other HD standards off bluray images I have played back from the internal drive and network with 2.2.16.

It definatly is better than DD5.1, and suitable for my 7.1 channel 1000w system. If its ‘true’ or not i don’t know but I am plenty happy with it.

You cannot leave audio in default stereo mode you have to enable audio-pass through in the setup, otherwise you only get stereo audio.

5

Interesting, some say yes some say no…

Before I jump ship and go with an Xtreamer Sidewinder, -it sure would be nice to know beyond all doubt one way or the other!

Thanks for the feedback,

BR

6

There was a thread in the Ideas forum started last year:

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Ideas/HD-Audio-Support/idi-p/92

It features WD staff comments regarding DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD bitstreaming.

It definitively states that DTS-HD is not possible.

If you do go the SideWinder route, please post back with your experience with that unit.

7

Let me reiterate – DTS-HD is NOT passed through on the Hub or the Live/Plus.  This is absolutely the case, no matter what others say (if others think it’s so, they are mistaken.  Remember that DTS-HD contains a DTS core that will get passed through and show up as DTS on AVRs).

WD cannot do it, and there is even some question that other media players can (again, folks who say otherwise MAY be mistaken.  Not everyone understands what they are reporting).  According to DTS themselves, they do not license the technology to passthrough DTS-HD decoding to anyone other than a blu-ray maker. That doesn’t mean someone can’t do it, but it would be in violation and it’s likely that DTS would take measures to stop it (it’s also possible the DTS folks can’t quite agree upon what they are licensing to who).

A better question to ask – can YOU tell the difference?  Don’t be so sure you can – have your wife or significant other give you an A/B test (and make sure the loudness levels are the same because loudness will mask audio quality as the perception of a sound that is “louder” sounds "better).  If you don’t do any better than 50/50 in such a test I wouldn’t even worry about it (most folks have trouble telling the difference between MP3s ripped at 320 versus WAV files, for example – if you can’t tell THIS difference you’d never hear the difference between DTS-HD and DTS).

8

It don’t. I double checked - I got my standards mixed up. DolbyTrueHD does come through to the amp. DTSHMA and DTSHD MA are both downsampled to just the DTS core, but the player knows what they are - it displays the audio source on screen as DTSHD MA -  just don’t do get to the receiver like that as said in this thread. Sorry for the confusion

9

… heheh, and for me, DTS-MA and DTS-HD are not sending thru the Core DTS 5.1 at least in an M2TS container…  

I’m using HDMI-attached Pioneer receiver, and setting the Hub to DIGITAL PASS-THRU.

Just got my hands on some sample files:

“Works FIne” means that my receiver SEES the specified stream, NOT a Down-Sampled Stream.

Dolby Digital (in VOB)  Works fine (of course.)

DD_TrueHD (in M2TS) Works Fine.

DD+ (in M2TS) Works Fine.

DD-EX (in VOB) Works Fine.

DTS (In VOB) Works Fine.

DTS-96-24 (in VOB) Works Fine.

DTS_MA (in M2TS)  NO AUDIO.

DTS-ES_PCM (in VOB) Works FIne, displays as DTS ES DSCRT PCM in my receiver.

10

Mike, I agree with you that testing is a good idea. Personally I think “HD” audio is way over-hyped. Unless you’re an audiophile, it doesn’t make any difference.

11

My guess is that “Audiophiles” can’t even tell the difference.

The double-blind mp3 vs all other formats indicated that 192 kbps was indistinguishable from any other form of audio.

Just sayin’

12

Yeah I read that. I convert all my music to 192 LAME Mp3 and it sounds great. 

13

While I agree with most of you, in general most people can not hear the difference. There are so many factors to consider; room acoustics, your age, quality of the soundtrack, quality and placement of your speakers, setup / tuning of your receiver…

I however, am not most people. I don’t make that statement to sound “better” or somehow more enlightened than the average movie watcher but I DO hear and feel the difference. I spend considerable time, money and research dialing in my HT. From the construction of my basement “theater”, the quality of the components, and the calibration of my TV & receiver -I  feel the difference. Sitting back and watching a PVR’ed episode of Modern Family is one thing, but when I settle down for 3.5 hours of LOTR (6.1) or Saving Private Ryan (5.1) in HD I can “feel” the difference. I like the pure, crisp, punchy & immersive soundfield from a good HD sound track. You hear subtle things you normally might not, and you FEEL  more of the movie. When I close my eyes during the beach landing scene of Saving Private Ryan; I can feel the bullets whizzing behind me, and big shells rattle the air in my chest -it’s awesome!!!

I strongly believe that a properly dialed in sound system makes for 60% of the movie experience. I’ll take a good sound system over a huge 100" screen any day.

Just my opinion…

BR

14

As you say, just your opinion – and opinion it remains UNLESS you do the A/B testing (actually, someone else has to do it with you as the subject).

Lots of folks “believe” in lots of things – don’t make them true.

15

the only way that I can listen to a hd dts soundtrack is via the an optical output, it never works through the hdmi, although that yes indeed the display identifies it, I am going to get a new av reciever soon and will run the hdmi through that, hopefully that will remove the neccessity to be changing cables around every time I want to watch a hd dts movie, as I only have the one optical input on my current av reciever.

16

With firmware version 1.02 DTS worked thru the HDMI cable… but with the new 1.04 it doesn’t.

However if you connect a digital cable to your sound system it works again. This is wrong since Dolby and DTS worked perfectly over the HDMI with the previous verision and now only Dolby works.

17

Sorrento wrote:

With firmware version 1.02 DTS worked thru the HDMI cable… but with the new 1.04 it doesn’t.

 

However if you connect a digital cable to your sound system it works again. This is wrong since Dolby and DTS worked perfectly over the HDMI with the previous verision and now only Dolby works.

    • *This thread is about DTS-HD, not DTS (which works fine for me over HDMI into my receiver btw). There are existing discussions about DTS elsewhere on the forum. Speaking of which, this is the Live Hub forum, and the firmwares you mention are for the Live. The Live and Live Plus forum is located here: http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Live-Plus-Media/ct-p/wdtvlive