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2018-07-12, 08:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 2018-07-12, 09:02 PM by dwalkerdon.)
(2018-07-12, 02:43 AM)Wisp of Smoke Wrote: (2018-07-09, 04:49 AM)dwalkerdon Wrote: Find the old 1999 Image Entertainment DVD, it has the Original Dolby Stereo Mix (In Ac3) but you can convert it to WAV to get rid of the dialnorm. Quite a few copies are on ebay right now
DialNorm isn't the problem. Turn your volume up a few extra notches and you've essentially defeated dial norm.
Dolby Digital 2.0 @ 192 kb/s has around a 10:1 lossy data compression ratio that a wav conversion can never fix. Going from a laserdisc's PCM audio track is a lossless track, and all things equal, should always sound better than a DD 2.0 track.
I actually compared lossy vs lossless at various different bitrates, and they sounded exactly the same (on the computer using VLC/MPC-HC and Kodi on an android box, not on an official AC3 decoder/ Hardware). I converted A Barco Auro 3D Demo audio file that originated as a DTS HD Master Audio track to Flac 5.1, then i converted it to 384 kbps AC-3, then 640 Kbps AC-3, and then Opus Codec at 128 KBPS
I was listening to the tracks using Kodi on an android Box (I think that since i converted them using handbrake and i was listening directly through the headphones and not using an AC3 output to amplifier, there was no dialnorm/DRC applied) and they sounded Identical!!!
Not bad for an Audio Compression codec that dates back to the early 90's! The theatrical version of DD uses no Dialnorm/DRC (it uses no Metadata), and the volume sounds identical to the source. When you convert an AC-3 file (home version) to another format it strips the dialnorm/Drc from the file and the volume is identical to the source.
Dialnorm/ DRC is something that should have never been used in Dolby Digital on DVD (the Dialnorm/DRC was originally meant for Broadcast). This is the reason why everyone thought DTS sounds better than Dolby Digital (it does, but the only reason why it sounds better is because DTS uses no Dialnorm/DRC while with Dolby Digital
it is forced upon the end user with no ability to disable it).
Dialnorm IS and always will be the problem with DD (and TrueHD), and it has nothing to do with the compression ratio.
I bet you would not be able to tell the difference between a converted AC3 2.0 file ( one that you converted to AAC, OGG, OPUS, ETC) and its Laserdisc/Blu-Ray PCM counterpart ( I converted the 2.0 AC3 Pro Logic track from the Phantom Menace DVD to Opus and muxed it into the Blu-ray Rip that has 7.1 sound, and to me the 2.0 mix sounds better than the 7.1 mix, despite being from a highly compressed source)
here is the link to the Phantom Menace 2.0 track if you want to hear how it sounds converted to another format with no Dialnorm/DRC. it is in the Opus Codec, so use VLC, MPC-HC, any program that can play OPUS files
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mvuhgril5m...c.mp3.opus
Wisp of Smoke, I want you to play this track on your sound system at a high volume, and then tell me how your neighbors will react!!!!!!!!
Compare it to the DTS HD- Master Audio mix on the Phantom Menace BD and tell me what you think about the sound quality!!!
I am NOT a fan of normalized audio. The reason why is because every song/movie/ TV show was recorded using different equipment, using different volumes, different instruments, and messing with the gain will ruin the original audio quality
I know that PCM is better, so no argument there, but I am just letting you know that lossy can sound as good as a lossless file (depending on the Codec and the sound mix)
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I know Dolby Digital can sound fine, as it is a somewhat efficient lossy codec. But no matter what, it IS a lossy codec, and at 192 kb/s, certainly not what one would call mildly lossy. We are no longer limited to these restrictions and is why most bluray use lossless, be it PCM, DTS-MA, or Dolby TruHD.
So if I am going to go through the trouble of ripping an audio track, doing edits if required to keep sync due to occasional frame edits at reel changes, etc.. I am going to go for the best track possible. And that's lossless PCM.
The other thing PCM has over 2-ch Dolby Digital used on DVD was "typically" the PCM tracks had no dynamic range compression or alterations. In this case, you mentioned a disc which had the original mix, but the original mix can also mean the original dynamic range as well as full frequency response as well. Again, I'd trust a laserdisc PCM track over a DD track for both of these parameters. Especially with DD's joint frequency coding at higher frequencies.
And I'll reiterate what I posted earlier: Turning up your volume control a few extra ticks on your original Phantom Menace Dolby Digital tracks will have it sounding *exactly* the same as your wav converted file of the same track.
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2018-07-13, 01:59 AM
(This post was last modified: 2018-07-13, 02:07 AM by dwalkerdon.)
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2018-07-13, 06:06 PM
(This post was last modified: 2018-07-13, 06:09 PM by dwalkerdon.)
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