# Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Master Aduio Formated Movies



## smiddy

Since Santa was kind enough to give me a BDP-S550 for Christmas I have been wondering what movies are available and which ones are coming with the 7.1 sound mix. I have only one, Rush Hour 3, and it wasn't as impressive as I had hoped.

What movies are available in these formats?

What movies are coming in these formats?

Which movie is your favorite in these formats for sound dispersion? 

Are you using analog or HDMI?

Any information would be very helpful, thanks!


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## spartanstew

Are you asking about TrueHD/dts-HD or 7.1?


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## spartanstew

If you're just looking for lossless audio, there's hundreds. If you're specifically looking for 7.1, you have these:

3:10 to Yuma
Bangkok Dangerous
The Bank Job
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Condemned
Dark City
The Eye
The Forbidden Kingdom
The Golden Compass
Hairspray
Hellboy II
Mr. Woodcock
Nightmare before Christmas
The Orphanage
Pans Labyrinth
Rambo
Rush Hour 3
Saw IV
Semi-Pro
Shoot Em Up
War
Sleeping Beauty

It's basically just Lionsgate and New Line that have put out 7.1 movies. Of all of those listed, I don't think any of them have reference sound, with the exception of Hellboy II.

Having 7.1 does not mean it will sound great. I'd rather have reference 5.1 audio and matrix it into 7.1 via THX Cinema2 or ProLogicIIx.

The following are only 5.1, but will blow away most of the 7.1 tracks listed above:

APOCALYPTO (LPCM)
BAND OF BROTHERS (DTS-HD:MA)
BLACK HAWK DOWN (LPCM)
CLOVERFIELD (TrueHD)
THE DARK KNIGHT (TrueHD)
DIE HARD 4.0 (DTS-HD:MA)
THE INCREDIBLE HULK (DTS-HD:MA)
KUNG FU PANDA (TrueHD)
MASTER & COMMANDER (DTS-HD:MA)
THE MATRIX (TrueHD)
MATRIX RELOADED (TrueHD)
MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (TrueHD)
MR. & MRS. SMITH (DTS-HD:MA)
RATATOUILLE (LPCM)
TRANSFORMERS (TrueHD)
U-571 (DTS-HD:MA)


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## smiddy

7.1, thanks spartanstew!

Ah, ok, I have Star Wars: Clone Wars I need to watch it (the only BluRay with THX). 

What is meant by Reference Audio?


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## Alan Gordon

Pretty much every new Lionsgate releases have 7.1 DTS-HD MA sound. Please note that the company that does their encoding ACTUALLY creates NEW 7.1 soundtracks for their titles... meaning that the 7.1 is not just "matrixed".

New Line Home Video also used to provide 7.1 DTS-HD MA for ALL their titles. Mi Casa, the company that does their encoding ACTUALLY created NEW 7.1 soundtracks for their titles... meaning that the 7.1 is not just "matrixed". However, since New Line was folded into Warner Bros., Mi Casa no longer does their encoding, and they've started using either 5.1 Dolby TrueHD or 640k 5.1 Dolby Digital.



smiddy said:


> What movies are available in these formats?


For a list of available/upcoming 7.1 titles (DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD, and PCM), click here: 7.1 MOVIES

For a list of available/upcoming 6.1 titles (DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD, and PCM), click here: 6.1 MOVIES

Note that there may be a mistake or two in there, so you might want to double-check reviews and the like. It also does not include "imports".



smiddy said:


> What movies are coming in these formats?


You can feel safe that all NEW release titles (premiering for the first time on Blu-ray as well as DVD) from Lionsgate will have 7.1 DTS-HD MA.

Blue Underground seems to be fond of 7.1 even for their catalog titles.

Universal has played around with 7.1 sound on "Hellboy II", but that's it.

Disney however seems to be getting in the 7.1 spirit with some of their newer releases like the newest "Narnia" movie, "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Wall-E", and of course, "Pinocchio" coming out in March.

Other than that, not much.

As for your other questions, I do not have "lossless" audio available to me at the time as I'm currently using a PS3 for my Blu-ray viewing along with an older AVR... without HDMI.

~Alan


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## Alan Gordon

spartanstew said:


> Having 7.1 does not mean it will sound great. I'd rather have reference 5.1 audio and matrix it into 7.1 via THX Cinema2 or ProLogicIIx.


If a title is reference in 5.1, there's no reason it won't be reference in 7.1.

There are advantages in having 7.1 "lossless" soundtrack over a "matrixed" 5.1 "lossless" soundtrack due to the fact that your rear speakers won't be transmitting discrete "lossless" sound.

That being said, the number of titles where it will make a difference are slim due to the fact that MOST films were MIXED for 5.1, so very little sound will truly be used in the rear speakers. Still, if given a choice, I'd take "lossless" 7.1 soundtracks over a "matrixed" version any day.

~Alan


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## Alan Gordon

smiddy said:


> Ah, ok, I have Star Wars: Clone Wars I need to watch it (the only BluRay with THX).


"Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull" is THX as well. I was wanting to say there was one or two more, but I think I'm getting confused.



smiddy said:


> What is meant by Reference Audio?


Well, technically, "reference audio" is audio identical to the source, though I believe, in this case, spartanstew was using it to refer to "demo" material.

~Alan


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## spartanstew

Alan Gordon said:


> If a title is reference in 5.1, there's no reason it won't be reference in 7.1.


Correct, didn't mean to imply otherwise.



Alan Gordon said:


> Well, technically, "reference audio" is audio identical to the source, though I believe, in this case, spartanstew was using it to refer to "demo" material.


Correct again.


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## Alan Gordon

spartanstew said:


> Correct, didn't mean to imply otherwise


You didn't! Think of what I said as more of an addition/elaboration that I wanted to add! 

~Alan


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## smiddy

Thanks Guys, you are a huge help!

I didn't notice the Indian Jones movie had THX...

I was having problems getting the 7.1 working but now I've cracked that nut in a manner of speaking. I'm using analogs to my AVR-5805 so I have set up the BDP to give it priority and produce direct. Now I'm hearing more things, very kewl stuff!

Thanks again gentlemen!


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## DCSholtis

smiddy said:


> Thanks Guys, you are a huge help!
> 
> I didn't notice the Indian Jones movie had THX...
> 
> I was having problems getting the 7.1 working but now I've cracked that nut in a manner of speaking. I'm using analogs to my AVR-5805 so I have set up the BDP to give it priority and produce direct. Now I'm hearing more things, very kewl stuff!
> 
> Thanks again gentlemen!


Another title with THX, although it is an import is T2 Premium Edition from Japan.


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## mutelight

This is a great site for getting all sorts of stats on titles
http://www.blu-raystats.com/Stats/Stats.php

Also, this site is great for getting a review on the transfer and audio before a purchase.
http://www.highdefdigest.com


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## Lord Vader

I wonder what the buzz is about any of the 6 _Star Wars_ movies ever being released in Blu-Ray. The fact that George Lucas has always been on the forefront of digital technology and all would lead one to believe he'd want to get his movies out in BD and reap another pile of profit.


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## smiddy

Lord Vader said:


> I wonder what the buzz is about any of the 6 _Star Wars_ movies ever being released in Blu-Ray. The fact that George Lucas has always been on the forefront of digital technology and all would lead one to believe he'd want to get his movies out in BD and reap another pile of profit.


I would think you are correct. My son simply loves these movies and I can only imagine him wanting this series on BluRay. We did get Clone Wars but that isn't the same being an animation.


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## hdtvfan0001

Lord Vader said:


> I wonder what the buzz is about any of the 6 _Star Wars_ movies ever being released in Blu-Ray. The fact that George Lucas has always been on the forefront of digital technology and all would lead one to believe he'd want to get his movies out in BD and reap another pile of profit.


There's a bunch of those kinds of movies still in the "pending" bucket...including all the Star Wars movies, E.T., and others.....from what I've read in the past...there has been an intentional decision not to release these in HD disk versions based on Lucas, Spielberg, and other "content owners" for no known reason.

Hopefully, they come out some time in the next year or so...as there is no pattern to why some have come out ("Close Encounters" for example) and others have not.


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## smiddy

hdtvfan0001 said:


> There's a bunch of those kinds of movies still in the "pending" bucket...including all the Star Wars movies, E.T., and others.....from what I've read in the past...there has been an intentional decision not to release these in HD disk versions based on Lucas, Spielberg, and other "content owners" for no known reason.
> 
> Hopefully, they come out some time in the next year or so...as there is no pattern to why some have come out ("Close Encounters" for example) and others have not.


Disney does weird things like limited production runs etcetera. I suspect there are similar types of issues with these movies.


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## Alan Gordon

mutelight said:


> Also, this site is great for getting a review on the transfer and audio before a purchase.
> http://www.highdefdigest.com


Personally, I recommend trying several different sites to get a feel for the people that review the titles. The reason for that is that I've read some reviews where the people gave good reviews for "crappy" quality releases, and gave the thumbs down to some GREAT releases. Quite a few of those reviews have come from HighDefDigest, and I honestly don't even bother to read their reviews anymore.

I prefer Blu-ray.com's reviews myself, but I try to read a few other sites as well... often to get a general consensus, though I rarely let a review sway me as I stopped buying DVD some time ago.

~Alan


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## Alan Gordon

Lord Vader said:


> I wonder what the buzz is about any of the 6 _Star Wars_ movies ever being released in Blu-Ray. The fact that George Lucas has always been on the forefront of digital technology and all would lead one to believe he'd want to get his movies out in BD and reap another pile of profit.


It took years for the "Star Wars" movies to come out on DVD. One of the reasons why this is, is because George Lucas likes to wait until there is a considerable user base before releasing his movies.

"Star Wars" will come out on Blu-ray, but don't expect them for a few years... and it wouldn't surprise me if he "tests" the water with the prequel trilogy first.

~Alan


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## ShawnL25

While we are at it does anyone know if the PS3 will be updated soon to allow me to pass an undecoded signal via bitstream over HDMI. 

I resently set up my buddy's reciever and he has the Samsung 2550. I was able to send it bitsream and let the AVR decode it as Dolby True or DTS MA.

With the PS3 I have to send it PCM and the onscreen display just says multichannel PCM. While I know the uncompressed audio is encoded on the PS3 before it's sent out I would like my AVR to do the work.


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## Alan Gordon

hdtvfan0001 said:


> There's a bunch of those kinds of movies still in the "pending" bucket...including all the Star Wars movies, E.T., and others.....from what I've read in the past...there has been an intentional decision not to release these in HD disk versions based on Lucas, Spielberg, and other "content owners" for no known reason.
> 
> Hopefully, they come out some time in the next year or so...as there is no pattern to why some have come out ("Close Encounters" for example) and others have not.


There are some "known" reasons.

As for "Star Wars", read my earlier reply about George Lucas.

As for "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind", it was the 30th Anniversary, and Sony was going to release a 30th Anniversary DVD set. Spielberg is a "fan" of the Blu-ray format and allowed Sony, one of the primary backers of Blu-ray to release the title. There may have been more details, but I don't remember all of them.

Speaking of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, Spielberg was one of the main reasons why Indy IV was released last year. Lucas wanted to wait until Blu-ray adoption grows, but Spielberg wanted to go ahead and release it. Not to mention the fact that Spielberg was supposedly for releasing the first three as well, but Lucas was against it. I guess they compromised.

A lot of big movies being released this coming year, like the LOTR movies, "Gone With The Wind" and other classics, and rumor has it, the "Alien" movies. I wouldn't be surprised to see at least ONE Spielberg movie next year, but I'd be surprised if it came before the 3Q. Most of his movies will be similar to how they were released on DVD... a trickle at first.

~Alan


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## Alan Gordon

ShawnL25 said:


> While we are at it does anyone know if the PS3 will be updated soon to allow me to pass an undecoded signal via bitstream over HDMI.


While there is some debate over this, it's believed that the PS3 will NEVER be able to bitstream over HDMI due to hardware limitations.

Since you will lose sound effects, and some features (secondary audio, etc), there's not really a reason to "bitstream" the audio, but should you want to, you'll have to buy another player capable of bitstreaming the audio (most current generation players).

~Alan


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## Stewart Vernon

It's all part of the chicken/egg syndrome.

Studios are afraid to release mega-catalog-classics right now because they will undersell... and by the time major Blu ray adoption happens, those titles will be in bargain bins.

But not releasing those titles slows the pace of the adoption.

Someone is just going to have to bite the bullet and release something major. Blockbuster new titles are good, obviously, but there are a few classics (like the aforementioned Star Wars movies) that could cause a major spike in Blu ray player sales I believe.


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## ShawnL25

Yeah I know and there is really no advantage other than the AVR OSD correctly labeling the right adiuo format. 

"Since you will lose sound effects"

I don't see why I would lose anything.


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## Alan Gordon

ShawnL25 said:


> "Since you will lose sound effects"
> 
> I don't see why I would lose anything.


Read this link... especially the third and fourth paragraphs.

Basically, menu sounds, PIP audio, and the like are mixed seperately, and the player mixes them together. Bitstreaming however bypasses that, and you will lose sound effects by doing so.

Most people don't care, but unless you just like Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA appear on your receiver, there's really no advantage to getting the receiver to decode the codecs, but there's certainly a disadvantage.

~Alan


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## smiddy

Both of my receivers (AVR-3806 and AVR-5805) can't decode these puppies so I get multichannel in...my AVR-5805 is connected via analog and it appears to work very well. the AVR-3806 is hooked up HDMI and I can't tell if there are any issues with downmixing, yet. Eventually I will have the AVR-3806 connected to the BDP-S550 via analog and there shouldn't be any issues.


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## denonguy

I have a Denon 4308 and have learned quite a bit about it but please tell me how to best program the Denon 4308 to make 5.1 be 7.1? I have 7.1 speakers and right now just use the 7 channel stereo setup to convert 5.1 to 7.1 but this Denon has MANY more settings.

Thanks!


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## spartanstew

Try ProLogicIIx.

Sometimes it'll say PLIIx + MV + THX (or a bunch of other stuff), but just look for PLIIx


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## smiddy

spartanstew said:


> Try ProLogicIIx.
> 
> Sometimes it'll say PLIIx + MV + THX (or a bunch of other stuff), but just look for PLIIx


If it is like the 3806 or 5805 use PLIIx C for cinema PLIIx M is for music. There are a couple of others too, essentially you have to tell it to turn on Surround Back channels on and the AVR will matrix the 5.1 to 7.1.

You may need to tell the speaker setup you have the other two channels. I'm unfamiliar with the new GUI (which looks really cool BTW). I will be updating my 3806 to the 4308CI mid year, unless there is anotherone in that price range when I update.


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