Okay, so I've seen some dvd-a, sacd and vinyl rips done to FLAC.
But I've noticed some comments that people prefer "the original wavs" compared to the "flacs".
I haven't seen too many DTS-HD MA to FLAC releases (as there hasn't been too many isolated scores).
Someone did a custom rip of Tron Legacy and edited (better than working with dvd-rips).

But I thought the whole thing about "lossless to lossless" was that you don't "lose" anything in the process.
I've worked with DTS-HD MA before to FLAC and the only thing I see different is the bitrate...

The process so far is...
I decrypt the movie to the HDD and work with that to break the movie into smaller MKV's (chapters).
(saves the disc drive from reading constantly until the project is finished)
With the MKV chapters (remux mode), I use eac3to (with ArcSoft decoder) to convert the DTS-HD MA to WAV. (It converts the DTS-HD MA track and not the DTS Core)
(MKV files in smaller chapters will produce WAV files that are within 2-4GB standards; not sure the max delaycut can handle for WAV)

Then I listen to it and take notes when and where the music starts and stops.
I convert the times to read as milliseconds (60*X+mmm; X=whole integer of minutes, mmm=the remaining milliseconds; e.g. 60*2+215=12215ms).
(okay, the math for that doesn't make sense, but somewhere in there you multiply the whole integers of minutes to 1000's and add the remaining milliseconds)

I use delaycut to break the WAV file into smaller WAV files (hence the milliseconds).
The new WAV files serve as music tracks.
The 5.1 surround sound, 24bit depth and 48Khz sample rate is retained from the original MKV file (containing the DTS-HD MA). At this point, the bit rate shows as CBR@6,912 Kbps (1,152x6;1,152 per channel).

Then I convert to FLAC.
The 5.1 surround sound, 24bit depth and 48Khz sample rate is retained from the original MKV file (containing the DTS-HD MA)
However, the bitrate shows less than what the WAV shows (since FLAC is VBR and WAV is CBR).
Everything looks identical in Adobe Audition (in all views available, normal viewing and spectral view).

(Sample cut down to a few chapters, reading with MediaInfo v0.7.44)
DTS-HD MA inside MKV
Audio
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Format profile : MA / Core
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 12mn 52s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 2 026 Kbps / 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossless / Lossy
Language : English


MKV to WAV
(eac3to source.mkv 2: output.wav)
Audio
ID : 0
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Signed
Codec ID : 00001000-0000-0100-8000-00AA00389B71
Codec ID/Hint : Microsoft
Duration : 12mn 52s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 6 912 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Stream size : 636 MiB (100%)

WAV to WAV
(Using delaycut to cut the file into a smaller file)
Audio
ID : 0
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Signed
Codec ID : 00001000-0000-0100-8000-00AA00389B71
Codec ID/Hint : Microsoft
Duration : 2mn 30s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 6 912 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Stream size : 124 MiB (100%)

WAV to FLAC
(After using delaycut to cut the file into a smaller WAV)
Audio
Format : FLAC
Format/Info : Free Lossless Audio Codec
Duration : 2mn 30s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 3 306 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Stream size : 59.3 MiB (100%)
Writing library : libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)

With comments about having the WAV is better than having the FLAC files, it makes me wonder...
Is all that I'm doing a waste of time?
Should I keep the WAV files and ignore the FLAC process?
What is the actual difference between WAV and FLAC?
Or are these people being worrisome without cause?
I know for some people, it's all a psychological state of mind having the original WAV files.
It makes me think that "lossless" is not entirely "lossless".

Any thoughts?
Amidoingitright?
(PS: It's Big Trouble In Little China blu-ray isolated score rip; it's in DTS-HD MA/5.1/24bit/48Khz; so it's better than the CD releases)

Also: What is the preferred length of silence before and after the music?
Right now I'm aiming to keep the silence around 300ms before the music starts.
I know some players tend to have a slow buffer and will cut off the music if the music starts right away without any preceding silence.

anyone that says wav is better doesn't know what they're talking about. flac is completely 100% lossless.

the concept behind lossless encoding is better explained through using plain text files or images as an example. let's saying you have a 10,000x10,000 pixel image, but the whole thing is pure black. you can use a format that tells you the hex value of each of the 100 million pixels... or you can use a format that essentially says "this whole image is pure black" and save a fuckton of space doing so.

that's why the file size is smaller. no fidelity is lost, it's just a more compact way of saving the file.

Awesome explanation!!
Thanks Sarah!

Work shall resume as indicated with the FLAC process!

You're better off using the wavs for any editing that needs to be done, but once you're finished, convert them to Flac.

Yeah, I'm going to keep the wavs to convert them to either DTS-CD after or a DVD-A (once I figure out DVD-A).
(or both)
The FLACs though, will the final set I keep for listening on the puter.

neat avatar Jessie!!

Have you tried idealshare videogo which is a professional DTS converter. It can convert DTS to other audio formats like converting DTS to AC3, WAV, AAC, MP3, MP2, FLAC, AIFF, WMA, OGG, APE, M4A, AU and etc.

Have you tried idealshare videogo which is a professional DTS converter. It can convert DTS to other audio formats like converting DTS to AC3, WAV, AAC, MP3, MP2, FLAC, AIFF, WMA, OGG, APE, M4A, AU and etc.

I forgot I started this thread.

No. I only use eac3to now. Which uses ArcSoft decoders to convert DTS to WAV.
Free software developed by sound/audio engineers and software developers dedicated to bit-for-bit workflows.
I've never heard of "idealshare videogo". I'm not going to bother with it either.

Honestly, I don't trust any of these unknown programs, no matter how "professional" they are.
ImToo and Xilisoft are also "professional".

I doubt there's anything professional about it except they get paid to make software, but, really, anyone can make software.
If they know what they're doing and providing bit-for-bit exact details is completely another thing.

I see a lot of small, unknown and useless programs work with only the DTS core (lossy) and never the Master Audio audio (lossless).

Alot of progs won't let you change the quality settings either, eg. you just get an mp3 in whatever quality it's auto-set for

I forgot I started this thread.

No. I only use eac3to now. Which uses ArcSoft decoders to convert DTS to WAV.
Free software developed by sound/audio engineers and software developers dedicated to bit-for-bit workflows.
I've never heard of "idealshare videogo". I'm not going to bother with it either.

Honestly, I don't trust any of these unknown programs, no matter how "professional" they are.
ImToo and Xilisoft are also "professional".

I doubt there's anything professional about it except they get paid to make software, but, really, anyone can make software.
If they know what they're doing and providing bit-for-bit exact details is completely another thing.

I see a lot of small, unknown and useless programs work with only the DTS core (lossy) and never the Master Audio audio (lossless).

As soon as i know, idealshare videogo can work with Master Audio audio (lossless), why not have a free try. maybe you will change your mind

I'll die before I convert.

:imout:

I'll die before I convert.

:imout:

why?

why?

Because it's against my ethics and elitist insanity.


---------- Post added at 07:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:34 PM ----------

I much prefer CLI tools these days. Seems like you get full flexibility with them.
Presets are just limiting.