[tgunn2760]

Originally Posted by saltman

I thought I would summarize my thoughts on the issue.

With interviews as a category LPCM is not as critical since the dynamic range is typically less but would be nice. If the source is something merely recorded from TV then LPCM is not that critical since it is almost always already compressed. If it is an interview that you actually filmed yourself than sure LPCM would be much better. Keep in mind that taking broadcast ac3 and then recompressing again to ac3 with a standalone is less than ideal. PC transferring would be much better.

The notion that ac3 is acceptable because hollywood uses it is naive. The encoders Hollywood uses are FAR superior to what a consumer uses especially one that encodes on the fly like a stand alone. Consumer AC3 is garbage and mp3 is a good analogy. IMO it is worse than mp3 and yes I have done tests.

AC3 is great for movies, LPCM is far superior for music.

Nowdays you see more and more DTS audio for commercially released music DVDs.