Denon And DTS-ES Discrete
Dear Gary: My name is Patrick Gamet. I recently purchased the Denon AVR-4800 receiver and the Denon POA-5200 THX Ultra Amp to allow me to take full advantage of Dolby Digital Surround EX. Well, now that the AVR-5800 has arrived, with DTS ES Discrete 6.1 capabilities, it has me very concerned. Was Dolby Digital Surround EX just a flash in the pan? I spent an awful lot of money on what I thought was a future-proof receiver, then the next thing I know, a couple of months later, there’s a whole new surround format on the market. My question is, will my AVR-4800 be able to be retrofitted for DTS ES Discrete capabilities, and if not, should I sell it now and go with a DTS-EX Discrete 6.1-capable receiver? How much of a difference is there between EX and ES Discrete?
Patrick Garnet
Equipment Review Editor Shane Buettner Comments:
It’s always difficult to know what to do when new technology comes down the pike, as it does so often and quickly these days. But in this case, we’re talking about a format that is 100 percent backward compatible with existing equipment. Your AVR-4800 is far from being obsolete. Every DTS®-ES Discrete 6.1 disc that is released will also carry a matrix encoded back surround channel for backward compatibility with decoders/receivers like yours. Thus, you will be able to use every DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 title that’s released and enjoy the same high quality sonic experience that you enjoy today via THX® Surround EX™ processing. What’s more, should manufacturers like Denon or others offer an outboard DTS-ES discrete 6.1 decoder/adapter your Denon is equipped with the 7.1 channel analog inputs to take advantage of such a device. You do have an upgrade path should the manufacturers offer one, which I hope they do. We have published extensive coverage on the DTS-ES discrete 6.1 format in this Issue 41, including our impressions of its performance vs. the current Extended Surround/ Surround EX matrix encode/ decode scheme.
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