Is it just me or does DTS seem to have a tradeoff. Much better sound quality but very low bass?

For fun I was searching around on the net for reviews of my reciever that Ive owned for years, and theres always 1 or 2 people who complain and say the bass on DTS decoding is sorta weak... But they seem to give Lord of the Rings: FOTR: EE as the example..

If I remember right, didn't everyone say this about the MOVIE, not the reciever?

Or am I wrong? DTS is generally low in bass, no?

No, this is not true at all. DTS is using the same audio frequencies that DD uses. Some say DTS is louder (i.e. the overall gain of a DTS track is encoded a few DBs higher than a DD track), but it is not true for every track. The only major difference between DTS and DD tracks are the encoded bitrate, which is how many bits (think physical space for audio) each track is encoded by. DTS is encoded in a higher bitrate than DD. Now for one to say if DTS is better than DD is a whole new can of worms.

Isn't there 10dB more LFE w/DTS?

I don't know, I always find the bass in DTS tracks to equal if not usually louder than the DD track.

DTS bass is exquisite! If only DD were a bit more punchier...

It probably depends on what reciever/brand you are using as with how many watts. My dad has a 125-watt sony and there's virtually no difference in clarity or bass. While I have a 500-watt Pioneer, there is clear an advantage to using the DTS.

DTS provides tighter bass, which in turn is better bass. Take for example some DD tracks will soom boomier and louder than the DTS tracks. To the average joe they may say it's better because it's louder, more in your face.. not the case though. A DTS track will provide tighter, smoother, and more controlled low end respond.

This quote is the only thing in this thread even similar to correct. And the word "only" is wrong.

A couple real issues and facts:

DD is always output 4db lower than DTS from your receiver/processor. This is due to the built in Dolby voice/dynamic range compression feature. (I'm not saying Dolby's DR is compressed in general, but you can turn it on with most receivers' Late Night mode)

DTS often is different from DD in the surround mix. That is, certain bits of audio will be in different speakers. DTS tends towards more in the surrounds and less in the .1 LFE channel. But that means the bass is just in other channels instead of coded to the LFE. If you set most of your speakers to Small, as most do, you shouldn't notice much difference.

Next, DTS tends to have the surrounds and LFE encoded a bit louder. This tends to make people think the surround effect is better with DTS, but they seldom do accurate testing. At least, I think this is true, see my next comment:

As seen with comments in this thread, nobody can seem to agree on whether DD or DTS has louder bass. (or better bass, or tighter, or lower....) Even people who ought to know, those in the recording industry, can't seem to agree. I still don't know what is reality in terms of comparing the bass in the 2 formats, but I assume it's because of:

Lastly, every disc is different. Any broad commentary on DTS vs DD is pretty silly since there are good and bad examples of both in the DVD marketplace.

PS: I have this sub, which makes both DD and DTS bass incredible. They both rock once your system is capable. And they are both clean and not boomy.