What’s better PCM or Dolby Digital?
- Published in Audio Tech
- Permalink
Two industry specifications for transmitting audio from the player or transmitter to recipient or speaker are PCM and Dolby digital. It is important to know which one of them is better because having the right audio setup helps to get more out of your sound system.
Dolby digital and PCM will produce the same audio quality, and the only difference is how the compressed file is decoded by your setup. System compatibility and approved frequencies are greater considerations than sound and reception to be taken into account when selecting PCM vs Dolby Digital?
PCM and Dolby digital are the two industry standards for transmitting audio to the recipient or speaker from the player or sender. It is important to know which one of them is better because having the right audio setup helps to get more out of your sound system.
Dolby digital and PCM will produce the same audio quality, and the only difference is how the compressed file is decoded by your setup. System compatibility and approved frequencies are greater considerations than sound and reception to be taken into account when finding difference between PCM and Dolby Digital.
When you use PCM for audio, the computer you are using decodes the file before it is sent to the recipient. This process remains valid if you have a normal PCM with amplitude quantization levels or an LPCM with linear quantization levels.
The Dolby Digital Basics
Dolby digital is a binary sequence — or what we sometimes hear as 1 and 0—which we use when translated into digital bits with audio input. It is the technology used as a basis for PCM and other hi-res audio transmissions, but it does not outdate the technology.
While you have less choices when using Dolby digital to transfer audio, the sonic quality varies barely from PCM and can actually give you even more frequencies.
If you set a digital transmission unit, the player can send compressed audio files to the receiver. Your AVR will decode the uncompressed output data. This method is used to create surround sound formats from the player to the AVR, AV preamp, processor or power amplifier combination. The processor then decodes the file according to the signal instructions.
Higher-end receivers can include the after-processing feature to convert the signal from digital to analogue, allowing audio to be amplified for better performance.
There is no simple winner of the digital vs. PCM discussion if we just compare the performance they can produce. The decision depends on how your sound system is to be designed and where you plan to use it.