Lowbudget is pleased to announce the addition of DTS high-resolution recordings to our catalog! Many of you who know me personally have been listening to me go on and on about SACDs, DVD Audio discs, and DTS encoding for years now. I've got about 300 of these discs, and they sound glorious.

DTS SURROUND-SOUND ENCODING

My favorite hi-rez format, the SACD disc, is only pressed in large runs for big bucks. The other hi-rez format, DVD Audio, is dead. DualDiscs, a DTS DVD physically glued to a regular audio CD, was great, but only played in half of my players.

However, DTS playback is available in just about all DVD players available on the market. You've even got a bunch of these discs in your DVD collection; just look for the DTS logo on the back.

Comparing Dolby Digital Surround Sound to DTS is like comparing a 78 rpm record to a CD. Pop in a DTS / Dolby DVD movie and switch between the two; DTS is much louder, much fuller, and much punchier. DTS surround puts you into the middle of the sound - there's no other way to describe it.

I worked on the surround-sound mix of our latest release, "Doctor X and His Groovalicious Astrobeats - Stuck In The Sedated Seventies!", over four consecutive evenings. Then I pressed a Dolby Digital DVD of it and played it on the fifth evening, and I was more bummed out that I thought was possible. The mix was smeared, detail was gone, and it was really, really quiet. Even speaker separation suffered. So I went and bought the DTS software and its accompanying license, and my happy little ears are tingling with delight!

PCM 48KHZ / 24-BIT HI RESOLUTION STEREO

The disc also includes a lossless PCM 48kHz, 24 bit stereo mix of the album, playable on all DVD players. This section of the disc is incredible; it's as close as you can get to what it sounded like in front of the monitors in the studio. We record at 44.1kHz and 24 bits. I can definitely hear the difference between 16 bits (CD quality) and 24 bits.

WILL IT PLAY ON MY DVD PLAYER?

Yes. If you only have two speakers, you can choose the high resolution PCM 48kHz 24 bit soundtrack. All DVD players can play this soundtrack, and it sounds better than CDs.

If you have a surround system, all DVD players can play the Dolby Digital surround soundtrack.

If your player has a DTS logo on it, you'll be able to hear the high quality DTS surround soundtrack.

DO I NEED A SPECIAL CONNECTION TO MY RECEIVER?

You may need one for the DTS surround soundtrack.

If you manufacture a DVD player, it costs a bit in licensing fees to decode the DTS signal. Therefore, the cheaper DVD players in my house only put out a DTS signal through their digital outputs, saving money on an internal DTS decoder. When I put the DVD in these players and choose the DTS audio tracks, I hear nothing. When I hit the "audio" button on the remote, the TV screen says "DTS signal only available on digital output". That means I need to connect a digital cable between my DVD player and my receiver (the receiver also needs to have a DTS logo on it). It's not a big deal - a regular RCA cable will do - but it's a bit of a hassle. And then you need to figure out how to make your receiver see the incoming digital signal. Again, not a real hassle, but a bit of an effort. You may need to read the manuals for both your DVD player and your A/V receiver.

The better DVD players have individual outputs for the 5.1 channels of surround-sound and will send the decoded DTS soundtrack through these outputs.

WHAT IF I DON'T HAVE A SURROUND SETUP?

If you don't at least have your DVD player connected to your stereo, shame on you. Go do that immediately. Right now. Go. Put your speakers on either side of the TV. Life will be more rewarding.

If you only have a DVD/TV/stereo setup (two speakers, no surround), the PCM hi-rez stereo soundtrack will play back in glorious high fidelity.

HOW DO I CHOOSE BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT FORMATS? WILL I LOSE MY MIND IN SETUP GARBAGE?

The main menu on the DVD lets you choose, gives you advice, and you can always get back to it through the "menu" button if things aren't working right.

WHAT IF I WANT TO LISTEN TO THIS MUSIC IN MY CAR, OR RIP IT TO MY IPOD?

That's why we include the audio CD - you get the best of both worlds.

WHAT TITLES ARE AVAILABLE?

Right now, the only title available in this hi-res format is our latest: "Doctor X and His Groovalicious Astrobeats: Stuck In The Sedated Seventies!". We're currently remastering the rest of our catalog in reverse chronological order, if we have access to the multitracks and if they were recorded at 24 bits. We expect to be offering Bonnie Gordon's eponymous disc, Glenn Williams' "Breathing Freely", and both Chillgroove albums in the near future.