AAC vs. DTS: How to Choose the Best Audio Format

Both AAC and DTS are popular audio formats for digital movies, but there are some differences between them. How to choose a suitable audio format for watching a movie? This post will give you the answer.

When watching digital movies at home, most people pay more attention to the video quality and care more about the resolution, aspect ratio, bitrate, etc. As a matter of fact, the audio quality will also influence how you feel when watching movies. Audio files stored in different containers sound different to some extent, as some of them are compressed and lossy while others are lossless. 

People require diverse audio formats for different purposes. Some of them want to save the storage space of their devices, while others love to enjoy the excellent audio-visual experience. It's necessary to know those audio formats in detail before choosing from them. This post will introduce and compare two of the popular audio format, AAC vs. DTS, and guide you to select the best audio format that fits your needs.

What is AAC Format?

AAC is also known as Advanced Audio Coding, and it's a lossy audio compression format. To some degree, the AAC format is designed to replace the MP3 format, but it can produce better audio quality than using the MP3 format. This format encodes audio with a brand new algorithm so that it can keep the audio quality while compressing the audio files. 

AAC is the default audio format used by iTunes, and it can be widely used on devices and apps that Apple Inc produces. But you don't need to worry about compatibility issues as this format can also work on many other operating systems and platforms, such as Windows, Android, Nintendo, PlayStation, etc.

What is DTS Format?

DTS is the abbreviation of Digital Theater System. It's a lossy and multichannel audio format that is designed for home theatre. The audio stored in DTS will be processed and turned into five individual soundtracks so that it can produce surround sound effects. But it's worth noting that this format should be played with a device that supports a surround sound speaker. Otherwise, the audio will sound similar to any other format.

Difference Between AAC vs. DTS

Although both those two formats are frequently used for watching movies, your specific requirement will lead you to make a choice between them. For example, if you have a device that supports a multitrack speaker, DTS will be the best format that enables you to enjoy the surround sound freely. On the contrary, if you want a lossy format to save your audio, AAC is suitable.

This part will compare those two formats with each other from several aspects, and you can choose any from them per your needs.

1. Bitrate

First of all, the bitrate is a distinguishing feature of each format. Bitrate means the number of bits the format uses to encode one second of raw audio, and in many cases, the bitrate of an audio file is adjustable. This characteristic is important as it influences the file size and network bandwidth for transmitting the audio file.

AAC is a flexible audio format, and it supports arbitrary bit rates so that you can customize it according to the usage scenario. On the contrary, DTS is a less compressed format, and it supports higher bit-rates that up to 1.5Mb/s (megabits per second).

2. Compatibility

AAC is compatible with various devices, including Mac, Windows, Android, iPod, etc. This feature makes it a prevalent choice whether you need to play it on a specific media player or browser. AAC audio files can also be played on TV.

DTS audio cannot be used as widely as the AAC format, as you should use the devices that support surround sound to enjoy it. However, most of the devices we use daily cannot meet the requirement.

3. File Size

The size of your audio files largely depends on the compression degree of the container format and the bitrate. As DTS uses a higher bitrate than AAC, MP3, and many other audio formats, the size of a DTS file is very likely considerable. On the other hand, AAC is a lossy audio format that can reduce the file size and save your storage space.

Bonus: Best Audio Converter to Convert Without Losing Quality

This post compared two of the most frequently-used audio formats that may be useful for you. However, sometimes you may want to get files in other audio formats, such as FLAC, MP3, M4A, etc. The best way to get audio files in those formats is to convert your original files into the proper format you need. EaseUS Video Converter is what you can never miss when it comes to audio conversion. This all-in-one converter supports more than 1000 video & audio formats so that you can use it to turn your files into any other format without any hassle.

EaseUS Video Converter works 30 times faster than many other apps with the advanced GPU acceleration technology. It will save you a lot of time if you have a significant number of files to process. The batch conversion function is also helpful, and you can convert multiple video and audio files at once. More importantly, you don't need to worry about the audio and video quality of the output file, as this software can ensure you get the files that are as good as the original ones.