Nuendo DTS Encoder

Operation Manual
Manual by Roger Wiklander

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not rep-
resent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software
described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied
to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this
publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any
purpose, without prior written permission by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners.
Windows 2000 and Windows XP are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. The Mac
logo is a trademark used under license. Macintosh and Power Macintosh are registered
trademarks. The term DTS is a trademark of Digital Theater Systems, Inc. Manufactured
under license from Digital Theater Systems, Inc.

© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2004.

All rights reserved.

2 Nuendo DTS Encoder

Patents
Manufactured under license from Digital Theater Systems, Inc.
U.S. Pat. No's:
5,451,942
5,956,674
5,974,380
5,978,762
6,226,616
6,487,535
and other U.S. and world-wide patents issued and pending.
“DTS” and “DTS Digital Surround” are registered trademarks of
Digital Theater Systems, Inc.
Copyright 1996, 2003 Digital Theater Systems, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 3

Table of Contents
3 Patents
4 Table of Contents
5 Shrink Wrap License
9 About this manual
10 Installing the DTS encoder
10 Installation
12 Protection key authorization
12 Registration
13 An introduction to DTS
13 The movie theater system
14 The home system
15 About audio compression in general
15 Why and when is audio compression necessary?
16 About lossy and lossless encoding
19 DTS encoding explained
20 How does DTS encoding work?
23 Applications of DTS encoding
24 How to use the Nuendo DTS Encoder
24 Setting up a surround project
25 Preparing to mixdown
28 Using the encoder
34 Auditioning the result of the encoding
35 Registering DTS encoded work
37 Index

4 Nuendo DTS Encoder

Shrink Wrap License
PLEASE READ THIS LICENSE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE
SOFTWARE. BY USING THE SOFTWARE, YOU ARE AGREEING
TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE. IF YOU DO NOT
AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE, PROMPTLY CONTACT
STEINBERG MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES GMBH (“HARDWARE VEN-
DOR”) FOR REMOVAL OR DEACTIVATION OF THE SOFTWARE.
1. License. The software (“Software”) accompanying or to be provided
under this Shrink Wrap License Agreement (hereinafter “License”), re-
gardless of the media on which it is distributed, are licensed to you by
Digital Theater Systems, Inc. ("DTS"). You own the medium on which
the Software is recorded, but DTS retains all right title and interest in the
Software and related documentation. You may:
• use the Software only to produce the following Compact Disc (“CD”) or DVD
Video Master Material from which replications are made (“Master Material”)
for recording onto package media.

Package Media Bit Rate Sampling Channel Format

Type Rate
CD 1.234Mb/s 44.1kHz up to 5.1 Channel
DVD Video 1.536Mb/s 48kHz up to 5.1 Channel
DVD Video 768kb/s 48kHz up to 5.1 Channel

• use only one copy of the Software on a single terminal connected to a single
computer (i.e. with a single CPU or with two CPU’s in the core of a dual pro-
cessor computer); and
• transfer all your license rights in the Software, the related documentation and
a copy of this License to a third party, upon the permanent transfer of these
materials, provided that the other party agrees to accept the terms and condi-
tions of this License. If the Software is updated, any transfer must include the
update and all prior versions.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 5

 2. License Restrictions.
2.1. The Software contains patented or patent pending materials,
copyrighted material, trade secrets and other proprietary material. In
order to protect them, and except as permitted by applicable legisla-
tion, you may not:
• decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise reduce the Soft-
ware to a human-perceivable form; or
• modify, network, rent, lend, loan, or distribute Software or create derivative
works based upon the Software, in whole or in part; or
• electronically transmit the Software from one computer or machine to an-
other or over a network.
2.2 The Software shall only be used to produce Master Material in
the formats specified in Clause 1. above for recording onto CD or
DVD Video discs only.
2.3 No right is granted under this Agreement to use, lease, sell or
otherwise distribute the Software to produce Master Materials other
than as specified in Clause 1. above.
2.4 No right is granted under this Agreement to use the trademark
“DTS”, or its derivatives, in any fashion or form, or on any product or
for the indication of any service(s) without the prior express written
permission of Digital Theater Systems, Inc.
3. Termination. This License is effective until terminated. You may termi-
nate this License at any time by; (1) destroying the Software, related
documentation and all copies thereof, or (2) contacting the Hardware
Vendor indicating your interest to terminate this License wherein the
Hardware Vendor will remove or deactivate the Software.
This License will terminate immediately without notice from DTS if you
fail to comply with any provision of this License. Upon termination you
must destroy the Software, related documentation and all copies thereof.
4. Export Law Assurance. You agree and certify that neither the Software
nor any other technical data received from DTS, nor the direct product
thereof, will be exported outside the United States except as authorized
and as permitted by the laws and regulations of the United States. If the
Software has been rightfully obtained by you outside of the United States,
you agree that you will not reexport the Software nor any other technical
data received from DTS, nor the direct product thereof, except as permit-
ted by the laws and regulations of the United States and the laws and
regulations of the jurisdiction in which you obtained the Software.

6 Nuendo DTS Encoder

5. Disclaimer of Warranty on Software. You expressly acknowledge and
agree that use of the Software is at your sole risk. The Software and re-
lated documentation are provided "AS IS" and without warranty of any
kind and DTS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EX-
PRESS AND IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IM-
PLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. DTS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE
FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SOFTWARE WILL MEET YOUR
REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE
WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT DEFECTS
IN THE SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED. YOU ASSUME THE
ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE
SOFTWARE. FURTHERMORE, DTS DOES NOT WARRANT OR
MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE
RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE OR RELATED DOCU-
MENTATION IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY,
RELIABILITY, CURRENTNESS, OR OTHERWISE. NO ORAL OR
WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY DTS OR HARD-
WARE VENDOR SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OR IN ANY WAY
INCREASE THE SCOPE OF THIS WARRANTY.
6. Limitation of Liability. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE, SHALL DTS, OR ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EM-
PLOYEES OR AGENTS, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INCIDEN-
TAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS,
BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION,
AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE, MISUSE OR INABILITY
TO USE THE SOFTWARE OR RELATED DOCUMENTATION, EVEN
IF DTS OR DTS’ AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN AD-
VISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME JURIS-
DICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF
LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO
THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO
YOU. In no event shall DTS total liability to you for all damages, losses,
and causes of action (whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or
otherwise) exceed the amount paid by you for the Software as deter-
mined by Hardware Vendor.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 7

 7. Controlling Law and Severability. This License shall be governed by
and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States and
the State of California. All disputes hereunder shall be resolved in the
applicable state or federal courts of California. The parties consent to
the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Los
Angeles California, and agree to accept service of process by mail,
and waive any jurisdictional or venue defenses that might otherwise be
available. If this Agreement is translated, the English text shall be con-
trolling. Should any portion of this Agreement be declared null and
void by operation of law, or otherwise, in any country, the remainder of
this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.
8. Complete Agreement. This License constitutes the entire agreement
between the parties with respect to the use of the Software and the
related documentation, and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous
understandings or agreements, written or oral, regarding such subject
matter. No amendment to or modification of this License will be bind-
ing unless in writing and signed by a duly authorized representative of
DTS.
LICENSEE HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGES THAT HE/SHE HAS
READ THIS AGREEMENT, UNDERSTANDS IT AND AGREES
TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

8 Nuendo DTS Encoder

About this manual
This manual describes the DTS* Encoder for Nuendo. It contains de-
tailed descriptions of installation and usage procedures, and it also
provides you with some background information about DTS encoding
in general.
Even though this manual does not aspire to be a complete guide to
DTS encoding, reading through it should nevertheless give you a good
grasp of the fundamentals of the technology – enough to make you
sufficiently familiar with DTS encoding, and thereby let you use the en-
coder to its full potential.
Should you wish to learn even more about DTS encoding, you can
probably find an abundance of reading material at any well-stocked
book store and on the Internet.
If you’re altogether new to DTS encoding, or even if you’re already
somewhat familiar with it, we recommend that you start by reading
through this manual in its entirety, and go from there…

Nuendo DTS Encoder 9

Installing the DTS encoder
This part of the manual describes the process for installing and autho-
rizing Steinberg’s Nuendo DTS Encoder for use on your computer.

Installation
Note that the Nuendo DTS Encoder does not work with any Nuendo
version earlier than 2.0. This version of Nuendo features full support
for the DTS Encoder, and adds functions in the Export Audio Mixdown
dialog necessary to use and control the encoder.
To install the DTS Encoder, proceed as follows:

Windows
1. Insert the DTS Encoder CD in your CD drive.
2. If for some reason the installer doesn’t launch automatically, double
click on the My Computer icon to browse the contents of the CD.
3. We encourage you to open and read the ReadMe file on the CD!
This may contain important information added after this manual was written!

4. Double click the file called “Nuendo DTS Setup.EXE”.

This launches the installation program.

5. In the dialog that appears, choose “Install” and follow the instructions
on the screen to proceed with the installation.
Should you wish, you can also choose “Explore CD” to browse through the contents of
the CD.

• When the installation is complete, a dialog box informs you that the
installation was successful.

10 Nuendo DTS Encoder

Mac
1. Insert the DTS Encoder CD in your CD drive.
2. If the CD doesn’t open automatically, double click on the icon for the
CD on the desktop.
3. We encourage you to open and read the ReadMe file on the CD!
This may contain important information added after this manual was written!

4. Double click the file called “Nuendo DTS Setup.dmg”.

This is a disc image that will be mounted by your operating system.

5. After the disc image has been mounted, a window will open. Double
click the “Install” item in this window.
This launches the installation program.

• The license agreement will be shown on screen, and you will be asked
to read and confirm it.
This is required for the installation to proceed.

6. Follow the instructions on screen to proceed with the installation.

• When the installation is complete, a dialog box informs you that the
installation was successful.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 11

Protection key authorization
As part of the Nuendo DTS Encoder software package you received
an authorization card. Use the Authorization Code printed on this card
to authorize the software.
1. When the installation has finished, restart the computer and make
sure the Nuendo 2 protection key is plugged into the USB port.
2. Make sure that your computer has a working internet connection.
Authorization is made “online”.
If the computer you want to use the Nuendo DTS Encoder on is not connected to the
internet, you can use another computer for the online connection – proceed with the
steps below and see the help for the License Control Center application.

3. Locate the Authorization Code on the authorization card.

4. Launch the “License Control Center” application (found under
“Syncrosoft” on the Windows Start menu or in the Applications folder
of Mac OS).
This application allows you to view your USB protection keys and authorize them for
new applications by downloading licenses.

5. Use the License Control Center “Wizard” function to download a li-

cense for the Nuendo DTS Encoder to your protection key.
This requires that you enter your Authorization Code – just follow the directions on
screen. If you are uncertain about how to proceed, consult the help for LCC.

6. When the authorization is complete, you are ready to launch Nuendo

and use the Nuendo DTS Encoder!
If problems occur during the authorization process, please install the latest version of the
driver for the copy protection and try again. You will find the link to the required version
of the “Copy Protection Driver” below the authorization code on the authorization card.

Registration
Finally, we kindly ask that you register your software. You do this by
filling out and sending in the registration card you received in the soft-
ware package. Registering the software entitles you to technical sup-
port, and will also make sure you’re kept aware of updates and other
news regarding Steinberg’s Nuendo DTS Encoder.
Note that by registering, you declare that you accept the conditions in
the Software Licensing contract also included in this package.

12 Nuendo DTS Encoder

An introduction to DTS
When we talk about DTS encoding, it is important to clarify that two dif-
ferent incarnations of it exist: One for use in movie theater reproduction
systems, and one for use in home consumer reproduction systems.
Therefore, a brief look at the history of DTS and the two systems is
required.

The movie theater system

We will not get into the details on this system since it is mainly of ac-
ademic interest when it comes to this manual, which is primarily aimed
at describing the home system.
A few points are worth noting though:
The concept of the system was in essence a very different approach to-
wards how digital audio should be delivered in movie theaters. Where
other systems work by putting the digital audio directly on the filmstrip
(alongside the standard optical analog soundtrack), DTS instead opted
to deliver the digital soundtrack on separate CD-ROM’s.
The system uses a compression algorithm developed by the company
Audio Processing Technology, Ltd. called apt-x 100™. This algorithm
uses only a mild degree of compression (4:1) making it possible to fit
approximately 100 minutes of multi-channel audio on a single CD-ROM.
The most notable reason for this approach was that having the digital
soundtrack on CD instead of directly on the film obviously makes
higher audio quality possible, since the storage space for it isn’t as
limited, and the audio therefore doesn’t need to be subject to as high
a degree of compression. This approach towards audio compression
is much in line with the one taken for home consumer systems.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 13

The home system
Having successfully established itself on the movie theater audio mar-
ket, DTS set their sights on multi-channel digital surround sound for
the home consumer market.
Rather than using the same audio compression algorithm as in their
movie theater system, DTS decided to develop an entirely new system.
The primary reason for this was mainly that home consumer systems
are much more demanding since they are not standardized in any way.
Where movie theater systems are all similarly equipped and config-
ured, no two consumer systems are alike.
Home reproduction systems can be anything from simple 2 channel
products to highly sophisticated multi-channel home theaters. Not only
are there differences when it comes to the type of equipment, the num-
ber of speakers and the reproduction formats, but the home listeners
can also subjectively change a number of playback reproduction fac-
tors such as inclusion of the LFE channel, speaker placement etc. etc.
Consequentially, it was DTS’s conviction that a system for the con-
sumer market had to be considerably more flexible in order to accom-
modate for all possible reproduction systems.
The result of DTS’s endeavours was introduced in 1997 as DTS Digi-
tal Surround. This technology incorporated a unique, proprietary audio
compression algorithm called Coherent Acoustics.
A bit further on, this manual will get into detail on Coherent Acoustics
and what it entails, since it is the pinnacle on which DTS encoding for
home systems is based, and also the algorithm used by the Nuendo
DTS Encoder.

14 Nuendo DTS Encoder

About audio compression in general
To be able to describe DTS encoding and how it works, we first need
to take a look at audio compression and encoding in general. More
specifically, we need to explain and distinguish between so called
“lossy” and “lossless” encoding.

Why and when is audio compression necessary?

As the term implies, all audio compression algorithms have one thing in
common: They are aimed at reducing the size of audio data to make it
occupy less storage space or bandwidth. Although we more or less take
it for granted these days, digital multi-channel audio (and in some cases
even 2 channel stereo audio) without audio compression in some form,
would simply not be possible to convey with a lot of media, including
DVD Video, DVD Audio, Laser Discs, Digital Television and streaming
audio on the Internet, to mention but a few.
This is because uncompressed linear PCM (Pulse Code Modulation)
wave files, which have long since been the standard for what is con-
sidered high-quality – or CD quality – audio are in most cases much
too large in size to fit within the available storage space or bandwidth.
Good examples of when high-quality audio is desired but the available
space for it is limited are the audio portion of a DVD video, or audio
streamed over the Internet.
The size of a stream of digital audio data depends on its bit rate. The
bit rate is the speed in number of kilobits per second at which the data
needs to be transmitted to and read by a decoder in order to be repro-
duced accurately. The bit rate is in turn a multiple of the resolution and
sample rate of the audio.
The equation is as follows:

• CD quality audio (PCM wave files) has a resolution of 16 bits at a

sample rate of 44.1 kHz.

• The bit rate of one single channel (mono) of CD quality digital audio is
thus 16 x 44 100, which equals a bit rate of 705 600 bits/second.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 15

 • Every channel in an audio stream is transmitted at this bit rate, which
means that for 2 channel stereo audio the bit rate is 1 411 200 bits
per second.
With this number of kilobits per second, approximately 10 MegaByte of data is trans-
mitted for one single minute of stereo audio.
Given this formula, consider the case of 5 channel surround audio of
CD quality being transmitted: At 705,6 kbit per second and channel,
the bit rate is 3, 528 Mb per second. The amount of audio data transmit-
ted for one minute of audio at this rate is staggering, and way beyond
the storage or bandwidth capabilities of most media! Consider also that
today even higher resolutions and frequencies are becoming more
widely used. In the case of DVD Video and DVD audio for example, the
standard frequency is 48 kHz rather than 44.1, and the resolution is of-
ten 20 or 24 bits, which increases the bit rate even more.
Because of this, efficient audio compression is necessary to reduce
the audio data in size to make it fit within certain constraints. However;
at the same time, the audio must not deteriorate in quality. At least not
beyond what a listener perceives as acceptable.

About lossy and lossless encoding

Even though all compression methods share the common goal of re-
ducing the size of audio data without noticeable degradation of audio
quality, different compression algorithms achieve it in one of two dif-
ferent ways: Either by “lossy” compression or “lossless” compression.

Lossy encoding
Lossy encoding reduces the amount of audio data needed to repro-
duce the original audio signal by actually removing parts of it.
This means that the audio data coming out of the encoder is not iden-
tical to the source audio data going into the encoder. The function and
purpose of this type of encoding is to remove redundant information
from the audio data to reduce it in size, while still maintaining good au-
dio quality. This is possible due to the fact that digital audio is no differ-
ent from regular data, in that it consists of a stream of ones and zeros
– data bits, and data bits can be removed from a bitstream. It’s just a
matter of removing only the “irrelevant” bits while leaving those that are
vital for the reproduction of the bitstream intact.

16 Nuendo DTS Encoder

 The process of removing redundant audio data is referred to as percep-
tual audio coding. It is referred to as perceptual since encoders that use
this type of coding take advantage of the fact that the perceptivity of hu-
man hearing is limited in various ways. To the human ear, it is for exam-
ple virtually impossible to hear an extremely soft sound if there also is an
extremely loud sound heard simultaneously. This is especially so if the
louder sound is in the same frequency range as the soft sound. In this
case, the louder sound would obscure – or mask – the softer sound,
and a listener would most likely not be able to hear the softer sound at
all. This psycho-acoustic phenomenon is most often referred to as
“frequency domain masking”, or sometimes “human auditory masking”.
To put it simply, you could say that lossy encoding entails analyzing
several narrow frequency bands, determining which audio signals in
them will be audible to the human ear and simply removing the signals
that the encoder predicts will not be audible to the listener.
In the above example, the softer sound would be deemed redundant
by the encoder since a listener wouldn’t hear it anyway, and thus sim-
ply removed, thereby effectively reducing the amount of data needed
to reproduce the audio.
While serving well as a basic explanation of perceptual coding, the
above is a somewhat simplistic one though. For those of you who are
more technically interested, the following is a more “scientifically correct”
explanation:
• If you remove bits from an audio signal, an increased amount of noise
inevitably occurs. This is called quantization noise.

• Bits can be freely removed from weaker signals in a frequency band

however, as long as louder signals in the same band can mask the in-
creased amount of quantization noise. Hence the term frequency do-
main masking.
So the process of a perceptual audio coding system is actually one of
estimating how much noise each band can contain without it being
perceptible to the listener. The objective is then to remove as many bits
as possible from the weak signals of each analyzed band while making
sure that the resulting increase of quantization noise is masked by the
dominant signals in the same band, so that the noise is imperceptible
to the human ear.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 17

 Any which way you describe the process of perceptual audio coding
though, substantial data reduction can be achieved while the encoded
result will still sound largely the same as the original input audio.
Lossy encoding is therefore very suitable when high-quality audio is
desired, but the storage space or available bandwidth for it is limited.
Good examples being streaming audio over the Internet, or digital
television broadcasts for example.

Lossless encoding
Lossless encoding reduces the amount of audio data needed to re-
produce the original audio signal by compressing the entire stream of
data bits, but not removing any of them.
Losslessly encoded audio can therefore be reproduced exactly, data
bit for data bit as it is decoded, or decompressed.
The concept and process is a lot similar to that of any data compres-
sion utilities, such as WinZip or StuffIt (two of the most prominent util-
ities for the PC and the Mac respectively), which are used for packing
data into a less space consuming archive, from which it can later be
extracted. The only difference is that lossless audio encoders are spe-
cifically designed for audio data rather than “ordinary” computer data.
This means that the quality of the original audio is not compromised in
any way during the encoding. The audio coming out of the encoder is in
all respects identical to the source audio data going into the encoder,
albeit compressed.
The amount of compression possible with lossless encoding is no-
where near as high as with lossy encoding, but the audio quality is ob-
viously higher since the encoded audio can be decoded and
reproduced exactly.
Note also that lossless encoding methods use what is referred to as
variable compression ratio. This means that the amount of compression
possible for any given audio source depends on the dynamic nature, or
the density, of the audio. If there are little changes in dynamics – if the
flow of the audio is fairly “even” – higher compression ratios are possi-
ble. If there are a lot of fluctuations in the dynamics of the audio however,
the degree of compression will be less. Ultimately, if the audio material is
very random in its dynamic nature, there may be no compression at all.

18 Nuendo DTS Encoder

 In conclusion, lossless encoding is well suited when the quality of the
audio is imperative and available storage space or bandwidth isn’t as
big a concern. Good examples are DVD audio, audio distributed (as
opposed to streamed) over the Internet and pure archiving (on CD or
zip disk for example) of source audio material.

DTS encoding explained

By now you have hopefully read through the section about audio com-
pression in general, and the distinction between lossy and lossless
encoding, and you may ask yourself “Yeah, OK. I got that, but what
about DTS?”.
Well, as previously mentioned, the audio coding algorithm used in the
DTS system for consumer products is called Coherent Acoustics.
When developing this algorithm, DTS once again – much like with their
movie theater system – chose an approach to audio compression and
delivery that is radically different from that of other existing systems.
Coherent Acoustics can actually be considered as a middle ground be-
tween lossy and lossless compression. It uses a variety of techniques
from both methods – “the best of both worlds” so to say – to compress
audio while maintaining practically identical audio quality compared to
the original source.
Rather than taking the conventional approach of reducing the audio
data in size as much as possible without too much compromise to the
original audio quality, the Coherent Acoustics algorithm is aimed at
utilizing all of the available storage capacity or bandwidth of a given
media (e.g. CD, DVD) to thereby maximize the audio quality and use
only as much compression as absolutely necessary.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 19

How does DTS encoding work?
As mentioned above, Coherent Acoustics which is the algorithm on
which DTS encoding is based, uses a variety of different techniques
and is generally considered to be a cross between lossy and lossless
encoding. Thus, it can be referred to as a “near lossless” audio coding
algorithm.
So how does it actually work? Well, the process is a complicated one
and to describe every single detail of it is far beyond the scope of this
manual. However, it can be broken down into the following three main
processes:

Re-coding of the original PCM signal

One of the fundamental processes in DTS encoding stems from the
fact that linear PCM encoding (which is the standard for what is con-
sidered CD quality audio) actually to some extent is an overly rigid and
inefficient way of coding audio.
Linear PCM is designed to code all of an audio signal’s content as if it
was all spectrally flat, when in fact most audio signals are not. This
coding includes extremely high frequency content of low amplitude,
and most audio signals contain practically no such information, or it is
virtually imperceptible. One of the very few types of signals that do
carry information in this frequency range is white noise.
The fact is that the human ear is increasingly insensitive at high fre-
quencies, and thus the coding of low amplitude high frequency com-
ponents in an audio signal is inefficient since the signals are irrelevant
to the audio quality and thereby excessive. This type of data is what is
referred to as “objectively redundant” in audio compression concepts
– that is, data that can be removed without adversely affecting the
original audio signal in any way.
Coherent Acoustics is a more flexible coding scheme than linear PCM
and simply re-codes the original PCM signal, leaving out these com-
ponents. This means that the result of the encoding is compressed
audio data that requires fewer bits but exactly reproduces the original
PCM signal.

20 Nuendo DTS Encoder

Sub-band filtering
This is the process used in perceptual coding systems to remove “per-
ceptually redundant” information from an audio signal. Perceptually re-
dundant, as opposed to the above described objectively redundant,
information is data that actually is relevant to the audio signal, but can
nevertheless be removed since the human ear would be incapable of
hearing it anyway. Perceptual coding has been described earlier in this
manual, but we will still give a brief run-down of the process again here.
This process is inherently a lossy one, and revolves around the
following:

• The incoming source audio signal is divided into several narrow fre-
quency bands.
In the case of DTS encoding, 30 bands to be precise, although the number of bands
depends on the sample rate of the input audio (for audio with a sample rate up to a
maximum of 48 kHz, the number of bands is 30).

• For each frequency band an estimation is made of the minimum nec-

essary bit allocation for it.
Each band is analyzed to determine how much quantization noise (noise that occurs as
a result of reducing the bit resolution of the band) can be masked by the dominant sig-
nals in the band.

• The bit resolution of the low amplitude components in the band is then
reduced accordingly.
Ultimately, if the encoder deems the entire signal content of a band to be inaudible to
a listener (the contents of the band can all be reduced to zero bits), the band will be
deleted entirely.
So Coherent Acoustics uses the psycho-acoustic phenomenon called
frequency domain masking, just like all lossy compression algorithms
do. However, Coherent Acoustics employs dynamic, variable bit allo-
cation for each band. This means that the maximum allowable amount
of bit reduction applied to each band depends on the desired bit rate
of the output from the encoder.
In practice, this has the effect that the higher the output bit rate, the
less frequency domain masking is applied. I.e., increasingly less bit re-
duction is allowed in each band the higher the bit rate of the output is.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 21

 Consequentially, at the highest bit rates, frequency domain masking
isn’t used at all which means that the output from the encoder is iden-
tical to the original PCM signal, albeit compressed. So at high bit
rates, DTS encoding is lossless.

Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation

ADPCM, for short, is an alternative to regular PCM for encoding audio
data. It is a very widely used codec and audio data encoded with AD-
PCM requires less storage space than PCM. We will not get into the
technicalities behind ADPCM here, but should you wish to learn more
about it, there is a wealth of technical information to be found on the
Internet for example.
The main thing to note about ADPCM compared to PCM is that it of-
fers a considerably lower bit rate while not removing any of the original
PCM signal.
In DTS encoding, each frequency band is subject to ADPCM encod-
ing, which lowers the bit rate substantially.

22 Nuendo DTS Encoder

Applications of DTS encoding
After reading about the fundamentals of DTS encoding, you may won-
der about when it is suitable to use it. There are of course no hard and
fast rules for when you should or should not use DTS Digital Surround
to encode audio, but there are a few things to keep in mind:
Since a compressed DTS encoded bitstream with 5.1 channel sur-
round audio occupies no more space than a two channel stereo bit-
stream of PCM encoded audio, it can be used for the same purposes
as other audio compression algorithms. That is, in various systems and
circumstances where high audio quality is desired, but the available
bandwidth or storage space is limited. An example being a DVD video
disc on which a surround soundtrack must be delivered along with the
video data, which consumes the bulk of the available storage space.
On the other hand, since DTS uses higher data rates than most other
perceptual coding systems, it is not suitable in cases where there are
too severe restrictions on the maximum allowed data rate. An example is
digital tv broadcasts, where the maximum allowed data rate is 384 kbps.
Given the fact that DTS encoding does not provide as high a degree
of compression as purely lossy compression systems but is generally
considered to give a higher audio quality, one could say that DTS is
more geared towards high-end, professional audio purposes, such as
music production for DVD audio and multi-channel Music Discs.
DTS is also suitable if you know fully well the nature and limitations of
the final media on which the DTS encoded audio will end up. This is
because DTS encoding is designed to utilize all of the available stor-
age space of the given media, and maximize the quality of the audio
accordingly.
The media with which DTS Digital Surround is used includes:
• Laser discs
• DVD Video
• DVD ROM
• DVD Audio
• Internet audio distribution and streaming Internet audio
• Computer- and console video games

Nuendo DTS Encoder 23

How to use the Nuendo DTS Encoder
Steinberg’s DTS Encoder for Nuendo lets you mixdown and encode a
multi-channel surround sound project into dts-format, while efficiently
reducing the bit rate of the audio to make it occupy less space on the
intended final media. The output possibilities range from one channel
(mono) to six (5.1) channels, and the encoded result will be fully com-
patible with all common DTS decoders, such as ordinary DVD players,
and DTS authoring systems.
This part of the manual features a step by step description of the proce-
dure for setting up a Nuendo surround project for mixdown, activating
and using the DTS encoder and auditioning the result before encoding.
It also assumes that you already are reasonably familiar with Nuendo,
and does not give detailed instructions on for instance what menu to
pull down in order to access a certain feature or dialog.

Setting up a surround project

It is of utmost importance that your surround project is set up properly
before you encode, so make sure to follow the basic steps outlined
below:
1. First you need to create an output bus for the preferred surround
sound configuration in the VST Connections dialog.
The VST Connections dialog in Nuendo is where you set up input and output busses
to route audio between the program and your audio hardware. You can create input
and output busses in practically any channel configuration.
• Input busses route audio from the inputs on your audio hardware to Nuendo.
• Output busses route audio from Nuendo to the outputs on your audio hardware.
To output a 5.1 surround project for example, you need a 5.1 output bus and audio
hardware with at least 6 outputs (one for each channel). Please refer to the Nuendo
Operation Manual chapter “VST Connections” for details about setting up busses.

2. Route the channels of the output bus to the correct outputs on your
audio hardware.
Again, please refer to the Nuendo Operation Manual chapter “VST Connections” for
details.

24 Nuendo DTS Encoder

 3. Mix the project the way you want it.
This includes setting desired channel output levels, using the surround panner or rout-
ing audio tracks to individual channels of a surround output bus, applying surround
specific plug-ins etc.
For detailed instructions about surround mixing in Nuendo, please refer to the Nuendo
Operation Manual chapters “Surround Sound” and “VST Connections”. There is also a
comprehensive tutorial to be found in the Nuendo Getting Started book.

Preparing to mixdown
When you have set up the project to your liking and are in the mood
for some DTS encoding, proceed as follows:
1. In the Project Window, set up the left and right locators to encompass
the material you want to encode.
2. Pull down the File menu and select Export/Audio Mixdown.
The Export Audio Mixdown dialog opens.

3. Name the file to be created.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 25

 4. Pull down the “Files Of Type:” menu and select “DTS File (.dts)”.
As you can see, a number of options appear in the middle of the dialog.

These options are very important since they directly determine a lot of
factors in the DTS encoding, including what is available in the actual
DTS Encoder dialog.
The available DTS specific options are the following:

• Sample Rate.
This lets you select the sample rate of the resulting file output from the encoder. You can
choose between 44 100 Hz, which is the standard sample rate for CD, and 48 000 Hz,
which is the standard sample rate for DVD.

• Save as DTS Wave File.

This option is useful for auditioning purposes. When it is activated, the encoder will
output a DTS wave file instead of a DTS file.
You can then use this DTS Wave File to audition the encoding in one of two ways:
• The file can be burnt onto a regular audio CD. You can then connect a CD
player via its digital output (optical or coaxial) to a DTS decoder. The DTS de-
coder must in its turn be connected to a speaker system, or you may have a
speaker system with an integrated DTS decoder.
If you now put the CD in the CD player and play it, the file will be output from the CD
player to the DTS decoder whereupon it is decoded and played back.
• You can connect your computer directly to a DTS decoder via the digital SP/DIF
output on the audio card if it is equipped with one. You can then use e.g. the
Windows Media Player to play the DTS Wave File. This will then be output to
the DTS decoder, where it is decoded and played back.

26 Nuendo DTS Encoder

❐ Please note that if you use a utility such as the Windows Media Player to
play back the DTS wave file, you need to make sure that both the player
and the mixing control panel for your audio card are set to an output
level of 0 dB and center pan position! Otherwise, the original signal will
be changed, causing the DTS stream to be corrupted and not possible to
decode.

• Save Monitor Files.

When this option is activated, a number of wave files corresponding to the number of
encoded channels are created and added on automatically created new tracks in the
project. This way, you can monitor the result of the encoding on a per channel basis.
The track(s) you routed or panned to a certain surround channel will be audible in the
corresponding monitor file.
The monitor wave files created are saved in the same directory as the encoded DTS
file, and are also added to the audio pool for the project in Nuendo.

• Use 44.1 kHz Header.

This should be activated if you want to use the option “Save as DTS Wave File” and
burn a project onto an audio CD for auditioning (as described above) if you’re using a
sample rate of 48 000 Hz for the project (also described above). This is because audio
files with a sample rate higher than 44 100 Hz can not be burnt onto CD.

• Use “.cpt” Extension.

If you activate this option, the resulting encoded file will have a .cpt extension instead
of a .dts extension. A .cpt-file is a compressed .dts-file. A .dts-file compressed into .cpt-
format takes up even less space and can be decompressed into a .dts-file by means of
special decompression utilities, such as DVD authoring programs.
Note that this is not available when you’re encoding to a DTS wave file as described
above.

• For a description of the other options in the Export Audio Mixdown dia-
log, please refer to the “Export Audio Mixdown” chapter in the Nuendo
Operation Manual.
5. When you have made the desired settings, click the “Save” button.
At this point, the actual DTS Encoder dialog appears.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 27

Using the encoder
The DTS encoder dialog is where you make the final settings and ini-
tiate the actual encoding process.

As you can see, the dialog is split into two sections: Audio Service
Configuration and Options.

• Make settings as desired in this dialog (see below for descriptions of

the parameters), and click OK.
The project will then be encoded according to the settings you’ve made. The resulting en-
coded mix will be saved as a single file, with either the extension .dts or .cpt (see page 27).
This file is compatible with any DTS decoder and/or DTS compliant authoring system.

28 Nuendo DTS Encoder

Audio Service Configuration
The settings in this section of the dialog are the most fundamental
ones for the encoding:
• Audio Coding Mode
This is used for determining the number of audio channels in the encoded bitstream. It
also indicates the channel format (front/surround). Click anywhere in the text box to
bring up a menu with the available coding modes.

Among the different coding modes, the following probably require a

more detailed explanation:
Mode Description

A In this mode, only the front center channel is encoded, which produces
a mono file.

A+B This mode produces a dual mono file. Dual mono files are two channel
stereo files, but the two channels are handled as two separate mono
files. This mode could be useful with recording or authoring systems
that store stereo as two mono files.

L+R This creates a two channel (left/right) stereo file.

LT+RT Stands for Left Total & Right Total. This mode differs from regular two
channel stereo in that it is intended for downmixing four channels (Left,
Right, Center and one Surround channel) of audio into two channels.
This is often called “Matrixing”. The downmixed, or matrixed, two chan-
nel audio can then be processed by a decoder and played back on four
channels as originally intended, but since it is downmixed it can still
also accommodate stereo systems.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 29

 The remaining coding modes are different combinations of the follow-
ing channels:
• C (Center)
• L (Left)
• R (Right)
• S (Surround – for systems with only one surround channel)
• SL (Surround Left)
• RS (Surround Right)

❐ It is also possible to include an optional LFE channel (see page 32) with
each coding mode except A and A+B.

• Data Rate
This is used for setting the desired data rate of the output from the encoder. The data
rate is the speed in bps (bits per second) at which the encoded material is conveyed in
the audio bitstream. Which data rates are possible to use here depends on the sample
rate setting in the Export Audio Mixdown dialog (see page 26). Click anywhere in the
text box to bring up a menu with the available data rates.

Which data rate to choose depends on what the encoded audio will
be used for. Generally, higher data rates give better audio quality but
the file will also take up more space on the destination media.

30 Nuendo DTS Encoder

 Three data rates are available:
Data Rate Description

754 500 bps This is the lowest data rate available and is the mode
(754,5 kbps) in which the DTS encoder relies the heaviest on per-
ceptual coding (see page 16). This is the data rate of
choice when the space for the encoded audio is lim-
ited to less than what is allowed with CD and LD
(see below).

1 234 800 bps This is the maximum available amount of bandwidth

(1 234,8 kbps or 1,235 Mbps) available for the CD and LaserDisc media, so this
data rate should be chosen if the encoded audio is
intended to end up on either or both of these.

1 509 750 bps This is the maximum available amount of bandwidth

(1 509,75 kbps or 1,509 Mbps) available for DVD video, so this data rate is suitable
for that media.

• Sampling Freq.
This is the sampling frequency, or sample rate, of the audio input to the encoder. This
is for reference only, and can’t be changed in this dialog. You can however change the
desired sample rate in the Export Audio Mixdown dialog prior to opening the DTS
Encoder dialog (see page 26).

Nuendo DTS Encoder 31

 Options
These settings are optional and work as follows:

• Surround Channels Attenuation

This option is only available if at least one surround channel is included. If you activate
this, a 3 dB attenuation to all of the surround channels will be applied during the en-
coding process. This option is useful for instance if you’re encoding multi-channel au-
dio for consumer surround systems, if it was originally made for cinema use, or if it was
mixed in a room with a cinema-style calibration. This is because cinema surround chan-
nels are mixed at +3 dB relative to the front channels, and consumer products are cal-
ibrated differently.
The modes L+R+S and C+L+R+S do not use the Surround Channels Attenuation
setting. If you want to have 3dB Surround Attenuation, you will have to attenuate the
surround mix channel manually in the Nuendo Mixer.

• LFE
LFE stands for Low Frequency Effects. In surround encoding, this is an optional chan-
nel dedicated to low frequency content only.
This option is used for determining whether a low frequency effects channel should be
included in the encoded audio stream or not. Put a checkmark in the box by clicking in
it to include an LFE channel. It can be included in any audio coding mode at your own
discretion.
However, you should bear a few things in mind before activating the LFE option:
• Never activate it unless there really is low frequency content intended for –
and routed to it – in the source material. Generally, the upper bandwidth limit
for the LFE channel is considered to be 120 Hz. There are different practices
regarding what should be directed to the LFE channel however. Sometimes,
content with a frequency of up to 150 Hz is directed to the LFE channel, and
on the other hand it is also very widely adopted to use a limit as low as 80 Hz.
• Depending on the type of reproduction system, the LFE channel may not be in-
cluded in the decoded audio. Many home consumer decoding and reproduc-
tion systems don’t feature the required number of channels and/or the number
and kind of speakers (in the case of LFE content – a subwoofer) to accommo-
date them. In a two channel system for example, the encoded surround material
will be downmixed, and in this case the LFE channel will be discarded by the
decoder.
• Also, many reproduction systems allow the user to choose whether the LFE
channel should be used or not, and the listeners may therefore choose not to
have it reproduced out of personal preference.

32 Nuendo DTS Encoder

• Because of the two last mentioned points above: If you do intend to use an
LFE channel, you should make sure when mixing to never direct low frequency
content essential to the material solely to the LFE channel but also direct it to
the Left and Right channels.

• Pad Buffers With Zero

As described earlier in this manual, the DTS Encoder works by dividing the incoming
audio into a number of subbands and analyzing these in various ways. Each of these
subbands in turn consists of a number of frames containing audio samples.
During the encoding process, the sizes of these frames are dynamically altered to ac-
commodate varying amounts of audio samples. I.e. all frames are not equal in size.
However, some DTS decoders require that the frames of the bitstream all have the
same size in order to operate properly. To ensure compatibility with such decoders,
you can activate this option. The “empty spaces” in each frame will then be filled with
data bits of zero value, to make the frames all equally big.
Note though that while this option remedies the above mentioned compatibility issue, it
also somewhat increases the size of the encoded file.
Note also that this option is activated by default when you’re saving as a DTS Wave File
as described on page 26, because in this case a fixed, uniform frame size is required.
The option “Pad Buffers With Zero” is “view only” and cannot be edited.

• Byte Mode
A DTS bitstream is just like any other computer data in a certain aspect: It consists of
bits, grouped into bytes.
Data files are saved to disk in a certain format, or a certain byte mode – depending on
the type of processor and the operating system and its architecture – either with the
high-order byte first or the low-order byte first.
These formats are also called “Big Endian” and “Little Endian” and are used in Motor-
ola (common in Macintosh computers) and Intel (common in IBM-PC computers) pro-
cessors respectively.
Most applications and computer systems are not capable of handling files with a byte
format other than its “native” one.
The Byte Mode is determined by what kind of file you save the DTS encoded bitstream
as (see page 26):
• If you save it as a DTS Wave File, the Byte Mode will be Intel.
• If you save as a .dts file or a .cpt file, the Byte Mode will be Motorola. This is be-
cause the Motorola format is the most common one in pro-audio applications,
and all major DVD authoring systems use this byte mode.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 33

Auditioning the result of the encoding
Before actually initiating the final encoding process and possibly
transferring your work to DVD or other media, you will probably want
to audition the result to make sure that it plays back properly when
processed by a decoding device.
There are two ways you can do this:

• By encoding the file with the option “Save as DTS Wave File” on the
Export Audio Mixdown menu.
You can then either burn the resulting wave file onto an audio CD and play it in a CD
player connected to a DTS encoder, or connect your computer directly to a DTS de-
coder. See page 26 for details.

• By encoding the file with the option “Save Monitor Files” on the Export
Audio Mixdown menu.
This will save and add a monitor file for each encoded channel to the Audio Pool in
Nuendo, and the files will also be added on new tracks in the current project. See page
27 for details.

❐ Note that the encoded files might contain up to 85 ms added silence at

the end. To remedy this, you can either trim the file length in your author-
ing system or reduce the length before encoding by moving the right lo-
cator in Nuendo a little bit to the left.

34 Nuendo DTS Encoder

Registering DTS encoded work
By purchasing Steinberg’s Nuendo DTS Encoder you have a full DTS
license to DTS encode projects for professional purposes, such as
DVD authoring.
However, in concluding this manual we would like to direct you to one
of DTS’s special services:
DTS maintains a freely distributed catalogue of published DTS encoded
titles, and therefore encourages everyone with a license for DTS encod-
ing to actively participate and assist in keeping this catalogue as up to
date as possible.
So if you’re using Steinberg’s Nuendo DTS Encoder to encode projects
for DVD authoring or other official purposes, we kindly ask that you reg-
ister the titles at DTS.
If you have a working Internet connection, just point your web browser
to http://www.dtsmedia.net.
Here you can create an account (completely free of charge) as a li-
censed DTS user and register your DTS encoded titles.

Nuendo DTS Encoder 35

36 Nuendo DTS Encoder
Index
A L
ADPCM 22 Left And Right Total (LT+RT) 29
Audio Coding Mode 29 LFE 32
Audio Service Configuration 29
M
B Monitor Files 27, 34
Bit Rate 15 Motorola (Byte Mode) 33
BPS 30
Buffers (Pad With Zero) 33 O
Byte Mode 33 Options 32
Output Bus 24
C
Coherent Acoustics 19 P
Copy Protection Key 12 Pad Buffers With Zero 33
CPT Extension 27
Q
D
Quantization Noise 17
Data Rate 30
DTS Wave File 26, 34 S
Dual Mono (A+B) 29 Sample Rate
CD 26
E
DVD 26
Encoding Sampling Frequency 31
Lossless 18 Save as DTS Wave File 26, 34
Lossy 16 Save Monitor Files 27, 34
Export Audio Mixdown 25 Stereo (L+R) 29
Sub-Band Filtering 21
F Surround Bus 24
Frequency Domain Masking 17 Surround Channels Attenuation 32

H U
Header (44.1 kHz) 27 Use ".cpt" Extension 27
Use 44.1 kHz Header 27
I
Input Bus 24 V
Intel (Byte Mode) 33 VST Connections 24

Nuendo DTS Encoder 38