I have a 5.1 stereo system but during backup I've noticed that the LPCM stereo track is larger than the 5.1 track. I've played both using DVDs of concerts and the LPCM sounds crisper but 5.1 is supposed to be 5.1. Since the LPCM track is larger I was thinking that during backups I should save the 5.1. Can somebody tell me which is better and which to eliminate and why? Thanks in advance.
What you noticed is exactly correct. LPCM is uncompressed audio. It will have the highest fidelity. Dolby AC3, even if 5.1 channels is a lossy compression. I think it eliminates the frequencies that are "inaudible" to the human ear. Now for selecting which to keep, that is hard. I like to have 5.1 channels, so I use the Dolby files. LPCM can take up tons of space as it is 1536 kbps compared to 448 kbps for 5.1 (sometimes even 384 kbps). This means that if you are backing up a movie that is long onto a DVD5, using the LPCM will drastically lower the Video Quality.
