Is HD audio worth the upgrade over non-HD audio? That can be a tough call.
The answer basically boils down to a person's ability to discern small sonic differences, technological preferences and budget. It depends on the shape/size/setup of the listening room. It also depends on the types of listening a person plans on doing.
Technically speaking, the HD audio formats are significantly superior to the consumer audio standards that came before. When we're talking about HD audio, remember that we're talking about 2 main formats: one from
DTS [DTS-HD Master Audio], and one from
Dolby [Dolby TrueHD]. There are some definite differences between the two formats, but for most everyday consumers (including you and I) it's safe to think of them as equals.
Other than assuring higher "fidelity" (due to improved bitrates and sampling frequencies) over previous standards, the HD audio formats always carry a 6+ channel signal. For surround sound lovers, this constitutes a vast improvement over the previous stereo (2 channel) standards of the past (ie. Dolby Digital). Most new Blu-ray Disc media come in one of these two HD audio formats and enjoy unaltered (
lossless) encoding in either
5.1 or
7.1 channels.
This means a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setup is a prerequisite to make full use of this technology. As is a compatible A/V receiver and compatible connectors (preferably HDMI, if possible).
Then comes the topic of room size/layout. If your listening room is smaller or misshapen, then adding speakers is less likely to improve your sound experience - and might even hurt it. Calibrating the speakers is of utmost importance if optimizing one's surround sound experience is the goal. Most new A/V receivers come with decent auto self-calibration software; adding speakers and shrinking the room size both serve to complicate the calibration process, however, often leading to poor results.
HD Audio vs digital
