DTS-HD MA>FLAC takes less space than DTS core?

[tufffta]

Why does a FLAC made from DTS-HD MA in some cases take less space than the extracted DTS core? Is it normal? I can't find the convertion to FLAC log (which was done by eac3to), but MediaInfo shows that both the original and the FLAC and the core have the same bit depth (16).

[nautilus7]

Yes, that can happen. Actually, it's normal with 16 bit audio sources. FLAC needs around 1000 kbps to compress them, while dts' typical bitrate is 1509 kbps. That explains the smaller size. Nothing to worry about.

P.S: Bit depth is irrelevant in lossy compressed audio files, such as dts, ac3, etc. What you read in mediainfo for the dts file is the bit depth of the source used to make the dts.

[Midzuki]

Trying to make things clearer:

FLAC is "pure lossless", whereas DTSHD-MA is not, because this latter is made of a lossy .DCA stream, PLUS the difference between the lossless result and the lossy "core". Conclusion: the average bitrate of a Monster Audio track never can be less than the bitrate of the .DCA core (which normally means 1.5Mbps for 5.1 channels).

[mandarinka]

The DTS core is CBR, which means it will still use 1,5mbps even on complete silence...