So, ever since I moved to Windows 10 years ago, there's been this thing called DTS Audio. Never seen it before. All I know as that it was enabled by default and was a source of many woes for me as it made the sound coming from my speakers sound horrible (extremely bassy).

Thought it was a defect with my speakers but then randomly stumbled upon this thing. Seems like it's in Windows by default and also enabled by default. And yes, it was enabled and the Bass Boost was also on. Turned the entire thing off and voila, sound was back to normal.

But, ever since then, I have wondered if it is actually supposed to improve sound quality, how it works etc. I can't believe how difficult it is to find some precise info about this thing or what the separate options do. It's always some generic thing about how it provides "superior" audio experience, spatial audio and comparison with other similar stuff. But never any clear description of use cases or actual benefits, nor mention of some recommended settings or anything. What does it even do exactly? How does it ensure that my set of speakers will sound better when I have some almost decade old 2.1 set? Should I use it for movies? Games? Absolutely no idea.

I've toyed with it on occasion but always land back on disabling the entire thing because it makes some sounds come out "weird" for the lack of better term.

Can anyone knowledgeable about the subject chime in with WTF this thing is? Should I use it if I have a 2.1 speaker setup? Is it good for headphones only? What do the options do? I know that Bass amplification and Volume Equalization make everything sound like literal shit (even more confusing why Bass Amp is on by default), but what does the Spatial Audio or 3D Effects do? They are mutually exclusive and I am torn because it sounds "maybe better in some cases" and "weird/bad" in other cases. Should I touch the Equalizer? Advanced settings? I have frankly no idea.

Included some screens but the texts are in Czech. The stupid thing is probably latching on to system locale (hate when programs/apps do that) but should serve as an example for people to be able to check it out themselves.

The main reason I'm posting it is because it re-enabled itself after I recently performed a Windows update. Why is it even something that's on in Windows by default? I always have it off, but just going to ask here in case I'm missing something.

I hate Windows Updates because they always used to mess something up. Been better lately (last couple of years) but I wasn't aware of this. Now I'm going to go looking around my Windows 10 sound stuff and see if mine is activated.

Thanks for the heads up. Sorry though, I have no idea what DTS is supposed to do (other than, you know, "improve the quality of your sound experience" or something or other is what it claims.

ADDED: Fun fact: When you type into the little search box next to the Windows logo (bottom left of my Windows 10 screen) what comes up is "Dallas Theological Society" and "Defense Travel System". lol

I have this... see attachment, and this is about how it sounds nicest when i'm playing (●'◡'●)

Well, it says "DTS Headphone X". which is apparently a version for headphones.

Doesn't really help that it looks completely different from my thing for speakers :P Also seems to be embedded directly into some headphone software?

Originally the DVD-Video standard allowed for 3x audio formats : Dolby Digital (AC-3), PCM (WAV), or MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (MP2) format. In 1997, DTS Audio was tacked on as a 4th standard as a competitor to Dolby Digital. Blu-Ray supported Dolby Digital (AC-3), DTS, and linear PCM. Then doubled down on stupid with format wars expanding to Dolby Digital Plus vs DTS-HD High Resolution Audio then Dolby TrueHD vs DTS-HD Master Audio. It's supposed to be technically better than Dolby Digital but I always found it overhyped and the endless format war vs Dolby more annoying than an 'enhancement' to anything:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTS_(company)

Edit: "DTS Headphone" is one of those HRTF technologies that can take a 5.1 input and output it to 2-channel headphones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-related_transfer_function

Ah, just some audiophile wank. Atmos setups want you to have upwards of 22 speakers to fully utilize.

Make sure to read the article where someone stooges the audiophiles with a comparison of coat hangar wire vs gold plated TOSLINK.

OK. What does that mean for using it on a PC with a 2.1 speaker setup, mostly with games and watching some videos? Is it even relevant for such a use case? What if I have a choice between DTS or nothing? All I can tell is that it makes the sound sound different, but hard to tell if better. I'm leaning towards not, but it depends. I don't really like it for voices, but some effects sound maybe slightly better. But I could've just become used to years of what could be objectively worse audio.

Then there is the whole thing with how to even configure it properly.

I'm pretty basic level when it comes to techy audio stuff, so I can read that, but it won't tell me much :P

To be honest if it doesn't sound any better to you turn it off. HRTF technologies like DTS Headphone are meant solely to be used with headphones and not speakers. The way it works is to process a multi-channel soundtrack into a positional 2-channel one that fools the ears into having front / back depth to them. This stuff is like OpenALSoft (videos like this only work with headphones):-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW-W3A2l5UE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydggb3QQxKo

If you're using speakers, turn it off.

Thanks.

Thought as much as I haven't seen PCs with speakers mentioned much in any of the stuff I've found online. And most of it talked about 5.1 or above sound setups anyway.

And yeah, watching those videos with 2.1 speakers made my ears feel weird :P

The Logitech headset is indeed a DTS headset, configurable of course but also useable straight out of the box since it comes with its own little audio chip (and that is how i use it) my normal speakers are set for the optical connection. I believe that means all my sound is 'natural'. At least, the sound blaster sound menu goes dark if the speakers are set through optical.

This headset is the first run in i have with DTS enlarged audio. I don't have a comparison base, but i know for certain that at least this headset been quite popular.