DTS on Tuesday announced the release of DTS-HD Master Audio Suite and DTS Surround Audio Suite, two new Mac and Windows-compatible audio encoding software packages designed for professional audio mastering on optical disc. DTS-HD Master Audio Suite costs $1,495; DTS Surround Audio Suite costs $795.
The software includes an encoder, a StreamPlayer decoder, and StreamTools bit stream editing and verification tools. The software is initially available for Windows XP, with Mac OS X “following soon thereafter.”
The DTS-HD Master Audio Suite MAS is designed to enable users to encode audio bit streams for HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc as well as DVD and DTS 5.1 Music Disc. Features include downmix setting and audition and DTS Digital Surround backward-compatible Core playback. With the DTS-HD MAS, users can encode DTS Digital Surround, DTS-ES 6.1, DTS 96/24. DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio lossless. DTS-HD is compatible with up to 7.1 channels of 96 kHz audio, according to the company.
The DTS Surround Audio Suite (SAS) is a more limited version of the Master Audio Suite, capable of creating bit streams compatible with standard DVD-V and DTS Surround Music CDs. It can be upgraded to the DTS-HD MAS with the purchase of an upgrade license.
System requirements call for Mac OS X v10.4 or later.