A still from Jurassic Park, where DTS audio was used for the first time

It was a sound format devised by a Steven Spielberg-backed company in the 1990s while in pursuit of the ultimate movie sound experience.

And since its 1993 debut with Spielberg?s Jurassic Park, Digital Theater Systems (DTS) has come a long way to become the preferred audio format for movies, be it in theatres or on DVD.

The DTS invasion is now set to sweep the music scene, with Calcutta-based Basss Music releasing audio albums made with the technology.

?The difference in sound quality between a regular audio CD and a DTS audio CD is like the difference between DVD video and VCD video. Once you feel the difference, you won?t go back to the older format,? said Subhashish Chatterjee, one of the founders of Basss Music.

Among other things, the DTS discs ? playable on most home theatre systems ? support 5.1 audio output (five speakers and one subwoofer) compared to the two-speaker output of regular audio CDs.

Basss Music had produced 10 DTS albums last year spanning instrumentals, ghazals and Sufi music, but it has only recently tied up with Sagarika Music to market the products across the country.

?We see a big potential for DTS audio albums, particularly with the explosion in home-theatre systems,? said Krishnendu Banerjee of Sagarika.

The music company is releasing around 60,000 copies of the albums, priced at Rs 350. ?The first lot was launched on Rabindra Jayanti and the rest will be out later this month,? Banerjee added.

Making the buyer aware of the new audio concept ? only 172 DTS albums have been registered so far in the world ? is what both Basss Music and Sagarika are currently working on through billboards and spots on radio and TV.

?We have also signed a 20-album-per-year contract with the record label Allegro for the US and Canada markets,? said Chatterjee.

The 11th DTS album, a violin and saxophone instrumental of old Hindi numbers, is currently in production.