stereo vs surround, your views.

[Eyepainter]

If the sound came from the TV, it’d be playing back from two speakers, right? I don’t think you’d benefit from DLII or 5.1 with only two speakers.

You are absolutely right! Which is why the results I got from Dolby Pro Logic II were so surprising! I don't know if that's the experience everyone else will have with DPLII, but for a set of speakers on a 1080p HDTV, I'm impressed.

 

[tremault]

Does your tv or your sound system have dolby atmos or something like that? We only have two ears so a lot of our locational perception is due to the quality of the sounds and how they differ from other sounds. it can be done 'in software'.

 

[Eyepainter]

Does your tv or your sound system have dolby atmos or something like that? We only have two ears so a lot of our locational perception is due to the quality of the sounds and how they differ from other sounds. it can be done 'in software'.

My TV is a Samsung from 2012, so that's a definite no on Dolby Atmos. I don't recall anything being special about it in the audio department (although it does proudly wear both a dolby digital plus/pulse logo and a DTS 2.0 Out label on the bottom right corner of the TV). The only fancy feature that's been permanently switched on is the SRS TruSurround feature, which is pretty much on most (if not all) Samsung HDTV's. Even then, the surround effects of SRS aren't as noticeable as one might hope, and I've never had what one might call a 5.1 surround experience from it.

 

[Possessed]

If I rip a DLII stereo source and edit it, would encoding to an AC3 and checking the box that it has been surround encoded be sufficient for a DLII-compatible output?

You don't even have to do that, once an audio track is pl2 compatible it's there to stay, unless you do some kind of weird processing to the audio itself. It doesn't matter how you encode it or what container you use. That box simply sets the flag that it's there because some receivers, if connected digitally like with HDMI or coaxial, will automatically switch to pro logic mode when it gets that signal. If you hadn't checked the box the only difference would be that one would have to switch it on manually.

 

[Possessed]

If the sound came from the TV, it’d be playing back from two speakers, right? I don’t think you’d benefit from DLII or 5.1 with only two speakers.

If he is using the trusurround setting, or some other sortof virtual surround setting that a lot of TV's have, it actually might benefit. They put the surround channels in like a certain frequency that tricks your ears into thinking it sounds like it came from behind you. I'm not an expert on how it works and it's no substitute for real surround speakers but I know it does work to an extent, I've tried it before.

As to why it worked better with the dpl2 track better than actual 5.1 tracks, not sure. Maybe the way it's connected or maybe the TV is folding down the audio to regular 2.0 so the effect doesn't know what it's supposed to be casting as surround, where as with pl2 it's not bound by any of that since all you need is 2 channels and it's in the audio already? Or maybe the slight phase filter that's in the surround information gives it a better "hint" of what to cast? I dunno, anybody's guess I suppose. Another good test to see if your pl2 is working is the opening of any of the original home video mixes of star wars or esb, whether it's VHS or laserdisc or one of the 2 channel options in the current available digital restorations. The blockade runner and star destroyer in the opening shot will get the surround going even from VHS in star wars, and the probe droids firing out from the star destroyer in esb will also get them going.

 

[ArtisDead]

But for me the key is, more than caring about 5.1 as my output, 5.1 allows me to simply be a better editor. Fanediting with stereo is a major handicap.

That is the definitive answer to the question presented.

 

[kidjupiter92]

I love surround sound. I grew up with a standard old 5.1 surround system got to experience laserdisc, DVD, and early blu-ray with said system. Once I moved out on my own, put together my first 5.1 set-up in my living room. I then discovered Auro-3D through a friend from Germany, and put together the ultimate 9.2 system that would allow me to experience Auro-3D, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X without having to reconfigure my speakers to get the optimal experience with each format.

With that being said, I'm not above stereo. I used to have a separate stereo system where I could listen to my vinyl and CD collections the way they were meant to be heard. This was before moving said system into my bedroom with my secondary turntable (a Thorens TD-160 Super that I converted from a TD-160 that belonged to my late grandfather). Even though I have the option of listening to music in 9.2 (which I do from time to time), I will listen to music in either multi-channel stereo or standard stereo. I will also watch a movie I own in stereo at least once if it's an older movie that offers both stereo and surround tracks.