Surround Modes & Music

[SiliGoose]

I had a party recently and found 5-channel stereo fantastic in my crowded room. It spread the sound evenly and allowed for the best sound considering the awkward seating (and standing) positions.

That got me thinking...do you guys ever use surround modes for music? The DSP modes like Hall, Stadium, Church, etc. are horrible, IMO but DPL, DPL2, 3-channel stereo, 5-channel stereo, 5-channel mono, Logic 7, DTS-Neo, and others may actually be usefull in some situations. My pre/pro has a proprietary mode called Cinema Logic which is pretty nice too. I now find myself experimenting with various modes and find the result to be 'different' rather than 'better' or 'worse' than plain 2-channel stereo.

P.S. Sorry, I've been absent of late. Work has been crazy lately.




-Sili

[Lex]

found 5-channel stereo fantastic in my crowded room

Hey Sili, wondered where ya been.

I found the above statement to be a contradiction of enormous proportion. The very definition of stereo to most all audiophiles is 2 channel, IMO. What you have when you add DSP surround modes is well, surround music, or multi-channel music, but not stereo.

But then there's the crowd that listening to any music, they called it listening to the stereo, from way back when. Anyway, yes, sometimes in the past I have used DSP modes like logic 7 or music logic for music, but not much in the period since separating my 2 channel from my home theater. Once you do that, there's not much going back.

I do remember a couple of specialty discs that I enjoyed in surround modes. One had some Steely Dan on it.

Anyway, welcome back,
Lex

[John Holmes]

I'm of the camp that, those who willing to think outside the box and have the equipment set-up correctly, could enjoy an alternative to standard 2ch stereo. I don't believe that most give the same time to detail for it as they do 2ch either (like setting the proper delays, etc.).

I know on my H/K avp1a 5ch stereo via "rock mode" (the same a 6-Axis) is nothing less than flooring. While, 5ch on my Elite (27tx) has never yield a satisfying sound. I only use direct mode when listening to cd's on the Pioneer unless they are DTS cd's. 8)

Well, that's my take. I say, if you like it then, enjoy it.




"I came here, to chew bubble gum and kickass. And I'm all out of bubble gum!!!" My DVD's

[MRWILLL]

I'm a multi-ch kind of guy over 2-ch music. My favorite type of music is singing groups. There's nothing better than to have the harmonies (music surr) spread over my listening room. For my jazz, music logic floats my boat. L7 brings up the rear.




STOP!!...LOOK!!...LISTEN!!
DVD...Hear it from the people who
mixed and mastered it "LEXICON".

[Bob Santos]

When I first got my Lex MC-1 I listened to thier Music Logic mode a bit. I rarely ever use the surround music modes anymore. I prefer good old fasioned two channel myself.
However in a party situation I would probably use thier Party mode for the same reasons Sili used the 5 channel stereo mode . I think thats the same thing as "5-ch stereo".

[SiliGoose]

I found the above statement to be a contradiction of enormous proportion.

Lex,

Taken literally, you are correct. 5-channel stereo sends the exact same stereo signal to the mains and the rear speakers. The center channel is a mix of L & R.

Does that totally screw up your stereo soundstage? Yes, it absolutely does.

However, I've found it very handy in two situations:

1. In a crowded room where sweet spots are impossible it allows the greatest number of people to get some version of a stereo image.

2. This situation is much more common for me - If I'm doing other things around the house and I want music on (that is, I'm not able to sit in my perfect HT seat) 5-channel stereo is much better than typical stereo at filling the whole house with sound. It may not be the most accurate reproduction possible but that's not exactly what I'm looking for in this type of situation.




-Sili

[David Meek]

Sili,

My Yamaha RX-V1 is the uh, "king" of DSP's if you go by sheer numbers, but I've rarely used them as some can force an unnatural feel into the music.

Having said that, I've started using one in particular for "live" CD's. It's the Roxy Theater mode, and it does some pretty amazing things with soundstaging and ambient noise. On Pink Floyd's Pulse, the Eagles' Hell Freezes Over and Fleetwood Mac's The Dance CD's it imparts an honest-to-goodness feeling of "you are there".

Now I have to toot Yamaha's horn a moment on DSP's. They have generically modelled ones (ho hum), but they also have specific DSP's that have been created using four microphones in the actual venues' to model their acoustic blueprints. These are DSP's of a different flavor and can (not will) add to the listening experience.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Andrew Pratt]

I use 2 channel more often the not but I've also been known to switch it to NEO music and PLII Music for some tracks...80's music and some Pink Flloyd stuff sounds great in the multi channel modes.

[Brian^E]

I've found that I have much more bass and power from my Denon 1802 receiver when listening to music in the Dolby Pro Logic mode. When I switch to stereo mode, the subwoofer drops out noticably. Do I have my settings wrong?

[George Bellefontaine]

If there's a crowded room with a party going on, I wouldn't see a problem with using a dsp mode of some sort, but for serious listening, I pretty much stick to 2 Channel stereo.




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[Bam!]

Hi there Siligoose!

I have to agree with you on this one . 5 channel stereo when listening to Supertramp or Dire Straits is quite spectactular. I consider a true 2 channel nutcase. I have several posts where I discuss how much I hate the sound that home theater receivers make..except for 5 channel stereo...why I dunno...it is just good and different from that perfect 2 channel.

What Lex says I completly agree with..he is more than right and I personally would have to write what he writes(as far as audiophile talk goes) but 5 channel stereo...hey what can I say I like it I like it!!!!

Anyway interesting topic...until today I thought I was the only one to like 5 channel stero!!!!!

salut les boys la!!!!




Bam!

[Chris D]

I've always been a purist when it comes to DSP's. A longtime owner of a nice Yamaha RX-V2095, with something like 30 DSP's or whatever, I never use any of them, for movies or music. Only the native format.

With the new Parasound Halo, I will be using the 7-channel extraction modes, and playing with DPL II (and IIx if and when it's added) THX Ultra 2 processing, DTS Neo:6, etc. But I will only do so to widen the sound stage with more channels, not to add to or distort the sound itself in any way.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"