Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Dolby Pro Logic IIz Height Channels Which Speakers

Yeah, and it only really matters what the content producers and consumers are willing to work with. Stereo is still the overwhelming standard for music, and 5.1 is still the overwhelming standard for movies. And what percentage of people are actually utilizing a proper 5.1 setup? I really don't foresee an industry-wide shake-up considering how few people will be able to make their rooms accommodate any newer, more elaborate standards.

From what I’ve read the algorithms used for the Dolby and Audyssey height channels are different from what Yamaha did with their “presence” channels. OTOH I could understand anyone’s trepidation since I consider surround back channels to be pretty much a waste of time. Since I’ve already got the extra speakers to try this out and needed an new receiver anyway it’s only going to cost me a little time to try these out so I figure I might as well.

With 2 external amps you can also run the Onkyo 3007 I just bought in 11.2 though I already know that I don’t need surround back speakers if I move my side surrounds farther back so I’m hoping that the wide channels will make up for this giving smoother transitions from front to back while still giving me a balanced rear soundstage.

Also the .2 part of the setup actually benefits me as I can now adjust my Butkicker remotely (not directly at the amp) without also changing the level of my subwoofer.

Which is funny, because on DVDs DTS's compression used an arguably better psychoacoustic model, and lossy compression algorithms than Dolby's. Yet DTS couldn't get much of a foothold. But on Blu-ray both Dolby and DTS have brought lossless schemes which when decompressed present exactly the same information. Now DTS becomes the popular choice. Seems to show who had the stronger marketing campaign.

I will concede, that when the lossless audio isn't available for playback (for non-HDMI, legacy users) the back-up stream for DTS is a 1.5 Mbps lossy track which tops Dolby's 640 kbps offering. Actually this 1.5 Mbps track is what kept DTS off many DVDs, because that's a lot of bandwidth to give up for just an audio track (add to this that a Dolby track was still required to be present because DTS was optional and not every player/receiver could decode it). It wasn't until DTS came up with a somewhat compromised 768k version that studios were more likely to include DTS.

First of all I'll say that I ALWAYS check the sound set-up previous to watching a movie to see if DTS is an option. If so I swithc to it. If not, I hit play.




9.2? Wow, I wonder if that means they'll be relaying different information to each subwoofer? One in the front of the room and one in the back would be really cool if the bass started in the front and gradually made it's way to the rear of the room.

As it's been said, there aren't many people who actually have a correct 5.1 set-up, let alone expecting the masses to run out and buy two subwoofers! What this means to me is that those of us who are up on all of this stuff are going to become more and more the 'kings of the neighborhood'!!! All our friends will wait to see a major motion picture until it hits Blu-Ray so they can come over and watch it in our HT's because they'll sound even better than at the regular theater!

RE: .2 LFE

Be aware that when you see that an audio processor has two (or more) sub outputs, as in a 9.2 spec, most do not allow independent calibration or adjustment of the subs with the processor. The new Denons do not. The sub outputs are common and you will need to manually set sub output on both subs. I was bummed to find this out as I had intended to buy a 4810 and use it as a pre pro for a 11.2 configuration.

Micah, no the ".2" is somewhat misleading in that both sub outputs contain the one LFE channel. As Mike Drew points out, some receivers have a provision for calibrating the two outputs separately as to level and crossover, but even in that case it's still the same LFE content in both.

Bummer. Maybe that'll be the next great break-through. I guess first of all the public will have to show more of a willingness too buy subwoofers to begin with.

Even though both subwoofer channels carry the same information I have found one very nice use for the .2 capability of my Onkyo 3007. I does allow separate level control of each subwoofer channel which is a great convenience when using my Buttkicker. Now I can tweak it’s “volume” w/o having to get up and walk to the amp or mess up the level calibration between the sub and speakers if I do it remotely. Because of the inconsistency between LFE tracks on movies this is huge for me. Only drawback is that I haven’t found an quick way to do it on the Onkyo whereas my older Denon had one button that took me right to the speaker level controls.

I am liking that Onkyo 3007 more and more....(seperate adjustable sub outputs)

FYI the Onkyo 3007 (I assume also the 1007 and 5007) allows separate distance and level settings for the two subwoofer channels.

I’m not sure how the Audyssey calibration works with both subs since I have only one true sub hooked up. The first time through it tries to ping every speaker’s position including both subs separately. However, I’m not sure when it calculates and EQ curve if it pings them at the same time or separately. So don’t how it integrates their output.