Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Poll - How Do You Listen To 2 Channel

You're a heathen. Hey, you asked for it!

Critical listening I do in stereo or Near-Field/Far-Field if it's truly critical (ie: a complex mix for broadcast with V/O, wild audio, music under and aural stingers).

At home, on my couch, I listen in Neo:6 Music usually. Been wondering since BigWill and I started talking about this why that is. After all, I choose flat response speakers, clean solid-state amplification, make sure to cross my speaker wires at 90 degrees to each to each other and to any AC then come close to - why do I let a processor decide what's going to my other speakers?

I'm thinking it's probably listening levels. Generally speaking, I listen at about 60dB SPL. More speakers used will help fill in the sound and make up for the lack of reflections at lower levels.

Bren R.

Hi,

I usually prefer Logic7 for classical, opera, and choral works, DPLII for jazz and some rock/pop, and sometimes dts Neo:6 for pop.

For really dry, simple studio mixes of singer/songwriters with simple acoustic guitar backing, plain old stereo is just fine.

Some of the DVD-Audio or SACD mixes can be spectacular. Others are botched or not enhanced by the surround mix.

At times it's startling how some 2-channel recordings that were recorded live or have lots of out of phase ambient content can be enhanced by DPLII or Logic7. I sometimes find there is a subtle shift in focus with dts Neo6.

Regards,

Hi Mark,

Like you, I find that switching from multichannel to stereo often collapses everything, and I always use one of the ambience processing modes when I'm doing other stuff (like my boring back exercises whilst lying on the floor).

What astonishes me in Bren's poll is the overwhelming percentage of listeners who seem to prefer stereo. Of course, the original DPL really sucked for music, so that could initially turn off anyone to surround processing of 2-channel material. More often than not, the old DPL focused everything to the center channel. But DPLII was a huge advance in realism (dts Neo6 too), and the first time I heard Logic7 with classical stuff, I was hooked.

I've always felt 2-channel playback was flawed (hey, it was a huge advance over mono, which I grew up with until early college years) and experimented with various gear (the original Hafler setup) to extract the ambience I always heard in live performances but seldom found in stereo recordings.

For a time I was fascinated with the Kunstopff (dummy-head) binaural recordings that demanded headphone playback. Some of those are still uncannily real, except for rear-center sounds, which get placed at the front. Until really sophisticated processing like Logic7 and DPLII appeared, the dummy-head recordings were some of the most realistic I ever heard.

Regards,

I don't really seem to like the DSP modes. I keep trying them especially after hearing how much others like them. The only one I have found I like is the ALL Channel Stereo. It really seems to fill the room with sound and I can still hear the stereo imaging. I will typically try direct mode, stereo then all channel stereo to see which sounds best for the given CD.

In reply to:

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The only one I have found I like is the ALL Channel Stereo.

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Which, just to prove that everyone's ears are different, is my least favorite. Yamaha presents 6 channel stereo as useful for parties and other gatherings where people are standing around and might be facing any direction as a way to fill a room with sound and not mess with inverse delay (if you faced the back of the room talking to someone listening in, say... Rock Concert, you'd hear the "reflection" from the back of the arena before the "stack of Marshalls" on the stage, for instance)

To me, 6 Channel Stereo sounded like I was wearing a bad pair of headphones.

Bren R.

I like the "All Channel Stereo" DSP too, especially when I'm doing chores around the house. In those instances, the stereo image has collapsed anyway, since I'm not necessarily in the room that the stereo is in. I also do this for parties.

When I listen critically, I tend to just put on the stereo or pure direct mode though. Once in a while, the bug tickles me to try the Pro-logic versions, but I tend to find them a little distracting...

As ~70% of what I listen most often is Electronic (Techno) I find that stereo is actually just plain boring. I pretty much fell in love with my HK's Logic 7 and DTS music modes.

But when I put in something more tradional I can see why some ppl may not like the DSP stuff as much. Stereo does seem to work better on things with lots of traditional vocals.

But I voted DTS cause currently thats what I use the most.

I have tried DPL2 and Neo 6 for 2 channel stereo. I find myself switching to 2 channel after a few minutes of listening.