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it has come to my attention that suround sound audio is over looked and i think this is a key feature. . . .i mean when i play Halo i have accually heard someone change a weapon and i knew that they were right behind becauz of suround sound. . . . this is a feature that hasnt been done beofre it dosen't seem to have the hype it should. . . . . i mean i think its one of the best features the box offers and i never hear about it. anyone feel the same??
Of course I feel the same!! :D:)
Developers definately have the surrounds down but they need to work on the center. Halo barely uses it at all and that is the most important speaker in a 5.1 setup.
(I just upgraded my speakers to Klipsch reference series. Holy Moly these things rock. I'm hearing things that I never heard before.)
I guess that you havent played blood omen 2. where i have to face left or right to hear them(npc's) talk because the center speaker, is soo low. dev.'s should take advantage of this.
Not to ask a stupid question, but is your speaker system configured properly, are the levels adjusted so that there is the same level of sound from each speaker. Usually the centre and rears need a bit of tweaking in your Dolby Digital amp to bring them up to the right levels...
F Yeah!
5.1 is something that most people should take advantage of. It really does make a difference in gaming.
Like when im playing Madden. The crowd noise just feels like its around me (Well duh!) and i hear cow bells go off in certain areas.
I love my 5.1
What kind of 5.1, there are two!! Dolby Digital and Sony DTS.....
C'mon, at least get it right - it's even on the games CD's, Dolby Digital.....
I am spewing, since my receiver only has 1 Optical digital input, and my DVD player is better than the one on the XBOX - have compared the picture on the two of them. So I have to swap over the TV and Optical cables from the DVD player to my Advanced AV pack
Xbox only has Dolby Digital when it comes to games. It does real-time encoding. DTS is also by Dolby.. its not by Sony. The main difference between the 2 technologies is that DTS takes up much more bandwith. Some people say that DTS gives better quality, but some are reluctant to agree that the bandwith/(performance over dolby digital) ratio is high enough to warrant its use.Quote:
Originally posted by BCan
What kind of 5.1, there are two!! Dolby Digital and Sony DTS.....
C'mon, at least get it right - it's even on the games CD's, Dolby Digital.....
I am spewing, since my receiver only has 1 Optical digital input, and my DVD player is better than the one on the XBOX - have compared the picture on the two of them. So I have to swap over the TV and Optical cables from the DVD player to my Advanced AV pack
Anyhoo, DTS is also on the xbox, but its just pass-thru and only used for dvd movies.
DTS is not created by the Dolby Laboritories. No mention of DTS on the Dolby site. IF DTS was a Dolby standard, then it would no doubt have been used in more equipment that AC-3, and would have some mention on the official Dolby site....
It is a direct competitor to it........
The fact that Sony appears to have dropped of their naming of it, or on sold the technology to another company is another thing altogether.
i got 5.1 Dobly Digital . . . . bu it also says Pro Logic whats the difference, if any, between that and DTS
This is a section that will be going in my website. :)
Stereo(2.0) 2 discrete channels of audio, left and right.
Dolby Prologic: (4.0 derived from a 2.0 source) Matrixed Left,
Center, Right, and Surround channels(1 channel)
Dolby Digital (5.1): 5 discrete channels of audio, front left, front right, center, rear left, rear right and the .1 is for the low frequencies that get sent to your subwoofer.
DTS (5.1): Developed by Steven Speiberg and Universal Pictures for the movie Jurassic Park in 1993. They are the only consumer competitor to Dolby Digital. They do the same thing, 5 discrete channels. Some say DTS sounds better but most of the time they are comparing oranges to apples. DTS is usually recorded 6 dbl higher than a DD soundtrack and when you try comparing users rarely adjust to the same levels. So instead they are hearing a louder DTS track. I would say that DTS gives you a better soundfield and the seperation of channels is more to my liking that DD but the differences are minimal. There is alot more that has to do with bitrates etc but I'll save that for the site. :)
There are two more sound formats:
DD 7.1 and DTS 6.1 This just puts a rear center channel to the mix. With DTS it is a discrete 1 speaker channel. With DD it is a matrixed 2 speaker channel.
The Xbox has a DD 5.1 decoder built right into the box. The only way to get digital sound out of the Xbox is to use an Optical cable (not the red and white composite cables) that can be connected to the Advanced AV pack, the HD AV pack and Monster's line. This cable goes to a receiver which you have your surround sound speakers setup to.
The Xbox does not have a DTS decoder. It can however pass that signal through to your receiver which it can decode the signal if it supports DTS. This is only available movies so far on the Xbox. Xbox games otherwise only support DD and like others have said, most don't use all the channels effectively.
The PS2 does not have a DD decoder. It can do DD on some games but only during the cinematics. EA has developed a codec that does DTS surround in game but so far it is very poor. SSX Tricky was the first and it was only 4.1. NHL 2002 does 5.1.
The Xbox has the ultimate upperhand when it comes to digital sound in gaming.
Basically pro logic seperates the sound into left, right, center, and a mono signal to the rear speakers and there's no discrete ".1" signal for the subwoofer. There's no differentiation between rear left and rear right it's the same channel in dolby pro logic.Quote:
Originally posted by OppiumNitrates
i got 5.1 Dobly Digital . . . . bu it also says Pro Logic whats the difference, if any, between that and DTS
I totally agree, what makes the gaming experience immersive and much more enjoyable on the xbox is the sound.
Hey, Lynxfx...I have a question for ya:
Because I plan on purchasing a 5.1 DD SS system, I would like to know if it makes sense to still use the audio on my HDTV. It has great audio, but, of course, it's not 5.1 surround sound. Here's my question: If I still kept my HDTV's speakers on in addition to my future surround sound system, would I stll hear sounds that would normally be heard behind me coming out of my speakers on my HDTV which is in front of me? If so, of course I would turn the volume off on my HDTV.
Max,
It all depends on what you end up getting. The only reason you would want to use your HDTV speakers is to use it as your center channel. If you get a HTIB (home theater in a box) type setup you will probably not be able to use your HDTV speakers. You really wouldn't want to anyway since all the speakers will be timber matched, ie they produce the same 'type' of sound all around the spectrum. When you introduce speakers that don't match the rest you get uneven sound especially during panning from say left to center to right.
The best solution would be to buy everything seperate. Purchase a decent receiver then purchase the speakers seperately. It all depends on how much time you want to put into it, but the more time and research you put into it, the more you will enjoy it in the long run.
So the short answer is, I wouldn't use your HDTV speakers when you get a DD 5.1 setup.:)
hey Max im kinda in a similar situation. . . . i got a Sony Waga 27" and its got the speakers on the side and a direct audio out that goes to my reciver . . . so i set the audio on the TV from regualr to suround sound(my TV has ansudio menu with all kinds of options) and left speaker plays left front and right speaker plays right front. . .then i have center channel, left anf right front speakers form my reciver and 2 in the rear
u should see if the TV ur looking at has this kind of feature
Lynxfx...thanks for your reply!Quote:
Originally posted by OppiumNitrates
hey Max im kinda in a similar situation. . . . i got a Sony Waga 27" and its got the speakers on the side and a direct audio out that goes to my reciver . . . so i set the audio on the TV from regualr to suround sound(my TV has ansudio menu with all kinds of options) and left speaker plays left front and right speaker plays right front. . .then i have center channel, left anf right front speakers form my reciver and 2 in the rear
u should see if the TV ur looking at has this kind of feature
Also, Oppium, that also sounds very interesting. I'm quite positive my HDTV has those features eventhough I haven't searched for them before. This HDTV has so many damn options on it, it's amazing! I'll look into that...thanks to both you and Lynxfx for a heads up and for the advice! :)
hey Lynxfx can i get a like to ur site. . . .sounds like u knwo what ur talkin about
Oppium...the link to his site is in his siggy. I make it a point to drop in often :)Quote:
Originally posted by OppiumNitrates
hey Lynxfx can i get a like to ur site. . . .sounds like u knwo what ur talkin about
That'd be Dolby Digital EX - a 6.1 solution created with LucasFilm for The Phantom Menace, adds a seperate Rear Centre Channel. My Gametheatre XP handles 6.1 Output, so technically I could watch Episode 1 as the way it was recorded!!Quote:
Originally posted by Lynxfx
This is a section that will be going in my website. :)
Dolby Digital (5.1): 5 discrete channels of audio, front left, front right, center, rear left, rear right and the .1 is for the low frequencies that get sent to your subwoofer.
The LFE channel isn't necessarily sent to your subwoofer. It depends on how low they run the frequencies that add to a certain sound, that it will "bleed" into your subwoofers range.
DTS (5.1): Developed by Steven Speiberg and Universal Pictures for the movie Jurassic Park in 1993. They are the only consumer competitor to Dolby Digital. They do the same thing, 5 discrete channels. Some say DTS sounds better but most of the time they are comparing oranges to apples. DTS is usually recorded 6 dbl higher than a DD soundtrack and when you try comparing users rarely adjust to the same levels. So instead they are hearing a louder DTS track. I would say that DTS gives you a better soundfield and the seperation of channels is more to my liking that DD but the differences are minimal. There is alot more that has to do with bitrates etc but I'll save that for the site. :)
There are two more sound formats:
DD 7.1 and DTS 6.1 This just puts a rear center channel to the mix. With DTS it is a discrete 1 speaker channel. With DD it is a matrixed 2 speaker channel.