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Poll

How many of you have a surround sound setup?

no surround sound
[ 42 ] (50%)
5.1
[ 31 ] (36.9%)
7.1
[ 2 ] (2.4%)
10.2
[ 0 ] (0%)
Other (please explain)
[ 5 ] (6%)
Yes but it's not set up properly
[ 2 ] (2.4%)
quad
[ 2 ] (2.4%)

Total Members Voted: 89

Topic: How many of you have a surround sound set up ? (Read 8527 times) previous topic - next topic
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How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

What it says !

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #1 –
I had a surround setup briefly (with an admittedly cheapo speaker set), but a house move and the new listening space for listening means that it just isn't worth the bother.

A good-sounding 2-channel stereo setup now gives me great pleasure.

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #2 –
Enjoying 5.1, especially with Steven Wilson's surround mixes for Porcupine Tree. Nice job.
That's so plausible, I can't believe it.

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #3 –
OMG. That's exactly the same poll I had in thoughts last few weeks. But my obsession with polls and social stuff should be stopped there.

Thank You.


Here is only 2.0 setup (stereo). More specifically it's a pair of studio monitors and a bunch of headphones.  So, no, no surround here.  Well I have 5.1 speakers but I don't use them. Maaaybe I will try something in future.

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #4 –
I was too lazy to vote other and explain, but I'm 5ch for movies, 4ch for music, full range mains + multiple subs. 5.2++ ?
Loudspeaker manufacturer

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #5 –
Sort of. Dolby headphone quad for music. SRS CS headphone for TV

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #7 –
I have 1.7. No, not 7.1, I really meant 1.7. Here's the logic. Instead of spreading myself thin and buying 7 mediocre speakers like most folks, instead I bought one really, really good single speaker and placed it right where 90% of the movie and TV sound comes from anyway: the center. So 90% of the time I'm listening to a speaker seven times as good as the rest of you!

Sub bass extension and frequency response aren't so important these days thanks to my Audyssey room correction software which gives me a nice, flat response down to below 20 Hz, and since I am exciting the room from seven subs in seven locations I have a more evenly distributed bass sound, no matter where one sits, with no nodes, dead zones, boomy regions, etc. The modest subs run at very low levels since they boost each other by summing their output, so my subwoofer distortion is lower both due to the very small excursions of the cones and the very low burden put on each of their amps. I use the infamous Model 1 made by Lirpa Labs.

Although some deem what I've done as being just "A poor, silly fad", others see it for the anagram that it really is.

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #8 –
My sound card (and speaker set) supports 5.1, but I currently only have FL/FR and subwoofer connected

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #9 –
I have a 5.1 setup right now, but I'm thinking of buying a Dolby Atmos setup in the next few months.
Music: sounds arranged such that they construct feelings.

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #10 –
Two 5.1 Surround Sound set ups.

Computer has a 5.1 Surround Sound speaker set.
HIDDEN EXTRA: With exclusive control of the sound card using Wasapi driver under foobar2000 to add dummy channels for plain stereo content, also adding dummy channels for 3-stereo and Quad and mono, and passing 5.1 as it and apprioately decoding Dolby Pro Logic using an old version of Free Surround (a resampler before it forces it to 48 KHz) and downmixing 6.1 and 7.1 material with upsambling to 192 KHz at the end of the chain or whatever the max rate by the card is actually supported.  Other options include (mono mode, dowmixes everything to mono), Stereo mode (used with headphones, dowmixes everything to stereo and dupilicates mono to both channels) - Alternate 5.1 Surround Sound mode for recievers (passes Dolby Surround encoded content as is, adds dummy channels in other modes), 7.1 Surround Sound (only passing of Dolby Surround content is supported, no decoding.  Dummy channels are added though).  A Dolby Pro Logic II encoding mode with support for formats up to 7.1  Done using tags to specify a playback condition using a dynamic DSP component under some presets.  2 second spacer files are use when the playback condition changes to prevent a drop out (4 seconds total).  Yeah ReplayGain is used in album mode with 79 dB target level.  ~ Overkill but who cares.  :)  Now watching a DVD is a more sane process you can imagine and so it is playing games, no DSP processing and just DirectSound is used.  Wasapi tends to be my kill other sounds switch when listening to music when using any endpoint.  Too many rude websites. :)  There is support for FM Transmitters as a preset using Stereo Tool VST Plug-in to add to the overkill designed to dynamic compress content as loud as other stations on the dial and throw out Dolby Pro Logic IIx encoded content.  :P NOTE: THEY MAYBE TYPOS.[/color]
A HITB that only takes Dolby Digital via toslink and Dolby Pro Logic II option available on all inputs.

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #11 –
Dolby Headphone 5.1 with Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital and DTS Virtual in a Philips SBC AH1000.
Rhythmbox, Flac + Vorbis, Sennheiser HD650 + Sony MDR-XB1000

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #12 –
I have 5.0 for movies/TV and 2.0 for music. Moving house soon and it's detached so I can finally add the .1

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #16 –
2.2 for all music,

3.2 for some video. So I have a fighting chance of following the dialogue.

Voted 'no surround' as it's still really point source.

Tried surround more than once , didn't like it on any occasion.

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #17 –
Quote from: RonaldDumsfeld on
2.2 for all music,

3.2 for some video. So I have a fighting chance of following the dialogue.

Voted 'no surround' as it's still really point source.

Tried surround more than once , didn't like it on any occasion.


The problem is a lot of post houses dont mix surround properly - they just basically upmix stereo (its "all thats required" )- I mean its analogous to mixing stereo by putting putting identical mono files on both channels  - the best you can hope for is not to much combfiltering - some do it better but even high end hollywood productions have really crap surround mixes.  I understand they don't want the audience taking their eyes off the screen to look at the dog thats just barked behind them but still.......I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about that (ducks for cover)....

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #18 –
5.1 standing by, from PC to (old) Kenwood receiver.
It's really old, so no HDMI.
For movies, I don't use the toslink as it's limited to lossy audio.
So I use the 3 pairs of RCA jacks going out for 6 speaker discreet delivery.
Yes, it's still lossy, but I at least get to start off with a lossless point rather than bit-stream lossy only.
This way the PC decodes lossless audio with LAV Filters and any post-processing gets done with FFDShow (rarely for movies, except downmixed to 5.1 if >5.1).
For music, I change soundcard control panel to be stereo, or just leave it in 5.1 as the music plays in just FL+FR.
Rarely use anything to upscale music to 5.1.

Mostly 2.0 through cheap desktop speakers. I still get immersed in audio with the stereo setup.
Same thing as movie watching, except downmixed to stereo.
Foobar plays back without any DSP's enabled.

Headphones also standing by, too.
Which have the ability to listen to lower frequencies quite well.
Foobar is setup with DTS Headphone if desired.
And Meier Crossfeed.

From PC to TV for stereo watching, I enable the soundcards "Loudness equalization" as it's more robust than anything FFDShow has.
Or use outdated DSP from Winamp in FFDShow and disable soundcard "Enhancement".
I like to use "HD audio" in PaulStretch. "HD audio", lol.

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #19 –
Quote from: augustine on
Quote from: Arnold B. Krueger on
Quote from: augustine on
What it says !


A good option that is missing right now:

3.1


Very unusual !

Make it:

"No. But consider buying one someday." (ie, weighing intended use vs. cost)
Listen to the music, not the media it's on.
União e reconstrução

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #20 –
Quote from: includemeout on
Quote from: augustine on
Quote from: Arnold B. Krueger on
Quote from: augustine on
What it says !


A good option that is missing right now:

3.1


Very unusual !

Make it:

"No. But consider buying one someday." (ie, weighing intended use vs. cost)


Unfortunately I can't change the poll now .


Im quite pleased/suprised at the amount of people who have a 5.1 system. If any of you could take the time to answer  the following I would be very grateful (a poll within a poll - we're bordering on survey territory here....):

1. Is it mainly films or music or both you listen to in surround ?
2. What has impressed you most that you have heard in surround
3.What format do you generally use (Im assuming it will be DVD but for music flac etc)
thanks !

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #21 –
I am an 'Other' because I technically have a 6.1 setup (single speaker on the back wall instead of 2 as is used for 7.1). I actually didn't set out to use all 6 when I bought the receiver, but found myself with an extra center channel speaker and decided to try it out.

It does fill in the rear soundfield, but in a very subtle way. I have my system set up with accurate speaker to listening location distances and amplitude matching with an SPL meter.

Poll within a poll (why not?):

1. I have it set up in a purpose-built theater room, so mostly films. I do enjoy listening to music in DTS Neo:6 and Dolby PLIIx in their music modes sometimes, but primarily listen at my computer in stereo. The only audio-only surround-mastered recording I've listened to is Queen's A Night at the Opera. It was interesting, but I didn't feel like it improved on the original stereo mix (which is incredibly good on its own merits).
2. I agree with augustline that most films are not mixed very well. The films that first come to mind are Master and Commander (DTS mix - DTS has always sounded better to me; unfortunately, they're kind of rare), In the Flesh – Live, Neil Young: Heart of Gold, There Will Be Blood. Any of the newer action films (Transformers, Avatar, newer Star Wars) are very engaging, if a bit heavy-handed with the rear soundfield effects and can be overly compressed.
3. Netflix (5.1 when available, DTS Neo:6 for stereo streams), DVDs, a NAS containing FLACs, MP3s, and OGGs and the occasional live concert stream.

Looking forward to hearing about others' favorite mixes.

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #22 –
^Interestingly, although not as common, some speaker placement recommendations for 7.1, such as this image from THX, say the two surround back speakers should be right next to each other, (and they play literally the same content, in many scenarios) so I've often thought 6.1 made sense. [and had that at one point]


Other sources say the two rear should be split, and some say they should be split, or together, based on the content [like anyone in their right mind would move them about per movie!].

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #23 –
Do people play 2-channel music (i.e. the majority of music recorded in the last 100 years) through some sort of artificially surround-sounded system?

And does it always work, or do you get moments when the hardware/software buggers it all up and it sounds all weird and wrong?

How many of you have a surround sound set up ?

Reply #24 –
I almost exclusively listen to the native number of channels (plus a sub): 2.1 (3.1) speakers for stereo and 5.1 for most movie and TV shows recorded that way. With some material I've heard sound field "enhancements" by invoking a surround mode but who's to say the original artists intended you to hear it that way? It is like colorizing a classic B&W movie in my book, i.e. discernible? Yes. Authentic and accurate to the director's intent? No.