Films/DVD Asylum

Re: It depends greatly on the film and how surround is used.

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DWPC

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In Reply to: Re: It depends greatly on the film and how surround is used. posted by rico on January 3, 2007 at 09:51:50:

Its just one opinion, but I've always found rear channel sound a distraction and a gimmick in movies and music. I don't think the human brain does well when the ear inputs are spatially in conflict with what the eyes' see.

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Re: It depends greatly on the film and how surround is used. - rico 08:37:44 01/04/07 (4)
Are you sure you have the rear channels set at equal volume to the mains by meter? many people run the rears too loud and also the sub too loud. Very little is mixed in the rear channels and you should NEVER notice them except for the beiginnigs of a fly over or some other effect the film makers specifically intend. Surrounmd adds anbience only and you should only notice it by its absense when you collapse the sound stage down to plain stereo.
- Re: It depends greatly on the film and how surround is used. - DWPC 09:52:12 01/04/07 (3)
  I have two-channel at home. I only hear multichannel at the theater or when visiting someone with it. Never cared for the effect. Deafening and distracting audio has effectively driven me out of theaters.
  - Re: It depends greatly on the film and how surround is used. - rico 12:36:41 01/04/07 (2)
    That's incompetent or stupid projectionists or theatehr owners, not surround sound per se. Many theaters play everything too loud, especielly trailers.
    Good surround adds to a movie, that's why there are three competing formats (Dolby, DTS, SDDS) and that's why film makrs use it. Since you have a pre 1980s' i.e., stereo) system for watching movies at home, are you really giving home theater surround a chance? Have you hear a properly set up home theater system showing a non car chase non explosion surround movie?
    - "pre 1980s stereo"!!!! - DWPC 14:46:02 01/04/07 (1)
      Them's fightin' words. Sorry, Rico, I'll stick with (very) high quality two-channel. Its what comes out of the speakers, not how many places it comes out...!
      - Re: "pre 1980s stereo"!!!! - rico 08:40:42 01/05/07 (0)
        
        In Reply to: "pre 1980s stereo"!!!! posted by DWPC on January 4, 2007 at 14:46:02:
        
        I ahve been an audiophile for 51 years and ,like you, stuck with stereo and analog for a long time into the surround and then the digital eras. But surround sound for films has been with us since 1977, 30 years now, and I think it is high time that the luddites get on board and give adequately presented surround sound for both movies and music a chance.
        I have done extensive A/B-ing of pure stereo material and the same material on the superb Dolby Pro Logic II Music codec (developed for Dolby Labs by famed surround guru Jim Fosgate) and I now listen to all lps, tapes, laserdiscs, FM, and stereo only DVDs in this format. it has brought new life to my entire collections. It provides exactly what hi fi/stereo buffs have been seeking for years: the gestalt of the live performance, a musicality, presense (in the good sens of that overused word), warmth (ditto) and what is for me the ultinate in music sound, timbre. It also provides a truer sense of the acoustic space of the recording venue (I know, this CANNOT be true of movie sound, which has been equalized to the limit)
        As for the disctrete codecs,Dolby Digital and DTS, these add an involvment and aid in the important suspension of disbelief, just as stereo did over mono.

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