mp3/dolby digital (1 Viewer)

[Matt Weyen]

Is there any software out there that I can use to make my mp3's play as a 5.1 format. I don't care if it is just 5.1 stereo since my reciever doesn't have that feature and I want mp3's in all 5.1 channels. I am currently doing the digital out of a creative live to coax in on the reciever if that helps any.
thanx

 

[NickSo]

MP3s are stereo, and are not encoded in 5.1, so its impossible.

You COULD get it to do matrixed surround sound if your receiver has ProLogic, DTS:Neo, CS5.1, etc.

But no, MP3s cannot be played in 5.1.

 

[Max Leung]

You cannot play stereo mp3s remixed to 5.1 through the S/PDIF out on ANY soundcard, unless you have an nvidia nForce motherboard, which can do real-time 5.1 Dolby Digital encoding.

However, if your soundcard is attached to your receiver through the analog outputs, and the receiver has surround channel analog inputs, then you can still experience 4.1 mp3s if you use Windows Media Player 8 or WinAmp 2.8 with the DirectSound3D option enabled.

 

[Max Leung]

Oh and BTW, if you have WinDVD 4 Multichannel Edition, I believe it can play mp3s in Dolby Prologic 2 mode (using the analog outputs of a 3D soundcard, or the digital outputs of an nForce motherboard).

 

[John Parris]

Three words come to mind: why god why. You're going to totally butcher the sound by playing it through any sort of multi-channel DSP or matrix sound field... not to mention the imaging nightmare of having a lack of focus on the soundstage where it SHOULD be (up front).

My advice for you in how to get the *best* possible sound would vary depending on how your speakers are connected... note that the *best* sound would come from leaving it well alone and letting your front speakers handle it like the artist intended.

 

[Mike_Stuewe]

We are talking about MP3's here. The sound is already butchered to begin with.
Anyways, if you can process it using Dolby Pro Logic 2 or DTS Neo:6, then go for it. True, some songs might sound horrible, but then again, others may sound real good. Another option would be if you have a 5 channel stereo option. That would have no matrixing of the sound, just place the music in all 5 speakers.
Unfortunately I am not sure what software you could use for all this, I am not big into computer audio (yet). I have used all 3 options I listed above with my Denon receiver and have pretty much found that if it's a stereo song, play it in stereo like John said. BUT, I am glad that I took the time to experiment with each.

 

[Matt Weyen]

My goal was 5.1 stereo, but was curious if it could come out of the pc as 5.1 stereo since my reciever can't do 5.1 stereo, pro logic II (only logic I) or dts Neo:6. I guess I'm stuck with stereo, but I also never stated that I wanted to DSP the signal in any way as a reciever does.

 

[John Parris]

You could do 5.1 stereo... it's just a bit tricky.
If your reciever has 5.1 inputs... here's how you'd go about doing it... go to ratshack and get two 1/8" STEREO miniplug splitters (one male to dual female minijacks...two of em) and three 1/8" stereo miniplug to RCA cables.
Then just connect one of the splitters to the front R/L analog line out and connect the others to either side of the first splitter... for Front R/L and Rear R/L just connect two sets of the RCAs to your reciever to the corresponding inputs.
Center channel/LFE is a little trickier... I guess you would want to combine R/L with an equal bias (I assume this is how 5.1 stereo processors accomplish this) for both. So you'll probably want to splice the last pair of RCAs together and then split them again (accomplished with a RCA splicer, and a splitter... go figure.). Then just plug one into your center channel input and one into the LFE input.
Make sure your reciever has an LFE crossover on, also, as you probably dont want a full range signal sent to your sub, unless your sub's amp has a built-in crossover.
Ok, I THINK that made sense. Maybe, maybe not. I'm not sure at this point. At any rate, it's an overly expensive and somewhat "ghetto" way of doing things... but that's what Radioshack is all about

 

[John Parris]

Ok, something else occured to me... the live series MIGHT have 5.1 stereo processing built-in... havent tried playing around with the analog outputs on my Audigy-- i'm using the same digital output as you.

My guess is that the Audigy would still apply some sort of field to the sound if you set it to 5.1 analog operation... has anyone tried this?

 

[Max Leung]

I know that Windows Media Player and WinAmp can send audio unmolested to the 4 speakers...the fronts and the rears. It'll be pure stereo on both, no DSP processing. I don't think you can pass any kind of signal to the center though, as that would involve some DSP processing, and your receiver should be able to extract the low-frequency information to the LFE anyways.

This should work on any multichannel soundcard, including the Live.

 

[Thomas Newton]

I guess I'm stuck with stereo, but I also never stated that I wanted to DSP the signal in any way as a reciever does.

How else did you think that sound (that wasn't just an exact copy of what was coming out of the front speakers) was going to get into the other four channels?