***Official MERGED "Should I get 6.1 (or 7.1) - Is it worth it?" Thread*** (1 Viewer)

[cabreau]

I play Call of Duty online right now and with the 7.1 full surround, you can tell exactly where the enemy is. With 5.1, it's not as easy to tell. This shows me that sound positioning is much better on a 7.1 system if you have the right signals coming in.

 

[Sami Kallio]

I play Call of Duty online right now and with the 7.1 full surround, you can tell exactly where the enemy is. With 5.1, it's not as easy to tell. This shows me that sound positioning is much better on a 7.1 system if you have the right signals coming in.

I haven't yet played games with a surround sound so one question, what is the signal coming from the game? DD, DTS, DPL? I assume you have connected the sound card to receiver with digital connection (coax, optical)?

 

[Blaine_M]

I think most of the games are DD aren't they? It's fun on the xbox also, adds a lot to games like Ghost Recon or any first person games, you can hear where the bad guys are.........

 

[Matthew Will]

Can someone tell me where I can go to learn more about connecting surround sounds? For instance, I don't understand how the signal from a DVD player is sent so that the receiver can decode it correctly to 7.1. I doubt composite cables carry all the information correctly. I only have a stereo receiver right now so I have no clue. I was focused on the projection and video system last summer so now I'm focusing on audio. Is there a faq section this? Matt

P.S. - XBOX or PS2 in 7.1 sounds nice. Very nice

 

[Sami Kallio]

You connect the DVD player to surround receiver by digital connection (either coax or optical). Most receivers recognize the format automatically. On your DVD player select DTS if available and it will send DTS signal to receiver.

 

[Matthew Will]

Does XBOX or PS2 have this type of connection as well? Matt

 

[John Garcia]

Yes, both the Xbox and PS2 support digital connections.

 

[Roger Dressler]

Some info aboout how different games are surround encoded and how to connect consoles to AV systems can be found at Dolby Games info.

 

[gene c]

I don't see how 7.2 would be any better than 7.1. Could someone explain? Is it that you would connect the other subwoofer channel to a different kind of sub?

I've read where some use one big sub for the really deep bass, say under 40 hz, and another smaller one for the 40 hz and above. The thinking is that a large woofer cone cannot react fast enough to cover the entire bass range, say 20-120 hz. Another thing you can do is hook up two identical subs, one on each side of the room, via speaker inputs instead of the normal RCA cable. This way the sub-bass is also in stereo for things like a train or a Harley going from left to right. I haven't tried these options but have read about them. One that I would consider is a sub on both sides of the room. I don't care if bass is non-directional, I can still hear/feel where it's coming from. Two subs would completely fill the room with bass. Overkill maybe, but I think it would be neat! Any thoughts, criticism?

 

[Matthew Will]

I see no problem with either situation. If you can match the resonant frequencies to lap so the frequency is about flat then more power to ya. That's what we're all trying to create anyways. Using two of the same subwoofer isn't a bad idea to me either. No replacement for displacement. I can't stand extremely loud high frequencies but I'll take as much low end as possible. Matt

 

[Daman]

Some info aboout how different games are surround encoded and how to connect consoles to AV systems can be found at Dolby Games info.

As per these PS2 doesnot support in play DD signal and just PL2???It only supports DD in cinematics.. thats a shame..cause i have PS2 :frowning:

 

[Sami Kallio]

I don't care if bass is non-directional, I can still hear/feel where it's coming from.

[Cough] Time to shop for a good subwoofer...

 

[Roger Dressler]

Daman wrote:

>>As per these PS2 doesnot support in play DD signal and just PL2???It only supports DD in cinematics.. thats a shame..cause i have PS2

 

[Roger Dressler]

>>I don't see how 7.2 would be any better than 7.1.

 

[SteveLeach]

quote:

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Word has it that George Lucas is shooting for 9.2 to be the new standard.
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Where would you place the additional two speakers? A back center and a ceiling mounted center perhaps?

 

[gene c]

[Cough] Time to shop for a good subwoofer...

Maybe two good subwoofers .

 

[David Judah]

Should I just focus on a quality 5.1 for now?

It depends on the room and the speaker placement limitations. If you can get good phantom rear center imaging with 5.1, then 7 speakers might not be that beneficial. For some, it is a necessity to fill in the "hole" in the back because of surround placement issues. There are alot of good DVD's to use for testing, but the Star Wars discs spring immediately to mind.

I think you're right that a well setup 5.1 system is better than a misaligned 7.1 speaker layout.

DJ

 

[Michael Reuben]

It's time to add some new observations to this thread. Anyone?

M.

 

[JohnEF]

I had a pretty good 5.1 set up with Pinnacle Gold reference speakers all around but when I planned to upgrade my old Yamaha receiver to the Outlaw 950/750 or 770 I obsessed over the decision of getting the 5 or 7 channel amp. I decided to go for the 7 and hold off on getting the rear surround speakers. I later lucked out and bought the Pinnacle gold mini-monitor (the same as my surrounds) at a real cheap price on EBay (they had been discontinued). My suggestion therefore is to get the best 6.1/7.1 receiver you can and buy rear surround speakers at a later date when you have more money.

The room my system is in is relatively large (14 by 22 feet) with the result that the rear surround speakers did fill in a hole and the surround presence is noticeably more enveloping. By using a sound meter any differences in speaker distance from the listener is negated. The Outlaw also has a Cirrhus effect that utilizes the rear surrounds with 5.1 material.

Anyhow, this is my two cents worth of opinion.

John

PS-do you have a friend with a 7.1 system? If you do, it is easy enough to listen to something in both 5.1 and 7.1 and judge for yourself.

 

[Jacob C]

Thanks! For some reason when I searched for "5.1" "7.1" it didn't find anything. Must be a problem with the search engine.