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12-07-2003, 03:16 PM
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#1 of 42 
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DolbyIIx vs Thx Ultra 2?
If i recall hearing correctly both of these will take a 5.1 signal(Such as DD or DTS) and convert them to 7.1 Anyone have expeirnce with either of these? They sound like a great idea for myself who wants to be able to use all 7.1 of my setup most of the time. Would it be worth the extra for the Ultra 2 feature vs a reciever that didn't have it??
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12-07-2003, 03:39 PM
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#2 of 42
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Michael Reuben
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Everyone is waiting for some real-world reports on DPL IIx. When there's something to report, it will probably appear in this thread.
As for THX Ultra 2, it's designed to process 5.1 soundtracks for a 7-speaker array that haven't been specifically encoded for EX (or DTS ES). (Remember that the official THX recommendation for EX is to have two rear center speakers.) I have it, but I don't use it, because the signal sent to the two rear speakers is essentially mono, and Lexicon's Logic7 creates stereo rears and generally does a better job.
M.
"Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything." -- Chinatown
"What kind of movies would there be if everyone in them had to do what we thought they should do?" -- Roger Ebert
HTF Beginner's Primer and FAQ
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12-08-2003, 01:14 AM
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#3 of 42
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To clarify, DPLIIx takes stereo sources, and turns them into "7.1" sound. EX expands the surrounds in DD 5.1 into 6.1/7.1. They aren't really comparable.
Logic 7, does sorta both. The lexicon gurus know a lot more than I do about L7.
also see this thread: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=171771 |
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12-08-2003, 01:23 AM
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#4 of 42
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Michael Reuben
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Quote:
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EX expands the surrounds in DD 5.1 into 6.1/7.1.
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I think you mean "Ultra2", Chris, not "EX". In some cases, EX may "expand" a non-EX-encoded 5.1 track, but in others it may collapse the rear channels toward the center. The outcome with EX decoding on non-EX material is unpredictable, and that's the reason for a separate mode like Ultra2.
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Logic 7, does sorta both.
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There's no "sorta" about it. Logic7, in its full implementation, extracts 7 distinct channels from both 2.0 and 5.1 material.
M.
"Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything." -- Chinatown
"What kind of movies would there be if everyone in them had to do what we thought they should do?" -- Roger Ebert
HTF Beginner's Primer and FAQ
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12-08-2003, 01:39 AM
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#5 of 42
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My understanding was only that Ultra2 had more advanced processing so the two rears were different, rather than mono. EX-processing on non-EX 5.1 titles *might* collapse to the rear if it's all mono back there, but I've never had this happen. You are correct though, that just as with PL/PLII use on soundtracks or music not mixed specifically with that processing in mind, you may get mixed results.
Lexicon doesn't have much info on their site in regards to Logic 7, which I always wanted to know more about.
I guess you could call it sorta, because Logic 7 is such it's own animal, because it handles both. Doesn't it take 5.1 on the fly and downmix it to stereo, then unfold it into a 7.1 field? This is what is a little more intensive(and, IMO, better) than just Ultra2 processing. And can't it deal with several subwoofers much better?
Well I just was trying to wade through some lexicon papers, but they're not very clear. Oh well.
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12-08-2003, 01:47 AM
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#6 of 42
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Michael Reuben
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Quote:
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My understanding was only that Ultra2 had more advanced processing so the two rears were different, rather than mono.
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I believe it's similar to the "decorrelation" used in the original THX spec to give a sense of differentiation to the mono rears in the old ProLogic.
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Doesn't it take 5.1 on the fly and downmix it to stereo, then unfold it into a 7.1 field?
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No. You're confusing Logic7 with a separate downmixing function available in Lexicon processors.
M.
"Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything." -- Chinatown
"What kind of movies would there be if everyone in them had to do what we thought they should do?" -- Roger Ebert
HTF Beginner's Primer and FAQ
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12-08-2003, 10:24 AM
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#8 of 42
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Michael Reuben
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I have the advantage of having used Lexicon processors and Logic7 since 1996. I got one of the first DC-1's equipped with Dolby Digital to ship in the U.S. At the time, only a a few receivers came with DD (all of them made by Pioneer), and there were no DVDs or players. My first DD sources were all laserdiscs.
M.
"Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything." -- Chinatown
"What kind of movies would there be if everyone in them had to do what we thought they should do?" -- Roger Ebert
HTF Beginner's Primer and FAQ
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12-08-2003, 06:54 PM
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#9 of 42
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Actually if you look at Dolby's site it says it will convert 5.1 DD signals to 7.1 as well. While thx ultra may work better, this is a good option for us not able to shell out around 2k for an Ultra2 reciever.
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12-08-2003, 08:19 PM
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#10 of 42
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DPL IIx is made to transfer Stereo Sound (2 Channel) into 7 Channel Matrixed. Just like DPL II takes 2 channel and matrix's into 5 channel. Why would you use DPL IIx on 5.1 signals(Dolby Digital or DTS)? If you are buying a receiver with DPL IIx I guarentee that it will decode DTS ES and Dolby Digital EX which is what you would want to use for these signals instead of the DPL IIx. Again this New Format is meant for 2 Channel sources!!
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12-08-2003, 09:11 PM
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#11 of 42
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FWIW, here's what I read on another forum on 12/4/03:
"PLIIx actively steers the Ls/Rs in a 5.1 mix to the four surrounds, so it can more precisely locate panned signals across the back than either straight EX or Ultra II. PLIIx is very similar to EX in many respects, and with certain signals, particularly hard back effects, they will sound the same even on a 7.1 system.
My feeling is that PLIIx never sounds worse than EX, sometimes sounds the same, and often sounds better. In all cases, the sound is fully consistent with the intent of the soundtrack--it is not an artful redesign." Roger Dressler, Dolby Laboratories
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12-08-2003, 09:35 PM
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#12 of 42
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