DTS Neo 6 vs. Dolby Pro Logic II (CONSOLIDATED THREAD) (1 Viewer)

[Allen Marshall]

Personally i think 6.1 is useless. I cant tell the difference between 5.1 and 6.1 when i hear it cause the speaker is directly behind me, if i had a ear on the back my of head well thats a different story. As for sound quality of PLII vs Neo 6 i have no opinion, sounds the same to me. Since i had a speaker lyin around i made that my 6th channel, couldnt hurt but i cant tell the difference.

If that was what your asking?

I use PLII and Neo 6 for music, games and tv.

 

[NickSo]

if i had a ear on the back my of head

Well you dont have an ear on your forehead, but the center channel's still important :p)

 

[Rogozhin]

but your ears "point" foward.

:p)

rogo

 

[Ted Pugh]

With t.v. I prefer DTS Neo 6 but there is not a whole lot of difference in sound between the two. The experts disagree with this feeling. I try not to listen to too much DPL II or DTS Neo 6 material and I prefer my music in direct 2 channel.

 

[John S]

I did some interesting comparisons using LD sources not to long ago fed by optical so no AC-3....


I chose three titles, and found difference, and not one sound mode was best for all titles.

On some of them PLII was way better with DTS NeoL6 far behind, on others DTS NEO:6 was way best with DPLII running far behind.

As for not being able to tell the difference between 5.1 and 6.1/7.1, on my system when I A/B compare the modes, the difference is quite substantial. Like last night on Bruce All Mighty and T3, both come through in 6.1 (although I don't get it, one is DTS, the other says just dolby digital 5.1) But on my syste, T3 just says 6.1 surround (no changing it either) and Bruce All Mighty says DTS ES Matrix, I did nto try to change it...

I have the same quite nice speakers all the way around, I listen to music in 7 channel stereo.

 

[David Judah]

In Movie mode, DPL II seems to have more rear channel presence, while Neo 6 seems to have more coverage across the front(not so center-centric).
I like the fact that DPL II is more customizable in Music mode, at least with my processor, so I can tailor it to the room and my tastes a little better. Lately, I've found myself using that mode more frequently for TV viewing.
DJ

 

[BrianWoerndle]

I prefer Neo:6 for tv viewing. It sounds more clear. PLII tends to be a little bass heavy, which can cause the overall sound to be muddy.

For video games I use PLII because many are encoded in Pro-Logic, and some even in PLII.

Music of course is always in Pure Direct Stereo.

 

[Geoff S]

I prefer DPL2 for just about everything cause just about everything is made for Pro Logic, and lots of newer programs and games made for Pro Logic 2.

Trying to upgrade a 2 channel source to 6.1 seems like overkill to me. 5 or 5.1 is really enough. If I want all my speakers playing at once I'll use 7 channel stereo. That rear surround does nothing for me when watching analog TV.

Although Pure Direct Stereo is the accepted "correct" mode to use for 2 chanel music (especially if you're a true audiophile), DPL2 Music Mode, when adjusted is very very nice, IMHO.

 

[chris_clem]

I prefer DPL2 for just about everything cause just about everything is made for Pro Logic, and lots of newer programs and games made for Pro Logic 2.

I have a Gamecube and most of its games are encoded in DPL2, however, I think that even when this is the case its still pretty similar on both formats! I game I have but not with me at the time (Rogue Squadron 2) has this test for DPL2 wherein a TIE fighter revolves around you and the sound should pan across all the channels distinctly. Does anyone have this game? Perhaps the same effect can be reproduced even with NEO:6! (showing just how similar these two formats are)

 

[LanceJ]

To me, DPL II also sounds rather center-heavy but nothing really bad. DTS:Neo6 sounds more airy in the front channels. Other than that to me they are quite similar sounding.
As far as the 5.1 versus 6.1 thing, I think 6.1 is good for people with very wide listening areas where there might be a sonic "hole" because of two widely spaced rear channel speakers, but other than that, forget it. And buying ONE speaker is a b*tch......and having a wire crawling up your wall sucks too.....and jamming that many amps in a receiver probably leads to lesser overall quality........IMHO of course.
LJ

 

[Patrick CF]

First post here.

I recently bought a home theatre system set up for 5.1 surround.
Receiver = Sony STR-DA1000ES (analog amp)
Speakers = PSB Alpha Intro Series (4xLR, 1xCLR)
Subwoofer = PSB Alpha Subzero i

My question revolves around what is considered the better "technique" to transform conventional stereo signals into multi-channel sound. In addition to multi-channel sources (DVD), I really enjoy good quality stereo music(CD's).

First of all, I am extremely pleased with the plain stereo sound coming from the L+R speakers and the subwoofer when playing my favourite CD's. Compared to my previous mini JVC system, it is already light years ahead. However, it makes sense to try to try multi-channel sound for CD's, as I have a 5.1 speaker setup.

My receiver offers both DTS Neo 6 and Dolby ProLogic II for this purpose. I have not seen many posts regarding this. To my own ears, I find that ProLogic II muffles the sound. However, Neo 6 seems to offer the same, if not superior, clarity (especially with the high tones/vocals/instruments)as plain stereo mode, while channeling sound to all the speakers. Right now, I've concluded that Neo 6 sounds far superior to ProLogic II.

Do most other people agree that DTS sounds superior to Dolby in this instance (much like most people preferring DTS over Dolby Digital)?

 

[John S]

I'm an all channel stereo guy myself.

Over the new years holiday, maybe I can try the DPLII (Music) and DTS NEO:6 (Music) some, but I have the same exact stout speakers all the way around, and you get all those channels going in stereo, and the performance effect seems very substantial to me on music.

 

[Jeff W.]

For music I only use stereo, but for watching TV I've messed around with both PLII and Neo6 (whoa) and concluded that they both sound identical, except for the fact that Neo uses the back-surround channel, so that's what I use.
(Neo6: Cinema)

 

[Mike Veroukis]

I sometimes like to use all-channel stereo DSP program which basically just copies the mains to the rears. Not sure what it does with the centers as I don't even have them hooked up. The end effect is just a denser sound that really fills the room like nothing else.

- Mike

 

[Roger Dressler]

>>To my own ears, I find that ProLogic II muffles the sound.

 

[gene c]

I have an H/K 520 which has DPII, DTS:NEO and Logic 7. Listening to all three in "music" mode, I prefer DPII slightly over L 7 and a little bit more over DTS. It mostly has to do with stereo separation. DPII seems to split the signals a bit better. BTW, I listen to music with the center channel turned off and the surrounds turned up a bit. All channel stereo is also nice but seems just a little flat to me. My Onkyo receiver has a DSP called "Orchestra" Which also sounds great. The only DSP I have heard so far that I actually like. Gene

 

[Steve Winkler]

In my use of Pro LogicII, and DTS Neo 6, I prefer Dolby Pro LogicII Music if I'm not listening in stereo. I put the panarama effect on and adjust the center width out to 5. Some cd's sound very good IMO almost like true 5.1 .

For movies and TV, I find the movie mode and cinema mode of the 2 formats very similar.


Cheers,

Steve

 

[Justin_D]

My modest rig is in my sig /
I have tried Pro Logic II: Music and Neo:6 Music. To me they both sound identical. Although I like surround sound music, they do just muffle the sound too much to justify it for me.
Because I use my PC for music via an Audigy through a mini-to-rca cable, I also tried CMSS and CMSS 2 via hacked drivers in order to see what Creative can pull out of their [censored]. The bass gets really really loud and massively distorted. It makes me cry to think what those modes do to my lovely speakers :frowning:
IMO: I use only stereo. Just sounds better than anything else.

 

[Kenny_H]

On my Denon AVR-2803, I have settings for Dolby Pro Logic cinema & music, DTS NEO 6 music & cinema and 5 CH stereo. Each offer a different equalization setting. Depending on what you are listening to and how it was recorded (equalized) will determine how you will hear it. I find that the Dolby Plogic MUSIC and DTS NEO 6 MUSIC setting give deeper bass output. It all depends on what YOU prefer. I'm listening with Polk RM-6005 surrounds and a Polk PSW-202 subwoofer with SATELITTE/CD/DVD/LD/X-BOX sources connected optically.

 

[Jeremy Anderson]

Initially, I preferred DTS:Neo6 Music mode to DPLII Music because it seemed to sound clearer (and used my center surround). But then I started doing some critical listening with material that I'm very familiar with, and my opinion changed.

Someone pointed out to me that Neo6's surround information had a distorted sound at volume in their system, so I ran through several CD's while standing next to my surrounds. Sure enough, regardless of the source material, Neo6 was creating a subtle crackling noise in the surrounds that was in no way present in the original material. DPLII, on the other hand, had no crackling in the surrounds and seemed to have more bass information being passed to the surrounds.

Then I ran through some CD's with bass guitar solos and compared stereo, Neo6 and DPLII. When compared with stereo, Neo 6 seemed to have a more similar high end... though almost TOO high. It was like it was emphasizing the highs just slightly. DPLII didn't have this problem, and actually sounded far more cohesive and natural with bass in the crossover region (which, on my system, is 80Hz). It was the difference between Neo6 sounding like bass guitar on a recording and DPLII sounding like bass guitar in the room with me.

For imaging, I always use track 9 from Eykah Badu's MAMA'S GUN, entitled A.D. 2000. For the length of the song (which, incidentally, also has some nice bass guitar), Badu's voice pans from left to right and back again very naturally in stereo. In Neo6, the transition across the front soundstage was a little jarring, seeming like it jumped from speaker to speaker rather than making a smooth pan. DPLII fared far better, with better placement of Badu's voice between speakers. DPLII also seemed to retain the character of Badu's voice across the front soundstage better than Neo6 (i.e. her voice sounded the same in the left speaker as it did in the center and right).

Before anyone asks, I did play with the parameters for both Neo6 and DPLII to see if that would affect things, but I still found DPLII to be truer to the original source. Neo6 sounds good, but in my opinion it has a lot of the same negative characteristics that DSP processing of stereo does. Does it kill me that DPLII doesn't use my center surround? YES! Unused speakers are a travesty! But regardless, DPLII wins for music on my system. I do occasionally use Neo6 for television watching, however. Hopefully future products with DPLIIx will remedy my need to have my center surround engaged.

Several caveats:
1. The sound of DPLII seems to be more sensitive to phase/delay settings being correct than Neo6. If DPLII seems to make singers sound muddy on your system, it may be because the center channel information isn't arriving at your listening position simultaneously with the left and right mains, which can give a very subtle reverb effect. Try making slight adjustments to the center channel delay to see if that remedies the situation. Even if you have the actual distances correct, room acoustics can throw this off.
2. The above is MY opinion and is only meant to inform. In the end, it all comes down to personal preference and what sounds best to the individual. ENJOY!