Dolby Digital not working properly on HALO... (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Holton]

Can any of you guys tell me what I'm doing wrong...

I bought the advance AV pack for my XBOX... the one with S-video and Optical out...

I hooked my X-Box up to my receiver with an optical cable...

I went into the settings for my XBox and Enabled the Dolby Digital Audio selection.

I set my receiver to Dolby Digital for the input I have the XBox hooked into.

When I play HALO, The receiver says that it is receiving a signal for all 6 channels, but there is no sound coming from the center channel. The surround effects work great... but it sounds funny with no sound coming from the center channel (the guns don't sound right, you can barely hear them)...

Am I doing something wrong... or is the game coded in such a way that there is no sound from the center channel?

I know my center channel works... because when I switch back to pro-logic... it comes out loud and clear...

Help?

 

[John Royster]

I thought most xbox games don't really use the center channel much? Halo was a perfect example of this I believe.

could be way off base though.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Halo doesn't use the center channel

 

[Saul R]

It does use the center channel (Cortana's voice every once in a while). It is just a poor implementation of DD.

 

[Adam Tyner]

It is just a poor implementation of DD.

Hmmm. Having played the game both ways, I thought Halo sounded amazing in DD.

 

[Dean Cooper]

With proper calibration and placement, you shouldn’t need a center channel at all…
The game just doesn’t use that channel much at all. Try adjusting the placement of your front mains to improve the imaging between them if it’s not sounding right for you. DD was a brand new thing to the game sound developers, before DD they were always striving to make the most 3D like sound from stereo. So it really wasn’t a big surprise that the first set of games including Halo only used 4 channels well and not the center. More current games are much better at using all of the channels such as Sega GT.
Dean

 

[Jeff Holton]

Thanks for the responses...

To me when I'm playing a shooter... the main sound I want to hear in front of me is my gun...

I think I'll stick to playing HALO in Pro Logic II.


... I noticed the same problem with Hitman... no center channel

 

[Derrik Draven]

It's using the center channel. Like other people have said, Cortana's voice is all center channel. But, if you want to try something else to prove it's working, just simple run like normal, tilt your view until you're looking at the ground and you'll hear your footsteps sound move from the sides to front and center. You can also do this and tilt your head back until you're looking at the sky, then you'll hear your footsteps sound pan to the rear surrounds. Seems pretty real to me.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

If you are playing a game, you are sitting in the sweet spot.

If you are in the sweet spot and don't hear a bunch of sound coming right from the screen (regardless of whether the center channel is used), your speakers are not imaging well.

The main benefit of the center is anchoring sounds when sitting off-axis.

 

[Andre F]

I think I'll stick to playing HALO in Pro Logic II.

Wow, since I don't have DPL II I don't really have any basis for my comments....but I can't imgaine it sounds better than DD. If so then I need a new receiver...

 

[Jeff Holton]

Quote:
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Wow, since I don't have DPL II I don't really have any basis for my comments....but I can't imgaine it sounds better than DD. If so then I need a new receiver...
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The only reason I say that is because I really like to hear the sound of the gun nice and loud (that just seems more realistic to me)... as far as the ambient sounds, directional sounds... they are definately better in DD...

I might just be weird.

 

[Steve K.H.]

True dat about the calibration and no need for cc

A lot of Lex owners get rid of their center channel.

 

[Arthur Legardo]

Try another Advanced AV Pack, I had to go through 3 of them in order to finally find one that worked properly.

 

[Max Leung]

The DD5.1 (dialog and helmet sounds go through the center channel) sound in Halo is phenomenal. Just play the game as it was meant to be played (in DD5.1!) and you'll soon forget the 3D audio panning in the center channel.
The lack of 3D audio panning center channel on (older) xbox games is likely a result of the somewhat immature DSP processing routines available for the MCP chip. Newer games will hopefully use the new DSP routines that are now found in the PC nvidia nForce motherboard drivers.
Of all the games I've played on the PC with 3D audio support, Halo still trumps them all for sound placement...although Jedi Kiniggit 2 comes awfully close!