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LFE and Dolby Headphone (1 Viewer)

Jonathan T

Second Unit
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Nov 6, 2002
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My other post is just gone so I'm posting again.

Ok, when watching a movie in 2 channel only, does the LE get mixed in? I'll be watching movies with a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770s and a headphone amp I built. THe DT770 is the king of headphone bass, it delivers more bass (It's stikk tight, fast and deep though) than anyother headphone out there. And I want to be able to take advantage of that and listen to the LFE.

Ok, now for Dolby headphone. What exactly is it? Are there any sound cards that support it? What does it do? And, does anyone have a site or a list of the movies that have/support Dolby headphone?

Thanks.
 

DarrellP

Stunt Coordinator
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Oct 27, 2000
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Pearl Harbor supports Dolby Headphone. When you select it from the audio setup menu, it outputs the faux surround to the headphone jack.

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 580's that are rated down to 12 Hz and they kick butt for late night listening.

My Yamaha amp already has surround headphone built into it so Dolby headphone does me no good. I tried it on Pearl Harbor and could not tell a difference. I think the amp has to support D Headphone and mine does not.

With headphone listening, the LFE should get mixed in. My Yamaha has a seperate setting for headphone LFE level vs. speaker LFE levels.

Headphones have been a life (marriage) saver for me. I have a 7 year old who goes to bed at 9 or so and the amp is off limits after that.

Enjoy.
 

Jonathan T

Second Unit
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The DT770s are rated from 5 to 35,000hz = or = 3db.

I will be watching on my computer. So my sound card will be doing the decoding. In analog form it will go to a custom amp and then to the headphones. My guess here is that the sound card needs to support Dolby headphone. I won't be using any preamps, no recievers no DVD players. Just my DVD-rom drive, my sound card, my interconnects, my META42 amp and my DT770s.
 

Jeff Kleist

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Dec 4, 1999
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My Yamaha amp already has surround headphone built into it so Dolby headphone does me no good. I tried it on Pearl Harbor and could not tell a difference. I think the amp has to support D Headphone and mine does not
Nope. It'll work with any headphones as long as they're hooked up to a stereo source. The specific DH tracks have already been processed
 

Jonathan T

Second Unit
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Nov 6, 2002
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LFE si droped when .1 channels are downmixed.
Yep, but PowerDVD will fix that. It has an option where I can fix in the LFE to the Stereo channels when listening in stereo. Only question I have no is if SRS headphone will work with this option.
 

Armand G

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Oct 18, 2000
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I listen to DH on my Denon AVC-A1SR with a Beyer Dynamic DT-531 headphone. The Denon has a DH decoder onboard. It's a very nice feature for late night listening. The first time I used it I lifted my headphone to check if there wasn't any sound coming from my speakers. Remember it can never replace a good speaker setup.
 

DarrellP

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Nope. It'll work with any headphones as long as they're hooked up to a stereo source. The specific DH tracks have already been processed
Jeff, so to use D Headphone, should the DVD be selected to output D Headphone and the amp set to stereo? I'll have to try that, thanks.
 

Jeff Kleist

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When you plug in your headphones, every reciever I've ever seen automatically switches to stereo. You do need to select the preprocessed track on the DVD to get the 100% intended effect, but any reciever with it onboard should process the 5.1
 

Armand G

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When I plug my headphone in I have to select DD on my remote and it switches to Dolby Headphone.
 

Jonathan T

Second Unit
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Nov 6, 2002
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I know a good speaker setup will punish any headphone setup. But I don't have the money or space for a good HT and 2 channel music system. I'm only 15. So, for now, I'll stick with headphones. Plus, my brother doesn't like music, don't know what's wrong with him.
 

Armand G

Stunt Coordinator
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Oct 18, 2000
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Ok Jonathan welcome to the world of hometheater! When I was your age I spended most of my hard earned cash on audio gear. I know it's not easy to buy a setup with very little money. You always have to choose:frowning: . That's why I bought it in steps. In the end you will get there, it just takes a little longer.

Best regards,
Armand
 

Roger Dressler

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Jan 15, 1999
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187
>>Ok, now for Dolby headphone. What exactly is it? Are there any sound cards that support it? What does it do? And, does anyone have a site or a list of the movies that have/support Dolby headphone?
 

Mark E J

Second Unit
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Oct 26, 2000
Messages
283
LFE si droped when .1 channels are downmixed
Not with Yamaha's "Silent Cinema" DSP. It mixes the LFE and outputs it to the headphones.

Dolby Headphone is very good but it has limitations and is pretty rare and expensive right now. The only AV receiver I know about that has built in DH is the Denon mentioned earlier and will cost you over a thousand dollars for the receiver alone.

I just got the Yamaha 5640 with Silent Cinema and I'm very impressed. The Silent Cinema DSP blows DH out of the water in my opinion. SC sounds almost identical to DH but SC doesn't drop the LFE so the bass is far better than DH, and it doesn't have the echo chamber effect which was the only drawback of the Pearl Harbor DH track. Also SC decodes DTS while DH does not. However make sure you have a very good pair of headphones that can take ALOT of bass before trying some of the more intense DTS tracks or you will get distortion.

Remember though no DSP is going to be as good as a well calibrated 5.1 speaker setup, but a good DSP can be a hundred times better that the standard downmix.

All in all if you plan to watch alot of movies at night or just like using headphones I highly recommend Yamaha Silent Cinema over any other DSP's or the wireless Dolby Digital headphones they got out there now.
 

Mark E J

Second Unit
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Oct 26, 2000
Messages
283
Yes, and ones by Acustic Research. But don't get me wrong I've heard the Sony MD5000s and they sound very good, so does Dolby Headphone. (You're right the echo does go away after awhile.) I'm not knocking these products, it's just that I think that Yamaha offers more bang for your buck right now.
 

Mark_Wilson

Screenwriter
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Jul 27, 2000
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I like the MD5ks but wish they come out with a model that transmitted digitally as I can hear hiss on quite scenes.

FYI, the new Sony MD8000 also decodes DPL2 and AAC.
 

Roger Dressler

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Mark wrote: >>SC sounds almost identical to DH but SC doesn't drop the LFE so the bass is far better than DH, and it doesn't have the echo chamber effect which was the only drawback of the Pearl Harbor DH track. Also SC decodes DTS while DH does not.
 

David_D

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Jun 6, 2000
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While Japan has had the Pioneer SE-DIR1000c wireless headphone system for a while, we will see at least two new products of this type offered for the first time, by year's end, in US and Europe.
Roger - this is great news. I've been waiting to see some new offerings in the States. Can you tell us more?
 

Armand G

Stunt Coordinator
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Oct 18, 2000
Messages
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Correct! When you select Dolby Headphone on a DTS track it says DTS + dolby Headphone. It really is a nice feature. You can also chance the room size when listening to it. I think it's really nice when you want to keep the relation with your neighbours intact.
 

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