'PEARL HARBOR' dvd, 'Dolby Headphone Track' SO COOL! (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

John, when you select this track, a screen comes up giving you a description of it, and it states that this track is specifically designed to be used with headphones, and that it is not calibrated to be used with your speakers.

 

[Roger Dressler]

It's really good to see people enjoying the Dolby Headphone track. Those of you with DH equipped DVD players, such as WinDVD, can hear exactly the same effect from any 5.1 soundtrack. The Pearl Harbor disc was done to help let people know what is possible from such players--a sort of "free home demonstration".
If you have more questions, please see http://www.dolby.com/dolbyheadphone/DH_FAQ.html

 

[Neil Joseph]

I never would have tried this feature if it were not for this tread. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Roger, yes it's great, and the funny thing about this is, the disc hasn't even been officially released yet!
And congrats to all you guys and gals at Dolby Labs for creating what will probably be considered for some time to come, one of THE BEST Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks yet produced!

 

[John Torrez]

Thanks Mr. Wiliamson for that reply. Let me add that this technology is a godsend for those of us who either can't afford a surround system or don't have the room for one. I do have a question though, how is the bass with DH? Oh, and is there a thing out there where you can get the same kind of surround sound from just a 2.1 setup?

 

[Roger Dressler]

The bass in Dolby Headphone is whatever was in the source. DH makes no changes to the bass response. The LFE signal is also included, so if you have good headphones, you will almost feel it. We like to use Beyer DT990 or DT770 for our demos, as they have good clean bass and smooth response. But there are so many others, too, that sound great.

As for speakers, there are indeed various virtualizers that create a 5.1 effect from just 2 speakers, but they are not as effective as the headphone system because you have to keep your head/ears aligned precisely with the speakers to achieve the best effect. This is considerably easier with headphones since they stay with you, and which also have the advantage that there is no crosstalk of each channel's signals to the opposite ear as happens with speakers.

Nevertheless, there are many companies offering virtual suround processing, such as Sensaura, SRS TruSurround, QSurround, and others. These are often found in PC audio systems, DVD players, and TV sets.

 

[John Torrez]

Thanks Mr. Dressler. I would like to get a good set of headphones but I don't want to spend too much. What are a good pair of headphones to use with DH and are under $100?

 

[Jacob_St]

Just listened to this on a cheap pair of 20 dollar sony's. It's wild and the sound really does come from all sides!

Would love to know what this sounds like from a good set of headphones but I don't have the money for it.

 

[John Torrez]

Good headphones for DH, under $100. Anyone?

 

[Matt DeVillier]

Sennheiser HD-495's
I listen to them so much I almost don't need regular speakers (well not quite that much, but you get the idea)

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I guess it does make more sense for this to be done in the hardware rather than the disc as it would indeed take up disc space, I mean in the end, I would rather have a commentary track rather than the headphone track, as cool as it is.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I'd rather have the whole movie on one side than the headphone track, personally (sorry if it sounds like I'm b***ching about this too much, but I don't like it spread to 2 discs!)

 

[Mark E J]

I just listened to the DHP track and I'm a little disapointed. However it might be a hardware issue. I got very little if any spacing between sounds, it all sounded like it was coming from the same place. Plus the dialouge during action scenes is almost unhearable. All in all I found the 5.1 downconversion on my headphones to sound better. Although I did find the DHP sharper and more full bodied overall.

So where am I going wrong? I listened through a KLH R-3000 2 channel stereo reciever using AIWA HP-X222 headphones. Could my problem be in my hardware? If so how would you suggest I correct the problem?

 

[Shad R]

It's cool. I liked it, it did sound like the planes were flying over me. I wonder how they do that.

 

[Wes]

Roger, sense this thread has your attention could you clear something up for me. Is Pearl Harbor recorded in EX on this DVD? Someone here noticed the EX automatically being engaged like it was flagged for EX.

Thanks,

Wes

 

[richard plumb]

Can anyone compare this Dolby Headphone track with a Sony 'headphone theater' DSP mode? I imagine its doing a similar job, and I quite enjoy it on my sony STR-DB830 but if 'proper' DH is much better, then it'd be good to know for when I upgrade my DVD player/amp in the future.

 

[Roger Dressler]

Hi Wes,

Only the the French track is flagged for EX, but we don't know why, as it is not an EX soundtrack. As it is a THX certified DVD, maybe they can comment on this.

Mark EJ, I don;t know what kind of DVD player you are using. If it is a PC, there's many opportunities for various spatial processors to be running, and it is also possible on some separate DVD players. Make sure all audio processing is turned off. Other than that, all we could suggest is try playing it somewhere else and with different headphones to see if the results are the same.

The headphones don't have to be expensive--all that really matters is that the left and right sides have good matching in response/quality.

Richard, if you can rent/borrow the DVD, you can easily compare the Sony process with the DH track. Just select the 5.1 Dolby Digital track when using the Sony mode. I can tell you they do sound different. You can decide if it matters.

 

[Neil Joseph]

I found the dolby headphone track to definitely have more ambience than the dd5.1 track when listened to on headphones. However, the dialogue seemed to come from everywhere instead of up front or dead centre. It was a little distracting.

 

[Mark E J]

Roger,
It is not a PC it is a Toshiba SD-2109 standard player. I checked and it does have a 3D N-2-2 surround simulator. I switched this off and the diffrence was amazing. The sound comes from all diffrent directions and has a much larger punch than the 5.1 downconversion. The dialouge is still not quite as clear as the 5.1dc. But in a way that is better. I can understand all of the dialouge but at times it is overwelmed by the sound FX, which is probably more realistic. In real life the sounds of bombs and planes flying over head would tend to drown out someone speaking. The dialouge on the 5.1dc seems kind of artificial in it's clarity in comparison.
So thanks alot for the advice and the great DHP soundtrack.

 

[Roger Dressler]

MarkEJ, "I checked and it does have a 3D N-2-2 surround simulator. I switched this off and the diffrence was amazing. The sound comes from all diffrent directions and has a much larger punch than the 5.1 downconversion."

That's great news--thanks for confirming. I can see now why you didn't get the right results.

>>The dialouge is still not quite as clear as the 5.1dc. But in a way that is better.