What's the difference between Dolby Digital Surround EX and.... (1 Viewer)

[Vincent_S]

Dolby Digital with Matrix 6.1 decoding?

 

[Michael Reuben]

Probably none. Where does the latter term come from? (It's not one that Dolby uses.)

M.

 

[Vincent_S]

I saw it the Denon website. I was thinking about buying an older model and was doing a little research. It was on the Denon 3801. Did they just call it something else back then?

 

[Michael Reuben]

"Back then"? DD EX is less than 4 years old!

Hardware manufacturers specialize in screwing around with the terminology so that the customer thinks they're getting something extra. Stick with what Dolby says: there's DD 5.1, and then there's DD EX (a/k/a "THX Surround EX"). The rest is a hardware maker doing self-promotion.

I just looked at the 3801 description. As I recall, this was one of the first products with DTS-ES Discrete. My guess is that Denon wanted to keep pushing the "6.1" characterization; so instead of saying "DD EX", they called it "Matrix 6.1". It's an inaccurate and misleading use of the "X.Y" notation, and hardware manufacturers have been spewing similar nonsense ever since.

M.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I believe the reason "Matrix 6.1" was used for the 3801 is because Dolby's 6.1 offering was called "THX Surround EX" and the Denon 3801 was not THX certified. So to denote 6.1 surround, they just called it Matrix 6.1. It is the same decoding process, it just cannot be called THX without being certified THX.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Some movie soundtracks use a variation on 5.1 called Dolby® Digital Surround EX™, which has now migrated via DVDs to home theater. This format matrix encodes a third surround channel onto the left and right surround channels of 5.1 soundtracks, and may be decoded or not at the cinema’s or home listener’s option due to their inherent compatibility. Because the extra surround information is carried on the left and right surround channels, Dolby Digital Surround EX encoded soundtracks are still regarded as 5.1 soundtracks.

http://dolby.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/do...cGFnZT0x&p_li=

M.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I agree the name was misleading and was not correcting your post Michael. I was giving a further reason why Denon did not call the matrixed 6th channel process "THX EX" - because the 3801 was not THX certified. I believe Denon's THX certified receiver (5800 series) did refer to it as THX EX. At the time the 3801 came out, THX EX was not referred to as Dolby Surround EX as it is today (at least not by Denon). Sorry if I was misunderstood.