This is the ideal 7.1 setup, but very few home theaters really look like this.
(Credit: Dolby)An industry insider recently admitted to me that only 30 percent of AV receiver buyers ever bother to hook up all seven channels to their receivers. That guesstimate seems a little high to me; the standard 5.1 channel setup: Left, center, right speakers upfront, and a pair of surround speakers to the sides of the main listening position can supply a truly immersive sound experience.
Seven-channel home theater adds two more speakers, placed behind the main listening position. That's tough to accomplish in rooms where the couch or chairs are up against the rear wall. There's no "rear" there, so some folks mount the rear speakers up high, or bounce the sound off the ceiling.
Still, the rear surrounds typically contribute little, so it's pretty hard to justify the added expense and hassle of running the extra wires for a marginal sonic improvement. The one exception might apply to very large rooms where the side and rear surround speakers are further apart from each other. The extra coverage may produce a more complete sense of surround envelopment.
... Read moreAtlantic Technology's new 1400 SR-z speaker was designed with Dolby's Pro Logic IIz "height" surround processor in mind
The new speaker's compact size and shallow profile allow it to be unobtrusively mounted high on the wall above the system's front left and right main speakers. The 1400 SR-z sells for $425/pair MSRP.
(Credit:
Atlantic Technology)
The company claims that the 1400 SR-z's "voicing" and timbre will match all of Atlantic Technology's speaker systems.
Each 1400 SR-z uses a pair of 3.5-inch full-range polymer-treated cone drivers. The wedge-shaped speaker disperses sound laterally and allows the user to select dipole or bipole operation to deliver an enveloping surround soundfield. The speaker measures 12.25 x 8 x 5.375 inches, weighs 7 pounds, and comes in an attractive satin black finish.
The 1400 SR-z will be available in May 2009.
With Pro Logic IIz some receivers will produce 9.1 channel surround.
(Credit: Dolby)The Dolby Web site is bubbling with excitement about its new processing trick, "With Dolby Pro Logic IIz, rain in a movie now seems to be actually falling on the listener's roof, concert videos bring a more intense sense of being at the performance, and orchestral works deliver more palpable depth, power, and connection." The "z" in Pro Logic IIz signifies the Z axis, otherwise known as height.
Sounds interesting, but when I setup and listened to the first receiver (an Onkyo TX-SR607) with Pro Logic IIz, the height speakers didn't lift my spirits.
Pro Logic IIz can, depending on the receiver's capabilities, either augment a 5.1 or 7.1 channel speaker system with two height channels. In other words, in a 5.1 channel system with Pro Logic IIz you'll have five speakers in the front of the room--left, center, right, left height, and right height--plus a surround speaker to both sides of the main listening position.
The 7.1 system with Pro Logic IIz uses the same speaker array--plus two rear surround speakers.
Once you have a receiver equipped with Pro Logic IIz, and wall mount the height speakers three feet or higher over the main left/right speakers, you're all set. You won't have to buy specially encoded movies or music.
According to Dolby, "Pro Logic IIz identifies and decodes spatial cues that occur naturally in all content--stereo and 5.1 broadcast, music CDs, DVDs, 5.1 and 7.1 Blu-ray discs, and video games. Dolby Pro Logic IIz processes low-level, uncorrelated information--such as ambience and some amorphous effects like rain or wind--and directs it to the front height speakers."
Nice idea, did it actually work?
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This may the ideal setup, but very few home theater really look like this.
(Credit: Dolby)In the beginning of recorded sound, there was mono. One speaker, period.
Mono speakers were plopped wherever it was convenient, and that was that. Consumer audio remained strictly mono until the late 1950s with the introduction of stereo tape and LPs. Now you needed two speakers.
Home theater upped the ante to 5.1 channel surround sound--five speakers, plus a subwoofer--and setup hassles were getting tricky. Dolby's Web site offers very specific requirements for the placement of the front left, center, right speakers, and the side surround speakers. 6.1 and 7.1 systems add rear surround speakers.
It's one thing to look at a diagram, but your room probably doesn't look like the diagram. Reality sets in, so very few 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 system buyers get remotely close to the recommended speaker placements.
I've seen countless 5.1 home theater in a box systems in real people's homes with all five satellite speakers clumped in a row under or over the TV. Some buyers spread the speakers out across their entertainment furniture, still with all the speakers in front, near the TV. Obviously, those people don't want to string wires across the room. I don't blame them.
On one hand it'll sound "fine," but the envelopment the film sound mixers worked so hard to achieve will be lost. Don't worry, the Dolby Police won't arrest you for improper placement and the certain destruction of the filmmaker's intent.
If you have all of your speakers sitting in a pile, but I've made you a little curious, temporarily move the surround speakers out into the room. Put 'em on something to get them off the floor: A chair, bookcase, furniture, and so on. Play a few big action flicks and see what's up with surround. It might surprise you and just maybe you'll be inspired enough to make the effort to find permanent, around the room locations for the surround speakers. Hey, in 5.1 it's only two skinny wires.
... Read moreDolby has a new surround format: Pro Logic IIz.
Here we go again. Another new format with more speakers, but this time, the "surround" speakers are in the front of the room, three or four feet above the left-and right-main speakers. These height channels are designed to provide a greater sense of envelopment than previous generations of Dolby or DTS surround.
With Pro Logic IIz, some receivers will produce 9.1 channel surround.
(Credit: Dolby)Pro Logic IIz incorporates all of the features and capabilities of Pro Logic IIx.
"Expanding on established Dolby Pro Logic II matrix-decoding innovations, Dolby Pro Logic IIz identifies and decodes spatial cues that occur naturally in all content--stereo and 5.1 broadcast, music CDs, DVDs, 5.1 and 7.1 Blu-ray Discs, and video games," the Dolby site further explains. "Dolby Pro Logic IIz processes low-level, uncorrelated information--such as ambiance and some amorphous effects like rain or wind--and directs it to the front height speakers."
(Credit:
Dolby)
You don't have to buy new, specially encoded discs to experience Pro Logic IIz, but do you really want to buy another pair of speakers, wall-mount them, and run a pair of speaker wires up your wall, to the sides of your TV?
Dolby doesn't require the height speakers to be identical to the main-left or -right speakers. Some Pro Logic IIz systems will use a total of nine speakers (five front, four rear), plus one or more subwoofers.
Onkyo's TX-SR607 ($599 MSRP) is the first receiver to feature Pro Logic IIz; the company will soon offer additional models equipped with the new Dolby processor, to be announced later this year.
Onkyo's TX-SR607, Pro Logic IIz equipped.
(Credit: Onkyo)Then again, Yamaha's higher-end receivers have had height, aka "Presence," channels for years. Those extra speakers supplement the sound from the front speakers with ambient effects produced by Yamaha's proprietary Cinema DSP, which provides various multichannel configurations up to 11 channels. Obviously, Dolby's Pro Logic IIz uses different technology, though the end result may be similar.
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Thanks to Dolby Volume, too-loud commercials, inaudible dialog, overly loud special effects, and inconsistent volume will all be a thing of the past, says Dolby spokesman Craig Eggers.
Dolby Volume improves the listening experience "by leveling the volume across channels and programs while preserving the listening experience at any volume level." To hear Dolby Volume, you'll need to buy a new receiver, like Harman Kardon's AVR 7550HD or Arcam's FMJ AVR600. They're the first two A/V receivers that feature Dolby Volume, but we expect to see it appear in a wide range of TVs, home theater in a box systems, and more over the next few years.
Hardware manufacturers are free to implement Dolby Volume in slightly different ways, and some will offer low, medium, and high levels of the Dolby Volume "effect." So the degree of volume consistency may be user-selectable.
The sophisticated technology measures and controls perceived volume levels to provide a consistent volume listening experience. Eggers confirmed that Dolby Volume is fully compatible with all sources: Blu-ray, DVD, TV, CD, MP3, iPods, FM radio, analog and digital, including, yes, DTS-encoded DVDs and Blu-ray Discs!
But Dolby Volume isn't just about maintaining consistent volume, it also preserves the apparent tonal balance, so even during hushed late-night listening sessions you'll still hear the same bass and treble balance as you would with the level turned up loud.
I haven't heard Dolby Volume yet, but if it works as advertised it really will be amazing. No more mad dashes across the room to turn down the volume when changing sources or discs. I can't wait.
DBJ listens at Dolby Labs.
(Credit: Home Entertainment)You bought an audio-video receiver a couple of years ago, and now you're wondering whether it's time to trade up and get a model that features Dolby and DTS' new lossless codecs, TrueHD and Master Audio, respectively.
Judging by the numbers they should sound markedly better than standard Dolby and DTS, but according to a recent article in Home Entertainment magazine, the sonic differences were small to negligible. You can read the full article here.
David Birch-Jones and HE's editor-in-chief, Geoff Morrison, visited Dolby Laboratories and DTS' headquarters to listen to the new formats under ideal conditions, comparing them to standard Dolby and DTS. Birch-Jones and Morrison were hard-pressed to hear significant differences.
I have limited experience listening to the two contenders, and I never managed to do speedy A-B comparisons. That said, from what I've heard, I thought that TrueHD and DTS Master Audio were better than the older formats, especially in the areas of imaging, spaciousness, top-end detail, and "air."
... Read moreAs an audio guy I'm super curious about HD DVD and Blu-ray's high-resolution audio formats, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-Master Audio. Yes, they've been around for awhile now, but listening to the super duper formats hasn't been easy. I haven't yet heard them at home, and show demos haven't been of much help in determining the sonic advantages of the lossless formats. The potential for much better than standard Dolby and DTS sound is there, but getting there, well, I'm still waiting.
Thomas J. Norton's recent Ultimate AV column described in detail just how tricky the road to high-rez sound can be, even for someone as tech savvy as Norton. Yes, you need a HDMI 1.3 HD player hooked up to a HDMI 1.3 A/V receiver like Onkyo's TX-SR875, along with discs encoded in either of the lossless formats, but even then, there's no guaranty you're gong to hear high-rez sound. Norton concludes that the first generation HDMI 1.3 Blu-ray and HD DVD players cannot pass Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio at FULL resolution. True, there may be new or modified chips that can, but Norton's unaware of any currently available players equipped with the new chip. What can I say, other than buyer beware?
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