Did you use the center for Music?

[Good4it]

Do you listen with the center speaker on or off for music?

 

[hemiram]

It's on, always. Whenever I turn it off, it's just not right. I don't run it very high though. Just enough to "fill in" the hole it seems to have without it. It doesn't matter what speakers I had for L+R, or how close they were, it just seems to sound better with it on.

 

[Cain Galata]

Do you listen with the center speaker on or off for music?

Yes I use the center channel also. It makes it sound fuller and better. But I will say the difference is more noticeable on my living room system where my center is significantly better than my L/R speaker vs my bedroom where the quality is all the same.


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[AcuDefTechGuy]

Only if it is discrete Center Channel, not matrix or DSP.

I have a few discrete Multi-Channel music on Blu-ray:
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds Live at Radio City Hall - Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Heart Alive in Seattle - Dolby DTS-HD MA 5.0
Adele Live at Royal Albert Hall - DTS HD-MA 5.1
Soundstage Sheryl Crow Live - DTS HD-MA 5.1
Celine Dion Live in Las Vegas - Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Eagles Farewell Tour Live from Melbourne DTS-HD MA 5.1

 

[j_garcia]

If the center is not part of the track, then no.

 

[lovinthehd]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no if matrixing, depends on the music/recording. Can't think of any multi-ch mixes I'd downmix to 2ch.

 

[Swerd]

Sometimes yes and sometimes no. It depends on the recording and my whim.

 

[speakerman39]

I am merely a music guy. Not much HT for me. As such, I much prefer to listen to my music in stereo. It just sounds more right to me that way. Not that using a center is bad. Just prefer to keep it in stereo. My only interest in using a center is to improve dialogue intelligibility.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[Bucknekked]

Do you listen with the center speaker on or off for music?

I'm a music only guy where my best system resides and for me, its stereo only (plus a sub). No center channel.
That's not to say for anyone else I'm pushing the stereo only option. I'm not. I just grew up with it using the phantom center and I just happen to love the way it sounds. That magic image, not really there at all but totally there in my mind, never fails to amaze me.

YMMV and to each his own.

 

[2channel lover]

I only have one system and it's set up for HT and music.

Being a long time 2 ch guy...80 to 90% of of my collection is stereo. Admittedly I've gotten into multi-ch audio with this new system, but most of the mc CDs I have don't send anything to the ctr.

The 5.1 bluray concerts I have do send content to the center.

2 ch done right is still great, but I concede some multi-ch audio is awesome.

 

[2channel lover]

Only if it is discrete Center Channel, not matrix or DSP.

I have a few discrete Multi-Channel music on Blu-ray:
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds Live at Radio City Hall - Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Heart Alive in Seattle - Dolby DTS-HD MA 5.0
Adele Live at Royal Albert Hall - DTS HD-MA 5.1
Soundstage Sheryl Crow Live - DTS HD-MA 5.1
Celine Dion Live in Las Vegas - Dolby TrueHD 5.1

I've got half a dz titles now one being the Adele you mentioned...awesome...the Song Super Charge Ctr proves it's worth on this blu ray

 

[j_garcia]

I have a LOT of blu-ray concert and audio discs with some excellent DTS-HD MA tracks that sound amazing. It isn't a matter of using the center, it is part of the experience. They're mastered this way though. I am not a diehard about it, but typically I listen the way it was mastered.

Steven Wilson puts out most everything on BD in DTS-HD now and his mixes are among the best, though I often listen to the 2ch tracks too. Porcupine Tree is re-releasing the Arriving Somewhere concert disc on Blu-ray which is from the Deadwing tour and it is being remastered with a DTS-HD MA track. IMO, that one will be a must have.

I have that Dave Mathews and Tim Reynolds disc that ADTG mentioned and it is pretty awesome.

The Blue Man Group discs are also a ton of fun too. I have Audio (dts) and The Complex (DVD-A) both of which feature some really great multichannel audio.

 

[snakeeyes]

Will check out the Dave Matthews. I have seen him live. I love 5.1 music but wish there was more variety. I don’t see anything wrong with using the center if it is capable and adds rather than subtracts to the sound of the music. It is interesting how in Genes DSU video how he talks about using DSU with music, including upmix to the ceiling speakers too.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Will check out the Dave Matthews. I have seen him live. I love 5.1 music but wish there was more variety. I don’t see anything wrong with using the center if it is capable and adds rather than subtracts to the sound of the music. It is interesting how in Genes DSU video how he talks about using DSU with music, including upmix to the ceiling speakers too.

Dave and Tim is a must. If I had a dollar for every time we’ve watched it, I’d have a few dollars. Lol
My wife even puts it on for background music. Really well done. The aforementioned Adele is great too.

 

[snakeeyes]

Dave and Tim is a must. If I had a dollar for every time we’ve watched it, I’d have a few dollars. Lol
My wife even puts it on for background music. Really well done. The aforementioned Adele is great too.

I ordered the Blu Ray so looking forward to it.

How is the atmos project going with the RSLs?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I ordered the Blu Ray so looking forward to it.

How is the atmos project going with the RSLs?

Hey man, thanks for asking. As is common for most of us, life got in the way and those RSL’s are still serving as mains in my bedroom system. The other two are still in the box.(maybe I’ll rotate them so they’ll all be broke in when I install lol) Fwiw, they are really nice sounding speakers and I have no doubt they’ll be great as my height speakers. I just have to get caught up on a few honey do things. I should point out that I’m extremely frustrated for having to wait. But there is a great number of atmos tracks for me to check out when I finally get there.
Btw, if you periodically enjoy the heavier side of things, Staind at Mohegan sun is fantastic and Rush “R30” is too. I also just got the Eagle’s farewell from Australia. Wow. It’s crazy good. Some of the placements of sounds are interesting but my goodness, it sounds sooo good.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Oh, and as for center channel, it depends.

 

[MrBoat]

I don't have room for more detail or imaging. I can count the instruments in the music I listen to. Since we now have internet, there is no shortage of new to me, 2 channel music.

Waveguide horns, in my case, tend to provide a believable/cohesive center image without a center channel so it would be redundant in my case, per my listening habits and size of my space. The waveguide function of large (12" or more) woofers only adds to this effect (half of how we got/get by without additional channels) and half of why I insist on adequate displacement, room be damned, and it really has nothing to do with higher SPL. There is no hole no matter how close you get, even with the speakers almost even with each ear while looking straight ahead. It's not an overwhelming center image, but you can surmise the layout of the stage with a relatively high degree of accuracy.