Newbie question about 2.1 vs 5.1 for music

H

Humble1

Audioholic Intern
Hey All,

I have a quick newbie question. I just got my new HT system (Ascends) and I have noticed that while listening to music in surround the rear speakers cut in and out. For example while listening to Norah Jones I noticed that the rear speakers would be playing fine, then right before she is about to speak/sing they dip down a level and no singing/voice comes out. Is this normal? Also, is this why it is better to listen to music in 2.1 vs 5.1? Thanks in advance
 
P

prospectm

Audiophyte
Your reciever is putting out a surround signal where the song was recorded for the vocals to be in L/R/C.
 
adwilk

adwilk

Audioholic Ninja
Depending on what you're listening to, most music is encoded to be listened to in two channels. A left and right speaker are capable of recreating the entire soundstage. A sub helps when the L/R can't reach the lower notes without compromising the mid and high ranges. This will almost always be best for listening to most music tracks unless they were encoded for multichannel listening (SACD, DVD-A are some examples) That said, I sometimes don't mind using PLIIMusic or some other DSP mode. Its up to your processor to decide what material will be played by the surround speakers. Back in the days of ProLogic, it was done strictly by frequency, other DSP modes work in various ways.

I would stick to 2.1 in your case, especially when listening to something as wonderful as Norah Jones. You should be able to set up those speakers to create a very realistic soundstage in front of you.
 
adwilk

adwilk

Audioholic Ninja
I guess I could add, to make sure everything is working as it should, see if your receiver has a 5 channel stereo, or a stereo all, or some other mode that plays a stereo signal to all the speakers. You should hear vocals out of every speaker then.
 
H

Humble1

Audioholic Intern
Thanks Adwilk. The speakers in back work fine, I just noticed this with the CD I was listening to as I had my ear to the speakers. I will do what you suggested. Thanks again.
 
JerryLove

JerryLove

Audioholic Ninja
or the AVR may thing there is ProLogic encoded if he has the surround mode on "auto".
 
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