rxv1500 PLii & DTS neo

[nate dog]

Maybe a silly question, but is there any difference between PLii and DTS neo? I'm guessing one decoder was written by dolby and one by dts, but I cant hear any difference between the two. Is there supposed to be a discernable difference?

 

[Leprkon]

Maybe a silly question, but is there any difference between PLii and DTS neo? I'm guessing one decoder was written by dolby and one by dts, but I cant hear any difference between the two. Is there supposed to be a discernable difference?

according to the Yamaha 2500 book, PLii is a Dolby Digital 7 channel processing and Neo is a DTS 6 channel processing. I guess you might hear a difference if you have a 7 channel system, where you might get some seperation in the "back" rears on PLii, but would not have any seperation on the same system with Neo....

The book also indicates, but not clearly at all, that Neo can be used with a 2 channel input but PLii requires multi-channel...

 

[Nomo]

I do have a 7.1 set-up, but I'm not convinced that the difference lies there.
While Neo 6 sends a certain amount of signal to the surrounds, (Pick a number, let's say 30%), PLii seems to force more sound to the surrounds (Again, pick a number 35%?).
The difference is subtle at best. I guess between the two I prefer PLii music.

 

[nate dog]

Thanks for the responses. I guess part of the reason I cant tell a difference is because I'm using a 5.1 system. I tend to "default" to neo for a listening mode although I really cant tell much (if any) difference.

 

[S.R. Johnson]

nate dog:

PL II is basiclly dolby digital for any 2 channel source. The same thing applies for DTS Neo:6. But Neo:6 if for use with 6.1 systems. PL IIx is for both 6.1 and 7.1 systems.The thing is if you have and 5.1 speaker system, you could listen either PL II or Neo:6 with your setup. I have an Yamaha RX-V440 and it has both the PL II and Neo:6 and I think that PL II has a better sound on both music and movie mode than Neo:6

 

[rschleicher]

One other comment is that if you look in your manual, it describes what sound field adjustments are possible for each mode. The PLII/PLIIx decoders have several parameter adjustments possible, including overall front/rear balance, "spreading" of the front channel info to the surrounds, and spreading of the center channel info to the fronts. These parameters are set to different defaults for the Movie, Music, and Game sub-modes, but you can play with them yourself. (The PLII/PLIIx Music mode spreads more of the center channel to the front speakers, whereas the Movie mode has a more centrally-concentrated center channel, for example.) The Neo 6 mode also lets you play with the center/front balance, but not the front/rear and front/surround mix.

 

[pynchon]

Just as an interesting aside regarding surround processing. Here is a great quick interview with the inventor of Logic 7 that can be found on Lexicon and some HK products:
http://www.smr-home-theatre.org/Lexicon/dg_qa1.html

 

[zumbo]

I do not know if this is correct, but here is what I do. I use PLII(movie) for 2-channel tv. I only use DTS if the source is DTS. I only use DD if the source is DD, and so on. I believe the idea for Pro-Logic is to turn 2-channel into multi, and PLII is just an upgrade for a seven channel mix. I listen to 2-channel music in (direct stereo) or (straight) if I want the sub on. Most of the time I use (straight). I am not a fan of taking a 2-channel music source and making it multi. But, thats just me.

 

[Duffinator]

I use my sound fields almost exactly as ZUMBO. I prefer PLIIx over Neo 6 any day for both music and TV. I use PLII Music if there is a concert or musical on TV that I'm watching. Logic 7 is terrific and better than both IMO but it won't do Nate Dog any good with his Yamaha 1500.

 

[zumbo]

Yup. I switch to PLII (music) for tv concert stuff also!