what's the point in 6.1, 7.1, 9.1 surround sound?

[bryantm3]

are there actually any DVDs or SACDs or anything that are in this format? it really seems like overkill to me. with that many speakers, you sorta lose the surround sound, don't you? i mean, to me it'd just sound all jammed together, like stereo.

 

[j_garcia]

6.1 is a real format. 7.1 and 6.1 are essentially the same thing, except one has 2 rear speakers. Each surround speaker is reproducing slightly different sounds, so it doesn't sound jammed together.

 

[tomd51]

If your listening area is fairly sizeable, 6.1/7.1 can make a noticeable difference in rear soundstage. In a smaller room, your less likely to need the additional channels if there's very little room behind the focal listening area.

Here's a fairly descriptive article on 6.1 and its benefits. In addition to this, here's an incomplete list of 6.1 encoded DVDs:

Gladiator
Top Gun: Special Collector's Edition
Titanic: Special Collector's Edition
Stir of Echoes
Stargate: Ultimate Edition
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence: Special Edition
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Version)
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, The (Extended Version)
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Version)
Blade 2
Cast Away
Blade Trinity
Saw: Special Edition
Saw 2
Se7enlatnium Edition
Alone in the Dark
Haunting, The
Austin Powers: Goldmember
Mask, The
Bad Taste: Limited Edition
Beastmaster, The
Jurassic Park III
Terminator 2 - Judgement Day: Ultimate Edition
Minority Report
Bones
Butterfly Effect
Chicken Run
Crash: Director's Cut
Dead and Buried
Highlander
Devil's Rejects, The
Dirty Dancing Ultimate Edition
Dumb and Dumber: Unrated Platinum Edition
Evil Dead
Final Countdown, The
Dawn of the Dead: Special Edition
Final Destination 2
Final Destination 3: 2 Disc Thrill Ride Edition
Fire and Ice
Ghost in the Shell
Vigilante
Hills Have Eyes, The
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
Lord of War
Maniac
My Brilliant Career
Open Water
Opera
Venom
Watcher in the Woods, The
Osterman Weekend, The
Running Man,The: SE
Running Scared
Rush Hour 2
Simone
Standing in the Shadows of Motown
Starstruck
Suspiria
Upside of Anger, The

 

[Hi Ho]

Someone gave me a single speaker the other day that was exactly the same thing as the surrounds in my system. I decided, today, to test the 6.1 capabilities of my receiver. My setup is anything but ideal for a 6.1 setup but, to say the least, I was unimpressed. The difference was... well, there really was no difference. I played Pirates of the Carribean which has a DTS ES track (or so my receiver says) and it didn't sound any different. I also tried Master and Commander with its plentiful surround effects and the extra rear speaker didn't make a bit of difference in my opinion. Not worth the effort.

 

[bryantm3]

Someone gave me a single speaker the other day that was exactly the same thing as the surrounds in my system. I decided, today, to test the 6.1 capabilities of my receiver. My setup is anything but ideal for a 6.1 setup but, to say the least, I was unimpressed. The difference was... well, there really was no difference. I played Pirates of the Carribean which has a DTS ES track (or so my receiver says) and it didn't sound any different. I also tried Master and Commander with its plentiful surround effects and the extra rear speaker didn't make a bit of difference in my opinion. Not worth the effort.

that's about what i thought. i'll be fine with 4.1 or 5.1.

 

[supervij]

Personally, I found a difference with one of my favourites, Saw. Its DTS 6.1 takes advantage of that rear speaker.

cheers,
supervij

 

[tomd51]

As I mentioned, if there's very little room behind the focal listening point, you're unlikely to notice much of a difference. I never needed/desired 6.1/7.1 in a setup in which I only have a few feet behind me, however in my main HT setup I have 7-10 feet behind the seating area. When implementing 6.1 in this setup, I noticed a more expansive sounstage in the rear. Moving to 7.1 made the soundstage slighty wider as well.

A good 5.1 setup is more than enough in a good number of listening environments, however if you have the room, you may benefit from the additional rears. This is somewhat of a subjective area, you'll find many people's opinions differ on this subject... -TD

 

[jcPanny]

Center channel

that's about what i thought. i'll be fine with 4.1 or 5.1.

The center channel speaker is critical for dialog on an HT soundtrack, so go for 5.1.

 

[j_garcia]

In my old room, I had about 4ft behind me, and the benefit of 6.1 was apparent. In my current room, I don't really have anywhere to put the extra speaker(s), and I am perfectly happy with 5.1.

 

[KevInCinci]

I've got probably 10' behind my seating area (not a dedicated, sealed-off home theater room, but entertainment area) and I use the 7.1. I went that way because I was having the basement finished and figured that I might want to take advantage of the rears in the future, even if not now. I went ahead and put the wiring in and eventually caved and added the speakers, too. ALthough there's a very limited selection of movies for it, I figured that eventually it will become the standard, perhaps after HD disks become mainstream. It's also handy for listening to music now, since I can set the receiver to output from all 7 and get consistent sound through the room for parties and such.

Cheers,

Kevin

 

[Giuseppe]

I hear that blu-ray is gonna support true 7.1 since they have all the extra space.

 

[bryantm3]

The center channel speaker is critical for dialog on an HT soundtrack, so go for 5.1.

you can't just do like stereo and have the centre coming through both left + right?
or will you hear nothing?

 

[tomd51]

If you chose to only have a 4.1 setup, you can select 'no center' or 'phantom' in your receiver settings. This will force the two mains to reproduce the dialogue and try to anchor it between the two.

While this does work, it's not as convincing as a center channel. I think what JC was eluding to was that a large portion of the soundtrack in movies emits from the center channel, so for the best results, a center channel is suggested... -TD

 

[bryantm3]

i'll probably start out with 4.1 and eventually move to 5.1.

 

[Jack Hammer]

IMO the benefits of 7.1 are very dependent on the movie itself. In Pearl Harbor (used DPLiix to make it 7.1) it makes a noticeable difference when the planes fly overhead. It goes from sounding good to being there. In my system, Master and Commander sounds better during battle scenes. But, in some movies (actually most movies) it really made no difference at all.

It's worth it for me for the action movies where it makes it better, but only since I already have it set up. 5.1 is more than adequate with most current movies on the market. I think once movies are recorded more for that format, it will make a larger difference.

Jack

 

[j_garcia]

Try Blade II or Gladiator in DTS-ES

 

[tomd51]

Gladiator is an excellent example of how the rear channels can be used effectively. Several of the battle scenes (Hell Unleashed, Battle of Carthage, Maximus the Merciful, etc.) use the rears quite effectively. Also in Master and Commander, during the first battle scene whenever the scene is focused primarily under the main deck, the noises (running, banging, etc.) above deck sound creepily realistic. I've had to literally pause it a couple of times watching it to make sure there wasn't something going on upstairs in my house!

To me, that's worth it... -TD

 

[Johnd]

Master and Commander, Gladiator, Star Wars and especially Pearl Harbor are all good examples of the benefits of 6.1/7.1 if your equipment and soundstage provide for it. The planes coming from behind and then passing overhead is one of the best examples of 7.1 making sound more realistic (than 5.1). Ultimately, the consumer needs to decide if the extra presence is worth the money (more speakers), and if his room will allow for it. Also, I believe that there are only about 150 films that meet the criteria. IMHO

 

[j_garcia]

Here is a list of DD-EX, DTS-ES (discrete and matrix) that is kept relatively up to date: List.

 

[samNOISE]

Receiver Matrixing

Thus far, this thread makes little mention of the built-in matrixing capabilities that are part and parcel of so many receivers in this day and age.

My affordable little Pioneer VSX-1014TX features a number of 'matrix-like' modes that can take any stereo, 2.1, 5.1 etc. signal and mess with it to push 7.1.

My room is set up for 7.1 and I get a kick out of it for movies and sometimes SACD Surround music (Floyd for instance).

IMHO 7.1 kicks ***, in fact I have 7.2 (two subs) running in my listening room and dig it!

7.1 (or '2') = Two thumbs up!

Andrew D.
www.cdnav.com