I have a Yamaha HTR-6040 (a year old mid-low end of their receiver line) and I was wondering if anyone could clarify or guess what the "5 Ch Stereo" Hifi dsp processing on my receiver does when it receives a 5.1 signal?

According to the manual "this program increases the listening position range." They suggest using it for background music at parties, but I like the way it expands the sound to all the speakers, so I use it for pretty much any stereo or mono input, including video sound.

Both of my video devices (a popcorn hour and opp 980h) feed the receiver a digital signal so they can do any dolby or dts processing, but I tend to leave it on the 5 channel stereo sound, as opposed to switching it to Cinema DSP.

From my limited experience 5.1 sound quality varies greatly from movie to movie, so I really only switch it to the proper, presumably non-intrusive Cinema DSP if I think the movie was made with this type of audio output in mind.

What I'm curious about, is if this setting is actually doing something akin to down sampling to 2 channels and then expanding it again.

Can anyone help? TIA

5 channel stereo is not recommended for general listening. The exception is the party type situation. It copies the L&R channels idendically to their respective surrounds and feeds the sum of L&R to the center. You certainly don't want to use it with 5.1 sources. I would think that would first downmix the 5.1 to 2 channel stereo and then apply the 5 channel stereo mode. A big step backwards. Try Dolby PL II Music for 2 channel sources. The Music flavor allows you to customize the width and depth to your liking.

Ed

Thanks for the clarification, Ed. That's what I was afraid was happening with the 5.1 sound.

Based on what you're saying, my speakers must not be configured correctly. When I try dolby and other settings generally the sound seems like it's all coming from the front (some times the center speaker only). I listen to a lot of music from the 50-60s that's mono so that maybe the problem, but I find the 5 channel really envelopes the room more.

I thought the Auto-speaker setup would have fixed this, but it looks like I may need to play with the settings more.

Thanks for your help!

Based on what you're saying, my speakers must not be configured correctly. When I try dolby and other settings generally the sound seems like it's all coming from the front (some times the center speaker only). I listen to a lot of music from the 50-60s that's mono so that maybe the problem, but I find the 5 channel really envelopes the room more.

I thought the Auto-speaker setup would have fixed this, but it looks like I may need to play with the settings more.

Thanks for your help!5-channel stereo is fine for your music listening if that is how you prefer it. You could also try DPLII for music, as well.

But for movies 5-channel stereo would not be at all desirable. This would comletely ruin the 5.1 soundtrack as it was intended to be heard. 5.1 soundtracks are specifically mixed to be decoded appropriately as DD5.1 or DTS5.1 by the receiver. When movies are decoded properly, most of the dialogue WILL come from the center channel. The front channels and surround channels will be utilized as the sound engineer intended. Did you run the Auto-setup properly? Where did you place the mic?

My Denon which had and still has the best 2 to 5 channel simulation I've ever heard which is Denon's Matrix is the best mode for listening to stereo sources. DPLII just never cuts it. Matrix is perfect for any 2 channel source no matter what it is, movies, games, or music. On the other hand, 5 channel stereo has to be the most useless surround mode I've ever heard. Now that my main receiver is a Yamaha I have to constantly struggle with extremely unequal prologic 2 and DTS neo:6. I just listen to 2 channel in just 2 channel. Yeah, I'm still upset about my switch to Yamaha just because of that. In any case 5 channel stereo is as useless as tits on a bull.

Did you run the Auto-setup properly? Where did you place the mic?

I reran the auto-setup, as I'd lowered the speakers in the room recently, and fiddled with the setup program, which helped. Depending on the sound source, the sound is either perfect or a little weighted to the front for my tastes with the PL II Music settings. I'll continue to experiment, and see what works

In terms of the 5.1 sound, exb really answered my question. I'm in the final stage of an A/V upgrade and I'm trying to get rid of all the remotes besides my Harmony. I'm trying to figure out if I should plan on modification for the sounds settings in each "activity" or if one setting will work for each one.

On mono or older stereo movies I like the 5 channel, because overall volume can stay low so I can talk during the show, without missing any dialog since the sound is so spread out. My concern was getting the most of out high end shows and movies, and it sounds like I should use the Cinema DSP setting.

I've noticed a spectrum of quality when it comes to 5.1 sound from DVDs. There are some older movies, such as Airport (1973), which are processed as 5.1 DTS, and I wonder how much positioning could there really be. Some movies seem to relegate certain sounds (like the soundtrack music) to the surround speakers whereas other moves are genuinely immersive.

Below is the details of my environment. Given the placement it may be mission impossible, but there are other considerations besides sound quality in my house. :cool:

My living room is about 12x12 with an adjacent dining room so there's no seat on what would normally be the back wall, and my girlfriend and I generally sit on either side of the room, due to the furniture setup. The Front speakers are at about ear level when sitting, the center speaker is above the TV, about 5 feet off the ground, and the satellites are on the ceiling angled down and to the center. I positioned the speaker mike in the middle of the room between the positions where we normally sit.

Thanks for you help.

When I try dolby and other settings generally the sound seems like it's all coming from the front (some times the center speaker only). I listen to a lot of music from the 50-60s that's mono . . .

Yes, mono source is a problem. The algorithms have nothing to work with as far as steering content to various speakers. So a mono source processed through something like Dolby PL II usually will collapse to the center channel - after all, that's exactly what the recording was intended to do. But I still think that the Dolby PL II Music mode can force a mono signal to the L&R if you use the width parameter - at the extreme setting I think that the center should be silent and identical signals will come from the L&R. I'm not sure whether the other 2 parameters can send any info to the surrounds if the source is mono.

Ed