Questions on Rear Surrounds & Front Hight Channels?

You're the only one that can know....after you test it for yourself. No big deal not having the rears, but people here have expressed different tastes when it comes to front height adding significant sound experience difference. And then, you have differing tastes between front height and front wides. This alone tells you that nobody can really answer your question, and that you'll just have to experiment. But taking a blind shot at it....I'd guess you'll appreciate the front height speakers better than the missing rears, as long as you position them properly.

I have a 9.1 setup that utilizes heights and wides and I would have to say that I really like what you get out of the height channels. I cannot speak for rear surrounds as I have never had them, but if you do not have 3-6 feet behind your listening position I have heard it is not even worth doing. Also, more and more TV channels are starting to implement specific heights sounds like FOX and ESPN. They really do a good job when watching sports. The dialogue I get out of them during sprting events is pretty cool. You can realy hear what is going on in the upper level of the stadiums. Just my opinion though.

No they're not. What you're hearing out of your height speakers is one of two things: decorrelated (out of phase) information from the surround channels (PLIIz) or early reflection processing (DSX). Height speakers may sound pleasing (and I wouldn't discourage anyone from using them), but there is no encoded height info (zero, zip, nada) in current soundtracks nor broadcasts.

I will have to find where I heard that. I said the same thing you did but somone a few weeks ago said that FOX for MLB and NFL games has mics setup high in the stadiums just for hieght content. I did not believe it at first, but I hear noises coming out of those speakers that I had never experienced before. Whether they do or not, I think it really adds to the experience.

Sports mixing has always involved capturing the stadium. While PLIIz does have a means to encode height cues, that feature is aimed at video games where discrete sounds might fly overhead. The ambiances for sports do not need specific encoding to be effectively captured and delivered in 5.1 mixes. And if you are using DSX, there is no encoder for that of any kind.

Yeah I have heard that some games are going to start integrating discrete height information in the future. I stand corrected about broadcast TV, I thought there was because there was another thread about this and someone on there swore up and down that the heights were recorded. Even though it is not discreet, I really like what heights bring to the table...wides not so much. The wides add to it, but I think heights bring more to the table.

It was probably me you are referring to about the Height on FOX(for MLB and NFL)...

No-where did I say the height was a "discrete channel".

What I said was...Dolby and Audyssey give their algorithm to the broadcaster(the same thing they do for movie makers).

Then that ALGORITHM is encoded into the DISCRETE channels so when you turn on your DSX/IIz...the ALGORITHM in your receiver has something to work with.

One of the first BD with DSX/IIz "specific content" was U-571. When the soundtrack is mastered(was in this case, past tense), it is possible to go into the mix and insert the ALGORITHM into specific audio modes. Meaning, the entire time the sound of "pressurized water" is to be heard, it comes from above. The ability to have "directional sound" has been around since 1945. That is why, even with a 5.1 soundtrack...and just 5.1 speakers, you are able to "perceive" a gunshot from above, or an earthquake from below. Those same "directional cues" that have been around since 1945...DSX and IIz can extract and use them for the height or wide. But NO-WHERE is it mentioned that these extra channels are DISCRETE.

Hi Roger,

Quick question, how does PLIIz handle a DTS-MA input signal. In other words, if I select PLIIz processing for DTS-MA does PLIIz extract information from DTS-MA for my height channels?

I use PLIIz for everything except DTS-MA and use DSX with DTS-MA (Integra DHC 80.1). Since there is so much DTS-MA in bluray (bluray is format preference) these days I was wondering if PLIIz and DTS-MA will play well together?

Thanks in advance

It happened before, too, where Gary Reber of Widescreen Review got a mini-industry started in add-on CSX-3jr boxes for decoding the height channel from "We Were Soldiers," only problem was that movie's DVD soundtrack had never been encoded with height.


But DSX has no encoding algorithm. Right?


You cannot insert an algorithm into a mix. The mix is not changed during mastering. EQ, dynamics, sync, clicks or errors, yes.


Do you have some reference that is the basis of all this?


DSX does not extract directional cues. It synthesizes room reflections.

Hi Robert,

PLIIz is codec agnostic. Works fine with any decent soundtrack or delivery format. No harm in trying.