[joecmess]

Hello:

I hope this is the right place. I am gradually unloading gear going from a 5.1 to a 2 channel set up. Right now I have only left and right speakers, prepro, 7 channel amp, sub and bluray player without a multichannel analog out.

I have the blu ray player HDMI to the processor. The processor has the center and surround set to NONE.

I was watching Finding Nemo in the 7.1 mix and it sounded pretty 2 dimensional. I happened to stumble across a stereo mix in the settings and I switched over to it. The sound instantly became very 3 dimensional, throwing effects to the back and sides of the room, sharpened dialog and had much better resolution.

Given that most blurays don't include stereo mixes, would a bluray player like the Oppo with a decooder wired analog to a 2 channel integrated give me similar performance from downconverted mixes?

Thanks in advance!

 

[zgeneral]

A receiver can handle all of that. No need for a $1000 bluray player. I'd highly suggest a 3.1 system for movies. The center channel makes a big difference and subs do as well.

 

[Knucklehead90]

I watch a lot of movies in 2 channel. I have an Oppo 103 that down-mixes the stereo for me to a 2 channel preamp then out to the amp and speakers. If I want multi channel sounds the Oppo has 7.1 preamp out jacks with volume control - I connect the Oppo directly to the 5 channel amp for multi channel sounds. The preamp has HT bypass. My HT sub is a 15" one and connects directly to the Oppo - I don't use it for 2 channel as I have dual 12" sealed subs for music.

I don't often use the multi channel speakers as the stereo sound is fine with me.

 

[BassThatHz]

The answer is: yes. The Oppo 103 and 105 is able to downconvert to 2-ch all by itself, no need to buy another device to do it.
An Oppo to an integrated would work perfectly.

No need for a 7 channel amp and pre-pro, if that's your thing... (which clearly it is.)

 

[glangford]

I prefer my 2.0 with supercharged song towers for movies. I also use an Oppo bdp-95.

I do use an avr though for the down mixing. I use the Oppo analog for music and Hdmi for movies. I like to use dynamic volume which will suppress special effect sounds and bring out the dialog more, which is important for systems without a center channel. But an integrated using the oppo dedicated stereo outs of the 105, will work just fine.

 

[Blacklightning]

Hello:

I hope this is the right place. I am gradually unloading gear going from a 5.1 to a 2 channel set up. Right now I have only left and right speakers, prepro, 7 channel amp, sub and bluray player without a multichannel analog out.

I have the blu ray player HDMI to the processor. The processor has the center and surround set to NONE.

I was watching Finding Nemo in the 7.1 mix and it sounded pretty 2 dimensional. I happened to stumble across a stereo mix in the settings and I switched over to it. The sound instantly became very 3 dimensional, throwing effects to the back and sides of the room, sharpened dialog and had much better resolution.

Given that most blurays don't include stereo mixes, would a bluray player like the Oppo with a decooder wired analog to a 2 channel integrated give me similar performance from downconverted mixes?

Thanks in advance!

I'm I missing something here. I have a two channel system with my 7.1 AVR. I just keep my receiver in stereo or use the 2 channel output from my DVD Player.

3.1 is only good if you have multiseats. Other wise 2.1 is the way to way as this setup correctly will put sound all around you and your phantom center will not interfere with your real center.

 

[sivadselim]

Just be aware that most (no, not all, but almost all; some OPPOs may well be exceptions) players drop the LFE channel altogether from 2-channel downmixes of x.1 audio destined for their analog outputs. Whether this low frequency info is encoded to some degree in those soundtracks that are specifically mixed as stereo mixes, I do not know. But there are very few discs with stereo-specific mixes, anyway.

AVR's and pre-pros do not drop the LFE info when downmixing for 2-channel (or any subwooferless; 7.0, 6.0, 5.0, 4.0, 3.0, or 2.0) output.

joecmess, are you absolutely certain that you are applying the exact same processing and post-processing to the material you are comparing? Granted, they are two completely different soundtracks, and they may just be that different, but I would not have expected a huge difference. Is it possible your pre-pro is applying PLII (or other processing) to the 'stereo' mix? Is it possible the multichannel mix is DTS while the stereo mix isn't? Etc.?

 

[highfigh]

Hello:

I hope this is the right place. I am gradually unloading gear going from a 5.1 to a 2 channel set up. Right now I have only left and right speakers, prepro, 7 channel amp, sub and bluray player without a multichannel analog out.

I have the blu ray player HDMI to the processor. The processor has the center and surround set to NONE.

I was watching Finding Nemo in the 7.1 mix and it sounded pretty 2 dimensional. I happened to stumble across a stereo mix in the settings and I switched over to it. The sound instantly became very 3 dimensional, throwing effects to the back and sides of the room, sharpened dialog and had much better resolution.

Given that most blurays don't include stereo mixes, would a bluray player like the Oppo with a decooder wired analog to a 2 channel integrated give me similar performance from downconverted mixes?

Thanks in advance!

Many BD players will down-convert to stereo- it's in the settings. I have a Panasonic that I bought when the local Sears closed- paid $33 and it has this ability. I have never had a 5.1 system (my room really isn't good for that kind of arrangement) and movies sound great, as long as the settings in all of the equipment are correct.

 

[joecmess]

Just be aware that most (no, not all, but almost all; some OPPOs may well be exceptions) players drop the LFE channel altogether from 2-channel downmixes of x.1 audio destined for their analog outputs. Whether this low frequency info is encoded to some degree in those soundtracks that are specifically mixed as stereo mixes, I do not know. But there are very few discs with stereo-specific mixes, anyway.

AVR's and pre-pros do not drop the LFE info when downmixing for 2-channel (or any subwooferless; 7.0, 6.0, 5.0, 4.0, 3.0, or 2.0) output.

joecmess, are you absolutely certain that you are applying the exact same processing and post-processing to the material you are comparing? Granted, they are two completely different soundtracks, and they may just be that different, but I would not have expected a huge difference. Is it possible your pre-pro is applying PLII (or other processing) to the 'stereo' mix? Is it possible the multichannel mix is DTS while the stereo mix isn't? Etc.?

All I did was change the soundtrack from 7.1 to 2.0 in the bluray menu. The processor was in stereo, and only 2 speakers are hooked up - left and right. I will check this.

Does the processor automatically downconvert when you set center and surrounds to off?

 

[bluewizard]

Your TV and any decent BluRay player will down convert the disc audio track from 5.1 or 7.1 to 2.0. That's how I use my TV; HDMI from BluRay to TV, TV Optical Out to Stereo.

However, many DVD/BluRay DISCS contain a separate Stereo Track or Stereo Mix. This was mixed in the Studio, and very well could sound better than the 5.1 mix. Persumably the same engineer who made the 5.1 mix also make the unique Stereo mix.

We have to make a distinction between the two; a down-mix of 5.1 to stereo and a unique studio created Stereo Mix.

Generally I don't even bother to look. I just accept the 5.1 being mixed down into a 2.0 in my TV. Though, given that my BluRay has analog Stereo out, I could just as easily use the BluRay to down mix the audio track.

Given that you are moving from Surround Sound to Stereo, you can try all the possible sources, and decide which sounds best to you. Likely the first choice would be if the Disc itself had its own Stereo Mix. Second compare the down-mix of the BluRay vs that of the TV, and see if one stands out.

In the end, pick the one that is consistently best. Myself, I'm content with the down-mix in my TV. But now that you have me thinking about it, I have spare cables, maybe I will compare the TV down-mix to the BluRay down-mix.

For what it is worth.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[RayDunzl]

I have only two channel for sound, and I have to sheepishly admit it has never crossed my mind as to what 'mix' I might be listening to while watching any video source as long as it was in my native tongue.