[John Mason]

Anyone aware of Dolby Headphone hardware (non-computer) out yet suitable for surround-sound listening? The technology seemed to be favorably received at the winter CES in Vegas. As I understand it, you can plug in any headphones and through signal processing a Dolby Headphone adapter creates the surround-sound experience of multiple speakers...or at least tries to. Listeners said it successfully eliminated the in-your-head effect of headphones. Believe some companies are now marketing the technology for desktop computers and games; one version is software only, I believe.


Since loudspeakers aren't practical with my new RPTV setup (don't ask), I'm keen on acquiring an adapter with Dolby Headphone circuits, ideally one that would accept at least two pairs of headphones.


I'm aware of other adapters out there, such as Sennheiser's, but would like to try the latest first. Thanks.


--John

 

[bobkoure]

Quote:

Originally posted by John Mason: Anyone aware of Dolby Headphone hardware ... I'm aware of other adapters out there, such as Sennheiser's, but would like to try the latest first. Thanks. --John

I was interested in Dolby Headphone a while back and posted questions on alt.hometheater.misc. The responses I got (fom folks who had been at CES) was lukewarm at best (so second hand info - I haven't heard these myself)

I've currently got a sennheiser Lucas and it's not bad - not the same as a set of speakers, but much more spacious and "outside your head" than headphones without the processor. I would *not* use it for music listening.

Take a look at http://headwize.com/articles/accguide_art.htm#image for headphone-surround-sound background and a bunch of useful headphone links.

I *have* heard good things about the Sony surround-sound cordless headphones. I've also heard good reports of the Hearos. As well, Sennheiser has a RF headphone (RS60 ?) with HRTF (surround sound) built in - but Sennheiser USA doesn't appear to be bringing them in (yet?). I've postponed auditioning any of the three untill I can do it with all three and decide.

BTW, these last decode digital audio - have their own DD 5.1 decoders. I * made sure my new receiver has digital audio out just to support this (not yet owned) headphone processor.

Bob

 

[John Mason]

Bob,

Appreciate the info on surround-sound headphones. Ran a net search a while back, came across the headwiz site, and filed away a few reference articles. I didn't realize the Sony system was wireless; maybe I'm thinking of a different package. Did come across one review of the Sony and recall the reviewer wasn't very impressed. Wouldn't mind a wireless Sennheiser, if it does the job, although I'm already using a Sennheiser model and hoped to just plug it into a Dolby Headphone adapter. While I'd like the advantage of wire-free phones, I don't think I would invest in *anything* now with NiCads and the 'memory' disadvantage. Sent an e-mail to the U.S. distributor for Dolby Headphone technology; they just said to contact headphone manufacturers. When I noticed the digital audio out on my new RPTV, that gave me the idea of using a headphone adapter that will take the digital signal. By the way, over in the tweaks section, they just completed a long session with a Dolby rep who answered questions. Headphones were mentioned only once; he seemed to be emphasizing a more advanced and no doubt more-expensive technology.


--John

 

[bobkoure]

The "Dolby Headphone" technology was licensed (I believe) from Lake (now Lake Digital? They've changed their name, anyway) in Australia.

I don't think Dolby Labs developed any of Dolby Headphone.

I did a big search on DH a while back, trying to see if it'd be in the 2000 model receivers (good reason to wait). the (eventual) idea is that this'd just be part of your headphone out. The answer, BTW, was "no".

I'm currently using (as I mentioned) a Sennehiser Lucas with Sennheiser IR wireless phones. It clearly didn't occur to them that anyone would do this (the wall warts are different voltages. Again, it's not a music system, but it's fine for theater. The same processor and HRTF functions are still available from Sennheiser as the 360 - only it's got just one HRTF function (rather than a bunch that you can select from). It only decodes Pro Audio (but the surround effect isn't so great that it matters).

I get mixed reviews on the Sonys - some folks love 'em and other's don't thing they do anything at all. These use a "universal" HRTF as well, so they either work for you or not.

Check out Sennheiser's European site (sennheiser.com) for their new wireless surround-sound phones. I have no idea if they're any good, though.

If you get to listen to any surround phones, please post how they worked for you.

Oh, and if you find yourself heading to the Boston area, drop me an email, and you're welcome to try out the Lucas (If you want, bring your own headphones to see how they'd work with this processor, and maybe a DVD you're already familiar with).

Bob

 

[Roger Dressler]

Maybe I can shed some light on Dolby Headphone since I was the one who shepherded it into Dolby. As reported, the technology comes from Lake Technology of Sydney, Australia. Dolby’s main role was to help in the development of the room “filters†to make them sound like a home theater as opposed to other environments. And then of course to license it to various companies.


Prior to joining forces with Lake, Dolby had worked closely with Virtual Listening Systems (their Toltec process is inside the Lucas unit) and Sony (TheaterPhone) as their products were being developed, as we were very excited by the prospect of having surround sound over headphones. There were earlier systems but they didn’t even come close. As Dolby worked with these companies in detail we learned more about the limits of binauralization and how difficult it is to


a) get an “OOH†effect (Out Of Head)

b) keep tonal colorations low to reduce fatigue and sound good with music

c) have low latency (so the sound stays in sync with video)

d) do it all in reasonably MIPs of current DSPs


If it were easy, you would see lots of these things out there, and they would sound real good. But you don’t, because it isn’t. When we heard what Lake was able to achieve, we knew it was something we'd never heard before.


While 3 DSP companies announced Dolby Headphone (DH) support earlier this year (Analog Devices, Motorola, and Zoran), the first to be certified happened just last week. So we have seen it appear in PCs first, mainly in Japan.


DH works very well with Sennheisers (I use HD600), AKGs, and other headphones that were tuned for optimal binaural use. But it actually works well with any headphones so long as both drivers are well matched. It’s working very well on Singapore Air and Quantas with their cheap noise canceling phones.


Our hardware licensees are talking seriously about launching some products in the fall, but nothing is official right now. I hope this answers your questions.


This was my first post, and I followed Jim Fosgate over here. Wait until you hear PLII and DH together!

 

[John Mason]

Hi Roger,

Many thanks for clearing things up...and then some! Welcome to the forum(s). I'm new here (actively) myself. Hope you can keep us up to date as any new DH products, especially those suitable for home theater use, begin to emerge. Perhaps a preview listening report would be all right here, or even reference to one published elsewhere.


Guess I'll hold off acquiring another adapter then. I saved the thread about PLII but haven't studied it yet. A product that enhances DH still further is indeed intriguing!


--John

 

[WynsWrld98]

I was at the Vegas CES this year. I heard the Dolby Headphone demo and was VERY impressed with it.


They showed footage from one of the Star Trek movies that's in Dolby Digital 5.1 (certainly not DTS in a Dolby room -- hee hee). They had people watch and listen to a scene that was playing through speakers located in the room. Then they had people put on the Dolby Headphones and replayed the same scene.


The surround sound effect was so good that you swore what you were hearing was the speakers in the room, not sound from the headphones. I was blown away by it. I have no idea how they can get that much spaciousness out of headphones. Talk about a great feature for an a/v maniac who lives in an apartment and wants to play an action movie loud, this is the answer! The neighbors won’t even know.


In contrast, I thought the SACD/DVD-Audio was a bust. Of all the places that were playing it, I didn't hear a single A/B comparison of SACD/DVD-Audio vs. a normal audio CD. If it is truly an impressive improvement over a normal audio CD, don't you think the best way to prove this is with an A/B comparison? My feeling is they feared a lot of people wouldn't hear any differences. I'm not saying there aren't any differences but I suspect they're very subtle to most people.

 

[John Mason]

Delighted to hear from you, WynsWrld98. Hadn't seen any detailed reports about the show demo until yours, and the brief reports seemed enthusiastic. Now that the DSPs are becoming available, as Roger mentioned, I hope the manufacturers will get h/t hardware out before the next show. Don't plan on waiting endlessly. When JVC just postponed its Dahlia RPTV also unveiled in Vegas, I switched to Philips' 2nd-generation RPTV.


Haven't really kept up with the latest audio disc flavors. Thought my new Toshiba SD-6200 handled the one you mentioned, but going through the owner's manual I don't see any reference.


--JF


[This message has been edited by John Mason (edited July 28, 2000).]