I have two separate questions...
(1) I want to get opinions and feedback from people with personal experience in the following matter. I have the Onkyo TX-SR805 with a 7.1 (THX) speaker setup. The Ultra2 Cinema/Music/Game modes take advantage of the ASA speaker configuration, right? I am (barely) beginning to watch movies and play PS3 games in uncompressed 7.1ch formats (no bitstream output of DTHD/DTSMA for PS3 quite yet) through HDMI. My dilema is which speaker configuration to use.. I know as you spread the SBR & SBL apart (& set THX SB spacing in menu accordingly) the ASA effect is reduced. Even THX says the speakers should be touching. I DO watch a lot of 5.1 movies, as most of you probably do as well, so the Ultra2 Cinema mode is especially important to me to get the full effect. What happens if I use this configuration for true 7.1 pcm audio? I am assuming since the 805 only allows the "THX Cinema" mode while playing back 7.1 pcm, that the ASA is NOT active and therefore the SBL and SBR speakers will have little or no audio separation.. What do YOU recommend/what are your experiences with this dilema??
Question (2): Without regard to the first question, the owners manual for the 805 provides what I'd consider a very minimum of information regarding setup (especially THX setup) of listening modes and speaker configurations. I have read on Home Theatre HIFI (can't find page at the moment) that Ultra2 Cinema IS in fact able to recognize the surround EX flag and play it back properly. My receiver by default is set to "auto" in the menus which switches it into the THX Surround EX mode, cancelling Ultra2 Cinema mode. When playing EX material with the SB speakers touching (as in ASA setup) IN the THX-EX mode, the SB speakers become more localizable and if your're sitting off center, it seems to draw your attention to the location of the speakers. IF IN FACT Ultra2 Cinema can decode EX material, then I would ASSUME it would spread the SB information out a little toward the side surrounds much like it spreads the side surrounds toward the SB speakers when listening to 5.1 NON-EX material. In this case, the reciever menus allow you to switch the "Auto" mode to "Manual" allowing you to pick pretty much any playback mode. I just don't want to do something stupid and shoot myself in the foot. By that I mean, maybe the info I read about Ultra2 Cinema being able to recognize and decode EX was wrong and I'd be losing some playback audio.. ANY insight you can provide would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks for your time!!! Levi
(1) I want to get opinions and feedback from people with personal experience in the following matter. I have the Onkyo TX-SR805 with a 7.1 (THX) speaker setup. The Ultra2 Cinema/Music/Game modes take advantage of the ASA speaker configuration, right? I am (barely) beginning to watch movies and play PS3 games in uncompressed 7.1ch formats (no bitstream output of DTHD/DTSMA for PS3 quite yet) through HDMI. My dilema is which speaker configuration to use.. I know as you spread the SBR & SBL apart (& set THX SB spacing in menu accordingly) the ASA effect is reduced. Even THX says the speakers should be touching. I DO watch a lot of 5.1 movies, as most of you probably do as well, so the Ultra2 Cinema mode is especially important to me to get the full effect. What happens if I use this configuration for true 7.1 pcm audio? I am assuming since the 805 only allows the "THX Cinema" mode while playing back 7.1 pcm, that the ASA is NOT active and therefore the SBL and SBR speakers will have little or no audio separation.. What do YOU recommend/what are your experiences with this dilema??
Question (2): Without regard to the first question, the owners manual for the 805 provides what I'd consider a very minimum of information regarding setup (especially THX setup) of listening modes and speaker configurations. I have read on Home Theatre HIFI (can't find page at the moment) that Ultra2 Cinema IS in fact able to recognize the surround EX flag and play it back properly. My receiver by default is set to "auto" in the menus which switches it into the THX Surround EX mode, cancelling Ultra2 Cinema mode. When playing EX material with the SB speakers touching (as in ASA setup) IN the THX-EX mode, the SB speakers become more localizable and if your're sitting off center, it seems to draw your attention to the location of the speakers. IF IN FACT Ultra2 Cinema can decode EX material, then I would ASSUME it would spread the SB information out a little toward the side surrounds much like it spreads the side surrounds toward the SB speakers when listening to 5.1 NON-EX material. In this case, the reciever menus allow you to switch the "Auto" mode to "Manual" allowing you to pick pretty much any playback mode. I just don't want to do something stupid and shoot myself in the foot. By that I mean, maybe the info I read about Ultra2 Cinema being able to recognize and decode EX was wrong and I'd be losing some playback audio.. ANY insight you can provide would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks for your time!!! Levi