[Jive Turkey]

With the B&K Reference 30 set to either surround EX or THX EX, and used with non-EX encoded Dolby 5.1 material, is the information that is sent to the center rear channel ONLY the material that is in both the left and right surrounds and in-phase, or is does out of phase material find it's way to there as well?


How about if I set it to DTS EX (there is no ES setting) for standard DTS 5.1 encoded movies?


See ya. Dave

 

[sdurani]

Dave,
Quote:

...is the information that is sent to the center rear channel ONLY the material that is in both the left and right surrounds and in-phase, or is does out of phase material find it's way to there as well?

Only information that is in-phase AND mono (equal volume in both surround channels) is sent to the surround-back channel. Any surround information that is out-of-phase OR stereo, stays at your sides in the regular left & right surround channels. This allows the recording engineer to do a neat trick with EX encoded movies: have mono information go to the surround-back channel (by mixing those sounds in-phase) or have mono information stay firmly in the left & right surround channels (by mixing those sounds out-of-phase).


Best,

Sanjay

 

[Jive Turkey]

Quote:

Originally posted by sdurani Dave, Only information that is in-phase AND mono (equal volume in both surround channels) is sent to the surround-back channel. Any surround information that is out-of-phase OR stereo, stays at your sides in the regular left & right surround channels. This allows the recording engineer to do a neat trick with EX encoded movies: have mono information go to the surround-back channel (by mixing those sounds in-phase) or have mono information stay firmly in the left & right surround channels (by mixing those sounds out-of-phase). Best, Sanjay

Thanks for your input.


How about if I set it to "DTS" and "EX" (there is no ES setting) for standard DTS 5.1 encoded movies?


Also, do the DTS 5.1 "ES" soundtracks respond to the "EX" matrix the same as a Dolby track? As an example, "Gladiator" can be played in DTS ES matrix format. My pre/pro will let me set it to both "DTS" and "EX" (for center surround). Would having a DTS "ES" setup on my receiver give me a different playback than if set in the "EX" mode?


See ya. Dave

 

[sdurani]

Dave,
Quote:

My pre/pro will let me set it to both "DTS" and "EX" (for center surround). Would having a DTS "ES" setup on my receiver give me a different playback than if set in the "EX" mode?

First things first: it's not a "centre surround" or "centre rear" channel; it's the "surround-back" channel. If you check the THX, DTS and Dolby sites you'll notice that they never use the word "centre" (because those sounds are supposed to image behind you, NOT in the middle of the back wall).


With some extremely minor differences, EX and ES decoding use the same principles. If your pre-pro will let you apply EX decoding to DTS sources, then it should sound fine.


Most current ES decoders allow the decoding of ES (matrix) and the newer ES Discrete 6.1 format (used, for example, on the 'Gladiator' DVD you mentioned). DTS ES 6.1, with its discrete surround-back channel, is marketed as sounding superior to standard ES (which has a matrixed surround-back channel, like EX). However, in my experience, the difference between DTS's discrete and matrixed surround-back channels is negligible.


So, since your processor has the ability to apply EX deciding to 5.1 DD and DTS sources, I wouldn't bother upgrading just to get official ES decoding.


Best,

Sanjay

 

[Jive Turkey]

Quote:

Originally posted by sdurani So, since your processor has the ability to apply EX deciding to 5.1 DD and DTS sources, I wouldn't bother upgrading just to get official ES decoding. Best, Sanjay

You've cleared things up for me quite a bit. I appreciate you taking the time.


See ya. Dave