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Seph
01-14-2006, 12:23 PM
Hello. I am Seph, a very confused amateur audiophile who seeks help from those that are willing to share their greater knowledge of the auditory realm. I am also willing to help those with a lesser knowledge than mine (if any are even present!).

I have always enjoyed music, but was very skeptical of all of the "high end" equipment and their marketing practices. I was content with my simple Creative 5.1 system for my computer, and Creative 2.1 system for my television. However, after giving in and purchasing a pair of Sennheiser HD280s earlier this year there was no turning back. I have since purchased some Sennheiser PMX60 portables and a Panasonic HT680 home theatre system.

I understand that the equipment falls short of anything that any members here probably have, but I need to start somewhere. As of now, I am quite content with my current hardware, but I am having difficulty figuring everything out. With so many competing technologies and standards it is hard to maximize the experience of any system, even one as simple as mine!

If any of you would find the time, I have the following concerns:

1. What is "dialogue enhancement?" Does it simply increase the volume of the center speaker channel (used for dialogue)? I'm assuming this is only recommended if you are having a problem with excess bass or something.

2. If I enable "center focus" (a Panasonic technology to play the dialogue through the FL and FR speakers to make it seem as if the dialogue is coming from the TV) wouldn’t it just ignore the reason for having a center channel to begin with? It sounds good enabled, but I don't understand why a center speaker channel is necessary with this function. Perhaps I answered my own question. Would you personally use this function? Will I get used to hearing dialogue from above the TV if I leave it disabled?

3. What exactly is Dolby Pro Logic II? I understand that it can take standard two-channel audio and "splice" it into 5.1 surround, but why would someone use this codec when playing audio that is already encoded in 5.1 channels? Isn't this redundant? Basically, if a movie is already playing in Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS, why would I want to enable Pro Logic II?

Seph
01-14-2006, 01:00 PM
Just one last question… an example situation…

Say you are playing a DVD on your computer in PowerDVD. The DVD has both s 5.1 and 2.0 audio track. You want to listen to it with your headphones. Would you want to use the 5.1 track and use Dolby Headphone (or TruSurroundXT) to downmix it to the two channels of your headphones or would you want to use the 2.0 track and use standard stereo? I'm not sure if more or less processing would sound better. It may be personal preference, but what would you do?

N. Abstentia
01-14-2006, 02:40 PM
3. What exactly is Dolby Pro Logic II? I understand that it can take standard two-channel audio and "splice" it into 5.1 surround, but why would someone use this codec when playing audio that is already encoded in 5.1 channels? Isn't this redundant? Basically, if a movie is already playing in Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS, why would I want to enable Pro Logic II?

Yes you are correct about Pro Logic II....read your post again, you answered your own question :)

"why would anyone use this for something already encoded in 5.1?"...well you don't...like you said Pro Logic II was designed to be used with 2 channel sources, not 5.1 channel sources. It can take a 2 channel analog signal and 'make up' the information to send to the center and surrounds. I use it when watching TV and it actually works quite well for that.

As far as the other two things...well quite honestly things like that are found on low cost units to make the user think he's got something cool. Once you upgrade to an a/v receiver you'll find that such trickery is quite useless.