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Many many people do NOT hook up a 5.1 surround sound system when purchasing a DVD player. Of course many do as well. It seems that a good percentage of consumers purchase DVD players and hook them up to nothing more than their TV's existing stereo speakers or their 2 channel stereo system. Also many only use their computer's 2 speakers or their portable DVD player's internal 2 speakers! Is it no wonder then, that many DVD's give you the option for selecting Dolby 5.1 surround, DTS, or Dolby 2.0? Kudos to those movie companies that DO give you the option of selecting Dolby 2.0 from the audio setup menu! Many of us are satisfied with 2 speakers!!!!
Follow Ups:
funny you should post this nowjust this week i went back to watching dvds in "regular" stereo, and i really really like it, prefer it in fact.
i went the full route to HT, with full-range LCR speakers and high-tech, 360 degree ribbon drive monitors for the surrounds, all carefully dialed-in to THX specs, with a monster 18" velo sub. and seperate massive amps for each speaker--the whole, sick, audiophile obsession with magic wires, power conditioners, room acoustic treatments, technical grounds and dedicated lines...the horror!
this week i'm back to basic stereo.
what was i thinking?
what the hell do i do with all this stuff?
(fukn subwoofer has delaminated the plywood flooring of the living room!)
between watching Apocalypse Now Redux in two channel versus full blown surround sound?
yep, : the opening sequence with the chopper circling directly over your head really sets the mood -- it's one of the best sound moments in film--in a film loaded with best sound moments (clearly one of my top ten), and Col. Killgore's assualt on the surfing beach "...someday this war's gonna end." ...ok, there is a time and place for subwoofers and satellites
and I admit, that when I watched "Perfect Storm", with five full-range bastards each driven by their own mother-of-a-Madrigal amp, and the 18" Velo popping the roofing nails from my neighbor's houses--that storm was REAL! The windows caved-in and the basement flooded! It wasn't even close with just a regular HT multi-channel amp--more like a summer cloudburst that would quickly pass.
but all too often the effects channels detract rather than enhance
I've been hanging on to my Netflix rental of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and watching it over and over in ordinary stereo (Dep is brilliant!).
with the speakers (Audio Physic Virgos) well away from the front wall and driven properly by decent amplification (not HT amps)...
(wait 'til he sees these savage bats! )
...
(did I think that or say it out loud?)
i'm not much of a fan of the "13-year-old-boy" Hollywood blockbuster, with all the meaninless, spectacular violence and illogical action: your typical Dolby Digital fodder.
that being said:
"Apocalpyse Now Redux" has the best sound man in the business. take a very carful listen to the ambience next time you watch it: check out the scene at the bridge, at night. There's a calcaphony of noise all jumbled together which builds the tension and sets the mood of chaos, confusion, insanity....fear. And then pay very close attention to the sounds and they fade and focus on the gook at the wire screaming "Hey GI!" as the soldier "Roach" zeros in..."He's very close". Chilling.
Perhaps the best sound work in American Film, and you don't need Dolby Digital to know that. What you need is a carefully set-up audiophile grade stereo pair--something that embodies all the qualities we look for in a pruist analog high-end system.
great films with great sound men, gotta love it: turn the lights off
"turn out the light
"turn out the light
"turn out the light J. Morrison
and plan to over the holidays when I think I can get through all 3 hours or so in one evening. Don't want to break that one up!
I have been using my DVD player with component video outputs to a 36 inch TV and the audio to my Aragon Dac. Sound is decent and picture is excellent. A friend went the seperate music/home theatre route and it can be quite nice especially with the family watching. I am about to go to full surround, I hope I am not disappointed.
In case you didn't know most DVD players automatically provide downconversion to analog stereo from movies with DD5.1 audio tracks when only two analog audio cables are routed out of the DVD player to a stereo preamp, integrated amp, or receiver.In the case of DVD players that have DD and/or DTS decoders and provide 5.1 analog outputs, you typically need to go into the DVD menu system and say NO to the surround, center, and SUB speakers when all you want to use is the L&R out.
bstan
nt
To some people DVD is a better picture version of a VCR.I recently purchase a top surround receiver and 5 speakers. It truely sounds as good as a good theather. But I used to listen throught my two channel system. The two channel system was much better than the speakers in the TV.
I have three friends that have purchased large screen TVs in the last few months. Each has also purchased a surround system.
Although I have a high def TV, I mostly rented tapes until I got the surround system. On my TV the different between DVD and tape was not a big deal to me. But after I got the surrond system, the difference in sound between DVD and tape was huge. I only use the VCR to tape TV and I will never buy another tape. Sound quality is really the feature that makes DVDs great.
When all this DolbyXX.XX begins doing what they say it will do, I may hit that Dolby button. Till then stereo is only thing that works as it should. I never use any of this surround, nor I ever will. It does not work as advertised. When they agree how this should work and when they make it to work as they say, I'll use it.
Would you drive car that turns windsheald wipers when you hit a brake?
My guess is you haven't properly setup the level and balance between all the channels and speakers with an appropriate Sound Pressure Level meter.
I listen 90%/10% to music/home theater, but I must say watching DVDs in DD5.1 or DTS5.1 envelops me in an absolutely breathtaking soundscape.My main speakers were bought for their stereo heritage, but they perform seamlessly with the other speakers from the same lineup for center and surrrounds.
All have been properly balanced for a realistic soundfield.
bstan
You are misinformed if you think DD or DTS don't perform as advertised. What spects do you feel don't work properly?
Some people (even good friends) stick a couple speakers in the corner behind the sofa and only listen to music as background. Tv is mostly Monday night football and DVD is used just like VHS - to play Disney cartoons to keep the the kids quiet. Frankly they really only need mono and a clock radio. Perfectly nice folks, they just don't have the same interests as audiophiles.
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