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RE: 7.1/6.1 vs 5.1 and movies.

Posted by David Aiken (A) on September 18, 2007 at 17:42:12

In Reply to: 7.1/6.1 vs 5.1 and movies. posted by grantv on September 18, 2007 at 14:13:41:

I've got a 6.1 system. Room size and the location of an open archway into the main hallway of my home preclude a 7.1 system which would place one of the rear surrounds in the middle of the arch.

Only Dolby Digital EX and DTS ES offer 6.1/7.1 sound in standard def, and what they offer is basically 6.1. The 7th channel is usually identical to the 6th but some processors may tinker with that to introduce differences. DD EX uses a matrix system for the extra channel and only DTS ES provides a genuine discrete 6th channel. On discs with both formats I prefer the discrete DTS ES option, but then I also tend to prefer DTS tracks over Dolby tracks. The hi-def audio tracks on HD DVD and Blu-ray can offer discrete 7.1 but I don't know if any do since I don't have such a player, and I haven't heard the hi-def tracks anywhere except in open floor shop demo systems that simply weren't capable of letting me hear how good they were, much less having had the chance to make a comparison between Dolby and DTS on their new formats.

I think probably less than 5% of standard DVDs have EX or ES tracks. I've come across a couple which claim to have an EX track but it isn't flagged so my receiver treats it as 5.1 and I have to manually invoke PL IIx processing. I have some DVDs with EX and/or ES tracks which are flagged and automatically play in 6.1 on my system.

I think there is a small but genuine advantage in my having a 6.1 system for those films with EX or ES soundtracks. The overall surround sensation is a little more enveloping than what I get if I play them in 5.1. I don't notice as large an advantage in using processing to derive a 6th channel from a native 5.1 channel soundtrack and usually listen to movies with 5.1 tracks in 5.1.

Having gone from a 5.1 to a 6.1 system, I could question the cost/value benefit of the additional speaker since, as I said, it is only a small advantage. but overall I'm happy to have gone with it for the benefit it yields on the discs that have EX or ES soundtracks.

Movies with EX/ES tracks that I have are the deluxe 4 disc editions of the Lord of the Rings films which have extremely good EX and ES tracks, the 3rd X-Men film and "The Village' which also have both, the original "Ghost in the Shell" which has an unflagged EX track, "Lady in the Water' which is EX, and I think there are a couple more. Obviously since I tend to listen to 5.1 tracks in 5.1 my rear channel doesn't get much work but I do appreciate it when it does come into use.

If you want the rear surrounds to play in all channels, do consider using Dolby Pro Logic IIx or DTS Neo6 processing rather than connecting the speakers to the side surround channels. I haven't tried doing that but I would think that the processing options would be better than simply doubling up on the side surround channels. Of course if your setup doesn't allow that sort of processing, then you may have no choice if you don't want to invest in a component that gives you that processing capacity.


David Aiken

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