I have read most all of the reviews of the 950 from various owners here but I have not seen much on the 6.1 performance with regard to movies. On my unit, I notice that the overall sound level and dynamics go down when I toggle back and forth between these two surround modes-DD and DD EX. DTS ES however sounds very good. Thanks for any input.

I've noticed the same drop in volume as well as other timbral differences between DD and DD-EX. Obviously, activating DD-EX is doing MUCH MORE than just creating a center back channel. It is also impacting the front soundstage in a significant way.

I've also noticed that the sound of my DTS encoded audio disks becomes anaemic when I switch from DTS to DTS-ES. That is: a loss of volume level and a loss of bass output.

Does this make sense to any of the DD/DD-EX and DTS mavens out there? I thought that the only difference in these decoding schemes was related to surround playback and the front soundstage shouldn't be affected at all. That certainly ISN'T the case with my 950.

And for those that think it may be an acoustical issue, I can turn off amplification to my rear channels and clearly hear the difference in the front channels switching between the 5.1 and "6.1" modes.

[This message has been edited by bobliinds (edited May 29, 2002).]

What happens if you use the CES mode instead of DD-EX? I've heard that DD-EX doesn't do a very good job on DD5.1 soundtracks that aren't EX-encoded, since the surround-soundstage often collapses into the back channel. The CES mode is supposed to be better.

Then again I wouldn't know because I'm still waiting...

[This message has been edited by JKohn (edited May 30, 2002).]

I too hear a difference between the two.
5.1 has much more punch and more bass in the sound than 6.1 or 7.1(if you will) on the 950.

drewman

From Mike of The Outlaws:

'm responding to the question you had regarding sound level drops in Dolby
Digital EX, Cirrus Extra Surround and DTS-ES. Due to the design of the
Model 950 and our adherence to Dolby and DTS requirements there is a global
level of drop of anywhere from 2db to 4db in these surround modes. This is
not a flaw or issue with the Model 950. Instead, it is the result of the
design of the Model 950 to meet strict requirements. Customers will
experience this drop when going from 5.1 to 7.1 modes. Simply turn up the
master volume control to compensate for the global level drop.

I wonder what "strict requirements" there are that require a 4dB volume drop across all speakers.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Thanks for all the input. At least I have an idea of what is going on with these surround modes now. I agree with Matthew about the "strict requirements." This is kind of puzzling.

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