More surround modes.......leads to more choices, preferences, and after all a few headaches. Hee heeeeeeeeeee.

Kwok

I think we need a chart...

DTS Movie = options... 5.1,6.1,7.1
DTS EX Movie = options.. 5.1,6.1,7.1
DD Movie = options.. 5.1,6.1,7.1

I still get confused with this even after having a 1050 for quite some time.. I have sat there in silence wondering what did I do now..

Gonk and others:
Last night I tested the "Super speedway" dvd disc on DTS straight 5.1,DTS Neo:6 and then DTS + PLIIx, at -12dbs.
You know what, my preference priority is exactly the same listed above. Appears to me that DTS straight 5.1 produced the most distingtive sound separation and positioning and the bass was stronger and tighter. DTS Neo:6 came 2nd, as the sound was not as focused and the bass was weaken a bit. The DTS + PLIIx had the weakest bass among these 3 modes.
In my opinion, we would get the best sound quality and bass from the mode that the disc offers. Extra surround processing somehow would degrade the sound quality a bit. NEO:6 and PLIIx are meant for 2-channel source.

Kwok

The best I have found so far is straight DTS 5.1 using optical audio and split the L/R surround output myself fed to the surround and rear amps to give you psuedo 7.1.

You still get the excellent bass response that comes from optical DTS 5.1, and get spearation on left and right surround and rear channels.

There is a definate difference in quality, expectially the bass. Something gets lost in the processing of NEO and PLIIx

Is there a way to achieve this in software?

Trikos, I assume that you are using 2 Y-spliters to split feed both the side surround and the back surround.

Kwok said the same thing in another thread, and I'm not understanding why surround-back extraction seems to lessen the bass. The same bass content (from the LFE channel and filtered from other channels) is still being sent to the subwoofer, right?

Didn't the Sherwood have a similar bass problem with PLIIx? Anyone remember?

Hello Sanjay, Kwok,

I've tested this with several different pieces and am not getting a 12 dB loss. In fact, on one test, the levels were an exact match and on a second piece the additional 6/7th channel extraction led to a 1dB gain in sub output.

Scott

Based on what Scott says, I wonder if the difference you heard in levels was not actually a lessening of the bass output, but rather it seemed less as you had more noise around you. As you added rear channels and created a larger soundfield, perhaps the bass was "diluted" in the pool of noise?

Maybe not the best analogy, but I think my point is clear.

Kwok, yes I tried a Y cable.

I am still evaluating different modes, but there does seem to be a difference in surround modes. In some cases, a resonable one.

Keep in mind, I am sure this is not an Outlaw 990 only thing.

Obviously, the more "reprocessing" you have to do, the less clean the outcome. There is no such thing as getting extra from nothing (pseudo 7.1 from 5.1), there is always a cost..

What would be best is a world full of true 7.1 material in the first place..

Hi folks, Scott and Trikos,
I am sorry if my former message confused you guys. What I said was I set the volume to -12dB when testing those 3 surround modes, not bass loss of -12dB. Trikos, I do not use Y-cable.

If you guys have the DVD "Supper Speedway" in DTS 5.1, test those 3 surround modes (Straight DTS 5.1, DTS Neo:6 and then DTS + PLIIx), go to the chapter where the test driver passing through various passenger over passes across the run way before making a splint. Don't change the volume but just flip those 3 modes. You should hear the bass differences every time when the speed car passed under the cross overs.

Kwok