Does anyone still offer a multi-channel SACD player?

[ar surround]

I use DSU for up mixing 5.1 music, and I think it does a good job for that use so I get to use all my speakers.

I‘ve found it very effective at upmixing 5.1 music that has intimate characteristics. But it’s just to wild with pop music that has a lot of inherent ambience. Why DSU it is not adjustable is beyond me.

BTW, try the stereo track One Fine Morning by Lighthouse (1971) using DSU. It’s incredible processed with this upmixer.

 

[Owen Smith]

This is what I thought - I don’t believe I have any. Was it at all common on earliest DVDs? LDs?

A lot of UK TV has stereo not multi channel audio, and although they don't name a codec for licencing reasons it has long been known they aim for PLII compatible encoding. How much they've moved on from that is hard to tell given the fragmentation of production companies these days.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

A lot of UK TV has stereo not multi channel audio, and although they don't name a codec for licencing reasons it has long been known they aim for PLII compatible encoding....

Eh... With regard to UK DVB television....

Terrestrial DVB-T: Standard definition television offers MPEG-2 video with MP2 audio (aka: MPEG-2 Layer-2). And DVB-T2 'high-definition' television offers MPEG-4 AVC (aka: MPEG-4 Part-10) video along with HE-AAC (aka: MPEG-2/4 Part-3) audio at up-to 6-channels.

Satellite DVB-S: Standard definition television offers MPEG-2 video with MP2 audio (aka: MPEG-2 Layer-2). And DVB-S2 'high-definition' television offers MPEG-4 AVC (aka: MPEG-4 Part-10) video along with AC-3 (aka: Dolby Digital) audio at up-to 6-channels.

There are no secrets to it....

 

[Owen Smith]

What they don't say is when transmitting stereo audio, which is a lot of programmes made for domestic consumption and everything on SD channels, what Dolby codec they target for any matrix surround audio. It's well known that many programmes do target it but none name the codec in the titles or they'd have to pay licence fees to Dolby.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Are you suggesting that the UK television broadcasters are not mentioning that there might be an DPII flag within the stereo MP2 audio stream?

 

[Owen Smith]

Are you suggesting that the UK television broadcasters are not mentioning that there might be an DPII flag within the stereo MP2 audio stream?

If there is such a flag the broadcasters either don't use it or my AVR ignores it over a digital optical connection (or it doesn't survive into the digital link). Using it might be enough acknowledgement that PLII is in use that they'd have to pay licence fees to Dolby. There are also requirements to show the Dolby logo in the end credits if officially PLII encoded, and that's a problem for the BBC because it promotes one commercial company at the expense of others in the same market. "Other codecs are available" etc.

 

[atrocity]

DPLII sucks as a music upmixer.

The original DPLII Music Mode with specific settings was very, very close to QS. Enough so that it was possible to get great results from encoded material.

 

[ssully]

DPLII sucks as a music upmixer. On the other hand, DPLIIx is really good. It was my go to upmixer in instances where Logic7 had problems.

DPLII could do stereo-->5.1, DPLIIx added 7.1. DPLIIz added height channels

I'm not aware that DPLIIx's or z's 2.0-->5.1 upmixing was any different from DPLII's.

 

[ssully]

The original DPLII Music Mode with specific settings was very, very close to QS. Enough so that it was possible to get great results from encoded material.

Yup. DPLII (and its children x and z ) Music mode offered user-adjustable Center Spread (adjustable range), Dimension (front to back balance, adjustable range), and Panorama (enhanced 'side' output, giving more envelopment, On or Off) .

DPLII was described in detail back in the day, here
https://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_1/dolby-prologic2-3-2001.html
DSU has no 'modes' at all, and only offers Center Spread on/off.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Perhaps all these Dolby Pro Logic posts can be moved into its own topic....

 

[ar surround]

DPLII could do stereo-->5.1, DPLIIx added 7.1. DPLIIz added height channels

I'm not aware that DPLIIx's or z's 2.0-->5.1 upmixing was any different from DPLII's.

PLIIx sounded significantly better than PLII when upmixing stereo to surround. PLII sounded "dead" in comparison, so I always went with PLIIx instead. It could be the way PLIIx spread things around to 7.1 speakers. (This topic was discussed somewhere else in this forum, but I cannot remember where or how long ago.) I no longer have PLII or PLIIx anymore, so it's a moot point.

 

[ssully]

Here are the options for a Denon AVR that offers PLII, PLIIx, and PLIIz

PLIIx is for 7.1 or 6.1 playback. You could not select PLIIx unless you told the AVR you had Surround Back speakers(s) (i.e. a 6- or 7-channel setup).

So I don't know how one compared PLII to PLIIx on a 5.1 system, unless one set 'Surround Back' to 'On' without actually having surround back speakers (and this surely would not produce correct upmixing for a 5.1 system)

As you can see from the text, what one *could* do is compare PLII Music/Cinema/Game to 'Pro Logic' (PL), the older codec, which would not do sophisticated 5.1 upmixing. PLII would be superior to plain 'PL' . (PL is there for legacy PL-encoded mixes)

 

[madscot]

Sad to report my Sony 800M2 has died this morning, thankfully it has a 6 year warranty so will return it tomorrow, I have a backup blu ray player that doesn’t play SACDs or DVD-Audio so that will have to do until the repair is done

 

[perzon57]

Sad to report my Sony 800M2 has died this morning, thankfully it has a 6 year warranty so will return it tomorrow, I have a backup blu ray player that doesn’t play SACDs or DVD-Audio so that will have to do until the repair is done

Nice to have 6 year warranty, I have it on mine too.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

That's disappointing @madscot. Out of interesting when exactly did you buy yours?

 

[madscot]

That's disappointing @madscot. Out of interesting when exactly did you buy yours?

December 2019

 

[Sal1950]

Sad to report my Sony 800M2 has died this morning, thankfully it has a 6 year warranty so will return it tomorrow,

Where did you get the 6 year warranty?

 

[4-earredwonder]

This one does sound promising and will soon offer an upgraded model [possibly with 7.1 analogue outputs]

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/new-universal-player-magnetar.33245/

 

[perzon57]

This one does sound promising and will soon offer an upgraded model [possibly with 7.1 analogue outputs]

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/new-universal-player-magnetar.33245/

Don't think the price sounds promising.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Don't think the price sounds promising.

But way cheaper than a used OPPO 205 on ebay.....And everything today is INFLATED. But wonder if they'll offer OPPO type service stateside?