Dolby Surround encoded multichannel SACD CD layer

[kfbkfb]

Why not "downmix" the multichannel mix using Dolby Surround
for the SACD CD layer?

Kirk Bayne
www.geocities.com/lislislislis

 

[Cai Campbell]

Huh?

 

[AllAroundSurround]

WHY?:x
0] Rob

 

[Quadzilla]

I know I was going to stay out of this, but I just can't NOT say something here ... Dolby Surround is probably the WORST choice for music EVER. Why would anyone destroy the highest quality digital audio medium currently available with the WORST analogue system ever invented? ... must ... go ... now ... head ... still ... spinning ... <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT="">

 

[sspsandy]

I had to chime in here. Since I use a Pro-Logic II processor to get surround in my car, I seek out Dolby surround 2 channel encodings, since they give me very sharp separation compared to synthesizing from stereo. But since virtually all DVDs contain Dolby surround mixes, it is not a problem as I have not gotten around to getting into SACD. If the stereo tracks on SACDs were Dolby surround encoded, or SQ, QS, or RM encoded for that matter, I might be more inclined to add SACD to my system. Now those of you who convert everything to DTS and have DTS systems in their cars, I can see why you might look down on lowly Dolby surround encoding. But as I take a more primitive approach, and am hopelessly convinced that analogue sound better than digital, even HI Rez, matrix encoded surround appeals to me. Just picked up the rare SQ version of Tangerine Dream "Zeit", and it is awesome when played though the Tate. Can't wait to record it to tape and play it in the car through the Fosgate RFQ 5000. (I know, I know, you can't record SQ on cassettes, it must be burned on a CD, but that has never stopped me. Besides those CD are digital).

 

[JonUrban]

I think we need a little more info here, I am not sure I follw this thought.

 

[winopener]

what he wants he's just a way to get a decent surround using a DS decoder - encoding that can be made in a stereo signal.
Better to go directly in DTS aldo for the car, IMHO. There are several in-dash units that can do dts.

BTW, you can record any SQ or QS or any other matrix encoded source into stereo tape - a matrix it's just a garbled quad reduced to stereo

 

[sspsandy]

What happened was I had been reading about the matrix quads (SQ, QS) and how they were 2 channel recordings that were encoded. I also read about early Dolby surround, which was the same basic 2 channel encoding scheme, only using a center channel and mono surrounds. At the time I wanted to be able to listen to my quad albums in my car using the nice Pioneer cassette player I had just put in. I was looking for a quad decoder that was designed for a car, but they seemed to be non-existant. I was actually not too familiar with what DTS was at that time (late 2001), other that a vague idea that it was superior to Dolby Digital and was a home theatre deal. I managed to find a 4 channel SRS Labs Circle Surround processor for a car, but it did't work, I couldn't get any sound out of it. In early 2002 Rockford Fosgate came out with the RFQ5000, so I got one. I originally set it up for 4 channel mode, and used it to listen to cassette recordings of quad albums, and it worked great. Further reading about Dolby surround revealed that there were actually CDs released that were recorded in that format, and that DVDs were required to provide a Dolby surround encoding as well as either Dolby Digital or DTS. Purchasing a DVD player that did DVD-A and DTS led to the discovery that music DVDs, when recorded onto cassette, gave fabulous quad sound through the RFQ5000. Now, of course, there are DTS car processors that also do Pro Logic II (though I doubt as well as Jim Fosgate's processor) and there's this way of converting everything onto DTS CDs. I'm just not there yet. Maybe if I get a new car down the road aways. It took alot of work to install the RFQ5000, I had to tear the whole dash apart and mount big power amps to the back of the rear seat in the trunk, run cables up through the center console, speaker wires, add a fifth speaker for the center channel, another amp to power it. And I suspect that the DTS system will be more discrete in separation, being digital, but I have always maintained that using superior equipment, especially a high end cartridge on a quality turntable, one can create cassette tapes that have better sound than any cd. On a similar not, I also suspect that if you got one of the new Fosgate Audionics Pro-Logic II preamps combined with the power amp they offer to complement it, you could blow away the sound of any of these digital formats, by just decoding the Dolby surround tracks contained on the discs.

 

[kfbkfb]

Dolby Labs improved DS encoding recently

www.dolby.com/press/nab/p...oding.html

Why not give the multichannel hybrid SACD buyer (who may have just a CD player and a Pro-Logic decoder) a chance to hear at least some semblance of the multichannel mix?

Kirk Bayne

 

[Cai Campbell]

Okay, I think I get what you're saying... I was confused before.

So, like have the stereo redbook layer encoded with Dolby Prologic II? I would be all for that! Unfortunately, the "stereophiles" would most certainly cry foul.