Just ordered the Involve Surround Master!

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Xdevo1973

Active Member
Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
96
Location
New Jersey
I just took the plunge and ordered one from their website as they actually had three available. I hope that it is worth it!
 
I've had one for about 2 years now and I like it a lot- it doesn't have the volume pumping issue that my old Lafayette SQ-W decoder had. I think the front-center to back-center suppression could be a little bit better as I'm hearing vocals relatively loud in the rears. Don't have a Tate but I've heard plenty of decodes and I find it does that position better. It's all relative with SQ though- some mixes just decode better, some pressings sound better than others, etc.

I would advise that you get a standalone preamp to use with it as it improves the separation- I picked up a Project Phono Box and it helped a lot.

Involve should be commended for their work on this. Looking forward to the preamp and CD-4 if that's still in the works.
 
I have had one for just over a year. Love it. Works better on some recordings than others, but always better than decoders in my amp (eg DPL II, DTS Neo etc)
 
hi and welcome to "the QQ Surround Master club", Xdevo1973 :)

fwiw i've had a Surround Master since August 2015 and it is without a doubt the very best piece of surround music related audio equipment I've bought in 20+ years of being into this multichannel hobby.

imho, having processed in excess of 500 LPs and CDs thru it (approx. 300 SQ LPs alone) my assessment is the Surround Master is an excellent decoder of SQ encoded material, a very good synthesiser of pseudo surround from Stereo material and a superb decoder of QS encoded material.

putting its somewhat unprepossessing looks and small niggling aspects of fit and finish of the outer casing aside, to me it really is a fabulous little unit. i hope you come to utilise, love and enjoy your Surround Master as much as I do.
 
Does anyone know if Surround Masters will be available from the company or have they discontinued production? There are no factory blem items available on the website and no mention of new product coming soon. Thanks.
 
Does anyone know if Surround Masters will be available from the company or have they discontinued production? There are no factory blem items available on the website and no mention of new product coming soon. Thanks.
From the website...

ATTENTION! The current version of the Surround Master case has been sunset. New stock is no longer available – however we are selling a limited number of factory second / less-than-perfect models with a discount of $100 off the original price.

Stay Tuned for the re-designed Surround Master case!!
 
From the website...
ATTENTION! The current version of the Surround Master case has been sunset. New stock is no longer available – however we are selling a limited number of factory second / less-than-perfect models with a discount of $100 off the original price.

Looks like both versions are out of stock unless they add some.
 
Why would someone use something like this versus an up mixer within their AVR? :unsure:
And I know your question is an honest one. I don't understand it either. I mean, I wish I could hear one of these. Maybe they simply blow away any processing an AVR can do. I have no clue. If they can, then I'd be very curious.... :)
 
And I know your question is an honest one. I don't understand it either. I mean, I wish I could hear one of these. Maybe they simply blow away any processing an AVR can do. I have no clue. If they can, then I'd be very curious.... :)
My impression is that they actually decode matrixed signals as opposed to just futzing with phase. If that is incorrect then I would have no interest either.
 
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QQ members have reported wondrous results from these units (over and above their excellent QS & SQ decoding capabilities), beyond what AVR modes (Pro-Logic II-z, DTS Neo6, etc.) or quad synth modes might do. I've been curious ever since they came out based on these comments. I'm an upmix advocate and acknowledge some artifacts issues. Thinking if I can get great results I'd consider recording those outputs instead of (or in addition to) my current methods. Now that I can afford to indulge, Involve is transitioning the model.
 
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good question, Perp! (y)

fwiw i've not directly compared the output 'stems' of PLII "decodes" with the same material I've run thru the Surround Master in Involve mode, so my POVs far from scientific and may suffer from placebo-itis! ;)

with that in mind, I'd say some stuff seems more immersive thru PLII (it may or may not be, just what I think i'm hearing) but above all I find the SM handy for those external 2-ch sources that I don't/can't run thru an AVR (e.g. vinyl) plus I've yet to find a mode on any of my AVRs that can do SQ properly, so that's an advantage to me of the SM unit over any AVR surround modes I've yet to try, though I can see that won't be important to too many people here & elsewhere.

as a matter of course these days I run quite a bit of material thru the SM, some of it comes out of the speakers with surprising results.. to me it is not a one size fits all thing, some stuff doesn't do anything to write home about but when it does it can be very surroundy cool indeed! (y)
 
good question, Perp! (y)

fwiw i've not directly compared the output 'stems' of PLII "decodes" with the same material I've run thru the Surround Master in Involve mode, so my POVs far from scientific and may suffer from placebo-itis! ;)

with that in mind, I'd say some stuff seems more immersive thru PLII (it may or may not be, just what I think i'm hearing) but above all I find the SM handy for those external 2-ch sources that I don't/can't run thru an AVR (e.g. vinyl) plus I've yet to find a mode on any of my AVRs that can do SQ properly, so that's an advantage to me of the SM unit over any AVR surround modes I've yet to try, though I can see that won't be important to too many people here & elsewhere.

as a matter of course these days I run quite a bit of material thru the SM, some of it comes out of the speakers with surprising results.. to me it is not a one size fits all thing, some stuff doesn't do anything to write home about but when it does it can be very surroundy cool indeed! (y)

Thanks for that Fred B. I always found Dolby and DTS to be hit and miss. Since, I discovered Auro-3D, I use it almost exclusively on everything that passes through my AVR except for Dolby Surround sources. It sounds exceptional!
 
just to add, I've noticed there are songs (and sometimes complete albums) which sound really nice and "surround-y" no matter whether they're processed thru PLII or the SM, including the Doobies' Takin It To The Streets, 10CC's Deceptive Bends, Queen's Jazz, Fleetwood Mac's Tango In The Night, Van Halen's 1984, David Lee Roth's Skyscraper, Kansas (several albums), Stevie Wonder (Talking Book thru Songs In The Key Of Life) and some others I can't remember off the top of my head
 
just to add, I've noticed there are songs (and sometimes complete albums) which sound really nice and "surround-y" no matter whether they're processed thru PLII or the SM, including the Doobies' Takin It To The Streets, 10CC's Deceptive Bends, Queen's Jazz, Fleetwood Mac's Tango In The Night, Van Halen's 1984, David Lee Roth's Skyscraper, Kansas (several albums), Stevie Wonder (Talking Book thru Songs In The Key Of Life) and some others I can't remember off the top of my head
Songs in the key of life sounds great on SM
 
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