The newest devices CAN play surround recordings from a few years ago. Dolby surround is more than a few years ago. Quit complaining all the time. Maybe think what you can contribute to QQ other than griping about all the stuff you don't like.
Dolby surround can be decoded by any surround equipement. Best IMHO through vintage quad decoders or Surround Master. We do not need Dolby Surround anymore with discrete formats readily available. While I share your frustration (to some extent) re lack of support, backwards compatibility etc., you can't support every obsolete format forever!
That new Dolby Surround mode has nothing in common with the previous versions, including Pro Logic II. The new version is upmix only, and will not properly decode the previous versions, nor any other matrix format. Any Regular Matrix decoder, including QS decoders, and the Surround Master, will do the job quite nicely with Dolby Surround-encoded material.
But won't it do a half decent job of the upmix on Pro Logic II encoded material? There is plenty of phase information for it to work with. Having not experienced the new Dolby Surround (but I will soon) I don't know how well or badly it performs.
SQ decoders work well also, perhaps better than QS because Lf, Rf, C and S all decode from the proper position. QS Hall mode would be close as well but they don't decode the front channels!
Unfortunately modern AV amps have no SQ or QS decoders builtin, and many amps have no multi channel analogue input to allow one to be connected.
They removed Pro Logic II because no new product is being released that uses it, and they don't care about the users who have libraries of VHS tapes and laserdiscs that use that format. A sad, but true, fact. Plus, it saves them money not to include those chips. We're the ones who lose out. As for the new system doing a decent job of upmixing encoded material, there's a difference between upmixing and decoding. The new system is different enough from the Pro Logic II, that you won't get anything close to what was intended. An external decoder, such as a Surround Master, could do the job quite well. Problem is, most new receivers and processors don't have the multi-channel analog inputs needed to connect the SM. That's the main reason why I won't update my receiver.
Because receiver makers want to save $3 on a $1200 receiver by dropping the PLII circuit.
And yet there are still several of us who continue to use this antiquated technology. Go figure.
It's still not completely accurate. It'll do, in a pinch, for some, but I, for one, want more.
I still don't understand why everyone has to buy brand new. Lots of good used stuff out there at bargain prices, with the features you are looking for!
Never mind VHS tapes and laserdiscs, there are plenty of DVDs of films with Dolby Surround soundtracks. And for many of them if they ever get Blu Ray releases they will probably still have the original Dolby Surround encoded soundtracks. The money simply isn't there to remix films for discrete multi channel audio if the film itself never had one in the first place.
And they probably have capacitors that are on the way out, have bashed up casework, and other issues. I've spent several years keeping a look out for something that fulfills my requirements and not found anything. I want UPNP streaming, FM and DAB+ tuner (which few products ever had), HDMI audio in, line level analogue audio out that works when playing digital sources, among others.
www.quadraphonicquad.com
