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View Full Version : Question about Dolby Surround


marc_albero
15th July 2002, 21:41
It is about the doulby surround option of HeadAC3he.

What does it do? I think that the 6 channels of the AC3 stream are somehow downmixed to 2 channels in such a way that 4 channels can be retrieved upon playback, which give kind of spatial feeling. Anyway, dolby surround can be used to generate stereo if only 2 loudspeakers are available. Am I right?


If I am right:
I only have 2 loudspeakers, but maybe my soundcard, which provides 3D sound, can do some job with dolby surround in order to render 3D audio out of the 4 channels. My favourite player is BSPlayer, and it supports 3D sound in 2-Loudspeakers-mode, but I don't know if it will be able to do such a job. Thus, I'd rather ask you, you Masters of Encoding, before I spend the time it takes.

SHOULD I USE DOLBY SURROUND IN MY RIPS, OR STICK TO STEREO? IF I GO DOLBY SURROUND, WILL I REALLY GET THE SPATIAL SOUND WITH A 3DSOUND-CAPABLE SOUNDCARD?

DJ Bobo
15th July 2002, 23:00
You should make a dolby surround downmix, even if you have a plain stereo card, one never knows what comes in the future ;)

marc_albero
16th July 2002, 13:40
I do also think in the present.

I repeat the question: what will I get from Dolby Surround downmixing if I have a 3D sound capable soundcard?

And by the way:
Does dolby surround offer less audio quality than plain stereo when it is reproduced in "just stereo"? I think that both tracks are processed in such a way that they actually contain 4 tracks. Does this not affect quality?