2-Ch vs 6-Ch Audio

[SprkFade]

Ok, now I have a question about 2-Ch vs 6-Ch audio. When I rip my DVDs they have a 2-Ch and 6-Ch audio track. Now I know the difference between the two (The most obvious being 6-Ch uses more speakers to better represent the posistions of sounds) but I was wondering if I rip JUST 6-Ch audio will it sound the same as JUST ripping 2-Ch audio because i'm only running a 2.1 setup? (2 towers and a Sub)

-Jameson

[KpeX]

Originally posted by SprkFade
Ok, now I have a question about 2-Ch vs 6-Ch audio. When I rip my DVDs they have a 2-Ch and 6-Ch audio track. Now I know the difference between the two (The most obvious being 6-Ch uses more speakers to better represent the posistions of sounds) but I was wondering if I rip JUST 6-Ch audio will it sound the same as JUST ripping 2-Ch audio because i'm only running a 2.1 setup? (2 towers and a Sub)

-Jameson
It depends on how the 6 channel audio is downmixed into your 2 channels. This is generally done by a DirectShow filter in the case of computer AC3 playback. It also depends on how the studio downmixed and mastered the 2 and 6 channel audio. However, in most cases, these differences will be small, and I doubt you'll notice much if any difference between the downmixed 6-channel audio and the 2-channel.

Also keep in mind the 2-channel audio will take up much less space. 5.1 AC3 is typically 448kbps, and DTS is even higher (quality surround sound requires a high bitrate, logically, due to the high number of channels). 2-channel AC3's are usually 192kbps, taking up less than half the space.

[SprkFade]

Thanks for all the info! I'll just stick with 2-Ch since all I want is a backup of my DVDs to watch so they dont get scratched.

-Jameson

[Lap795]

Ok I have a similar question...what if I DO have a 5.1 setup would you recommend ripping the 6 ch track or the 2 ch track. I know the 6 ch track takes up more space than the 2 ch track but when downmixed won't they sound around the same. I'm using DVD2SVCD btw.

[KpeX]

In most cases the 2-channel AC3 on DVDs already has pro logic information, so yes, downmixing the 6 channel to a 2 channel pro logic will sound very similar to the 2 channel mix on a 5.1 system.

[Lap795]

Thank you Sir for the quick answer. :)

[bond]

well, if you want to have 2ch sound in the end anyways it is of course better to use the 2ch sound from the dvd (as you can be pretty sure that the studio guys perfectly downmixed it already)

[unmei]

i would also take a look at the bitrates. If the stereo has 192kbits and the multichannel has only 384 i would rather take the stereo one, but if the multichannel has 640 it can't be that bad neither. You don't have to take the numbers too seriously, its just a example...

...and bonds point is quite good :)

(yes, i know the word channel-coupling - i'm just a little sceptical on its efficiency)