5.1 or 7.1 in Hometheater..

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by JJinID

I didn't have room for two speakers on my back wall due to configuration so I did a 6.1 setup with WS350 in-walls for my 3 surround speakers. I honestly don't think it is much if any improvement over standard 5.1, and given that most multi-channel music and the majority of the uncompressed blu-ray soundtracks are 5.1 anyway I would recommend focusing on optimizing your 5.1 sound over doing 7.1 unless you have a very large room. Great 5.1 > marginal 7.1 IMO.

Again 7.1 is for filling space that 5.1 does not do properly. Typically this occurs in an overly wide or overly long room. There is no unique information in the last 2 channels. It is derived from the information in the surround channels. It is not a consideration during mastering.

BTW, the ITU-R standard does not call for rear wall placement of the surrounds. It calls for the surround speakers to 110 to 120 degrees off the listening position, and if possible the same distance from the listener as the fronts and center. If the speakers are on the back wall, it is likely your listening chair/couch is closer to the back wall than the distance to the side walls.

All that said 7.1 or virtual 5.1 works very well for very large theaters with multiple rows.

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by chessman

When I was running SACD mine played the side surrounds and the rears were silent.

That is because the surround, not the rears are the channels with discrete information in the 5 channel standard, be it music or film.

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by KingRT

What does 7.1 do to 5.1 sacd music. Rear speakers silent??
Sides only?

There is no .1 on SACD

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by chessman

Bill, it may be a testimony to how crappy I set it up with 5.1, but honestly, it is barely different, if at all. Just a very little ambient sound from the rears. Like I said, I did it as a lark since I had the gear. Mind you, I think it sounds good, just not better than what I had.

Perhaps, perhaps not. Some questions:

Did you have side quasi-dipoles and add directional rears?
Where were(are) the sides mounted?
How far are you from the rears? Fronts?
Are any speakers set to small?

[LikeCoiledSteel]

4.2 - Phantom center with powered towers. Not missing the center channel so far.

[Masterlu]

LikeCoiledSteel... Welcome!

[chessman]

Originally Posted by metaphacts

Perhaps, perhaps not. Some questions:

Did you have side quasi-dipoles and add directional rears?
Where were(are) the sides mounted?
How far are you from the rears? Fronts?
Are any speakers set to small?

Sorry, I missed this before. In order:

1) dipoles, rears are directional

2) surrounds are ear level, on side walls slightly behind the listening position
rear surrounds are towers on the back wall toe-in toward the listening
position

3) 12 feet from fronts
10 feet from rears

4) all speakers set to small when in HT mode

[KingRT]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

There is no .1 on SACD

There are many 5.1 SACD's and DVD-A's music discs.
(I think) Maybe just a 6th channel that's redundant. Not sure. I need to do a search now/later...

[tigerhonaker]

Originally Posted by KingRT

Actually 7.2, (I have 2 JL F113 subs and an AVR and Amp that can handle the added speakers.)

My theater is 80% Movies, anyone have an opinion if I should move to 7.2 from 5.2, even though most sound tracks are 5.1 lossless?

My primary front row is in the precise spot for 5.1 now, so should I add side speakers for improvement?

Is there improvement??

Thanks.

In my case I have a 7.4 system.

Front Left, Center, Right
Side Left and Right
Rear Left and Right

Plus 4-Mirage BPS400 2 Front and 2 Rear (1-Per Corner)

I am a Movie person 90% of the time.
I like Music but that is watching it on DVDs and hopefully BD soon.
Not really a two channel Fellow.

Terry

[PHC1]

7.1 for me. With the more recent Blu ray's the 7.1 sure sounds more discreet and feeding each rear and side speaker with a whole lot of independent sound effects. I can definitely hear the advantage of some 7.1 soundtracks.


Lossless surround sound formats
The newest high-resolution surround formats, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD™ Master Audio, offer up to 7.1 discrete channels of lossless audio. Along with adding two extra rear channels to the standard Dolby Digital and DTS formats, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio discs are encoded with more audio information per channel. In fact, it's identical to the movie studio's original master. That means the improved directionality and more precise effects makes it even closer to the experience of being in a movie theater.

Additional discrete 7.1-channel surround formats
You may find that some Blu-ray discs are also encoded with other discrete 7.1-channel surround formats. Dolby Laboratories and DTS developed Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD (High Resolution), respectively. These formats deliver 7.1 independent channels of sound. They provide more detailed surround effects than 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS, though they aren't lossless like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Receivers that support lossless 7.1-channel formats will also support Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD (High Resolution).