What listening mode?

[curtis]

I use plain 'ole stereo with the sub when I listen to music...unless it is SACD or DVD-A.

-curtis

[BradJudy]

I'm with Curtis - straight stereo.

[Quinn]

Another straight-up stereo guy.

[Lou-the-dog]

While the wife and kids were off to a ballgame the other nite I finally got to work fine tuning speaker placement with my new Ascends (340 l/c/r). Originally I kinda liked the sound of DPLII but after fine tuning the placement I feel running in stereo-direct is the most satisfying for me. I couldn't believe the imaging once everything was set. My daughter thought I was lying that the center channel was not on until I made her walk up to it and listen. I was amazed that an inch or two movement of speaker position made that much difference. I informed my wife that she CANNOT move the speakers even a fraction of an inch from now on!!! Her reply was that is fine because I get to vacuum the carpet from now on.

Randy

[uofmrocky]

I usually use straight 2-channel stereo..but lately my denon 3803 has a 5-channel stereo mode that sounds pretty good....but still 2 channel stereo is still the best.

[Bob]

I guess it is upto the gears and main speakers(170 or 340). In my case, with 170 pair, DPL2 mode makes better sound stage(width and depth) and imaging with Yamaha rxv530 receiver. Anyone prefers 2 channel stereo mode versus DPL2 mode with 170 mains? I think mid range of 340c is way better than 170s so one way to use 340c is DPL2 mode in my case. Any thought?

p.s.my set
340c
170main
200surr
vtf-2

[curtis]

When I had 170's as my mains....I still preferred stereo over DPL2 for music. BradJudy uses 170's as well.

-curtis

[JohnnyCasaba]

I have the 170's as mains and prefer listening to my CD's in 2 channel. Only really use PL2 for movies and TV not in 5.1.

[Quinn]

170 mains and 2-channel w/sub for music.

[azanon]

I started out preferring DPL2, but after switching back and forth several times on various tracks, I guess I now prefer Stereo+Sub except for the few Dolby Digital/DTS cd's I have.

[Bob]

O.K. It is obvious that everybody prefers 2 channel for music. Then what is wrong with me?[:D] I have 31" stand, slight toein, using receiver crossover 90Hz, etc. seems usual thoug. Here are several questions to you guys who prefer stereo.

1. What is the exact pros and cons of both modes(DPL2 vs. Stereo)?

2. How is the 3 channel stereo mode( with center on and rear off in 5 stereo mode, To me, full 5 channel mode makes a strange sound stage)? In my case, it(3 channel) reinforces midrange with 340c but makes vocal closer than laid back in 2 channel stereo.

3. I realized yesterday that distance correction of center makes the bass muddy in DPL2 mode(I just had my VTF2 delivered recently[;)]). With erasing that correction, bass in DPL2 is clean like stereo mode. Then what is happening on the bass of rear surround(because they aparently have delay under 5.1 channel mode)? Do they make bass delay and make it muddy? Any thought?

[curtis]

I'll take a stab:

Question #1. For me, if stereo is how it was recorded or intended to be heard, I do not think reprocessing it to a different format does it any justice...it just becomes artificial.

#2. I have never done this. I can understand the strange soundstage since this is not how the recording was intended to be heard. As for 3 channel reinforcing the midrange, I believe that is either a result of the extra processing, or possibly a placement issue.

#3. Kind of stumped on that one.

-curtis

[Quinn]

Do you have separate PLII modes for movies and music? I've never thought about why my receiver does, but your idea on surround delay sounds reasonable to me.

[Bob]

Yes, for Music and Movie each.

[ClutchBrake]

I wonder if anyone else experiences this, or can explain it. Sometimes when I listen to PLII I get a funny interference. I do not get it when listening to genuine PLII encoded shows. Some shows don't cause the interference at all. Futurama always has the interference and I have to switch to stereo. Without a Trace does not have the interference.

The best I can describe it is relating it to a bad cell connection. I can hear the person and what they are saying, but there is an electronic "gargling" sound.

All my watching is from my DirecTiVos.

It isn't a big problem, I'm just curious.

[Bob]

Curtis,
Thanks for your response. I think what you said is true and understandable but what if the recording is not so good and DPL2 can improve the way to listening the sound-like bigger sound stage and better imaging. Or, even though 170 has a good sound stage, what if reprocessing can make it better and bigger, then isn't it worth of use?

Anyone tried to test two modes like blind test? What I mean is, without thinking whether it is original stereo or not, anyone compared the pros and cons only with the way it sounded?

[azanon]

Clutchbrake,

I think I might have heard what you are talking about for the first time today. I had DPLII movie mode on and was watching TV, and i noticed some nasty garble sound out of my rear speakers (non-prime time show). I checked to make sure the wires were ok, and they were. Is that the same thing you're hearing?

Seems like i remember at the Dolby laboratories site, that DPLII movies is only recommended for either movies/shows/whatever originally encoded in dolby surround or newer content actually encoded in DPLII. For stereo sources, I believe Dolby recommends regular DPL. I didnt check to see if DPLI fixed the garbling.

[azanon]

cont.... maybe that was my receiver manual instead that recommended the above, cant remember. Obviously for Stereo music, DPLII music is an option.

[ClutchBrake]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Arial, Verdana, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by azanon

Clutchbrake,

I think I might have heard what you are talking about for the first time today. I had DPLII movie mode on and was watching TV, and i noticed some nasty garble sound out of my rear speakers (non-prime time show). I checked to make sure the wires were ok, and they were. Is that the same thing you're hearing?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Yup, you hit the nail on the head. Garble is a much better word for it.

[azanon]

Next time that happens, switch to DPLI and see if it clears it up.... i'll do the same. Seems like it might since those two differ in the # of channels of the surrounds.

[ClutchBrake]

I don't think mine even supports PLI. I just switch to stereo.