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Silent Cinema & Dolby Headphone comparisons - Page 4

post #46 of 67
10/27/09 at 10:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ear8dmg View Post
Just to say that the Software verson of Dolby Headphone in PowerDVD isn't as good as hardware versions. I've tested it against a Xonar D2 with Dolby Headphone built in and the Xonar wiped the floor with PowerDVD. Comparing software DH to hardware SilentCinema wouldn't be fair.

Some DVDs have a pre-encoded Dolby Headphone soundtrack. Pearl Harbour has it. Shame about the film though. That might be a more suitable test.
software dolby headphone did beat silent cinema in term of soundstage width last time I tried. But I now got a cable so I can run it amped to my headphone amplifier... I think it was more the case of my yamaha not being able to drive my headphones all to well
I even got dolby headphone through my Essence ST now hasn´t tried it much. I get more distortion through the headphone output then the lineout on it.
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post #47 of 67
10/27/09 at 1:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renugaid View Post
SU-DH1 added to the list then? haha I'm totally doing some overkill here but for a fair comparison it just might be worth it. Plus if all goes well I can post a buyer's guide up for anybody wanted surround headphones without sacrificing the use of their top end headphones.
I've been using the SU-DH1 and a Buttkicker for a 'silent HT' for ages now. It also does a convincing job of a speaker presentation.

The only issue I had with the SU-DH1 is it being toslink. Buying a proper switch and repeater can be expensive when you have six devices you plan on using >_<
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post #48 of 67
10/28/09 at 9:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shike View Post
I've been using the SU-DH1 and a Buttkicker for a 'silent HT' for ages now. It also does a convincing job of a speaker presentation.

The only issue I had with the SU-DH1 is it being toslink. Buying a proper switch and repeater can be expensive when you have six devices you plan on using >_<
really? I thought it had a 1/8" cable built in... Well thats still ok. It will allow me to use a full unaltered digital signal to be processed without the x-fi interfering which will give a better result.
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post #49 of 67
10/28/09 at 9:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renugaid View Post
really? I thought it had a 1/8" cable built in... Well thats still ok. It will allow me to use a full unaltered digital signal to be processed without the x-fi interfering which will give a better result.
The 1/8" cable is just for analog usage . . . so you can use it as a cheap amp, for prologic, or just straight Dolby Headphone (used it with my Zune a couple of times with decent results). The mini toslink is the only way to get DD and DTS support.
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post #50 of 67
10/31/09 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shike View Post
The 1/8" cable is just for analog usage . . . so you can use it as a cheap amp, for prologic, or just straight Dolby Headphone (used it with my Zune a couple of times with decent results). The mini toslink is the only way to get DD and DTS support.
ooh right. Does it have a toslink out?
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post #51 of 67
11/1/09 at 1:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renugaid View Post
ooh right. Does it have a toslink out?
Nope. Plan on using an active switch/repeater if you have a lot of items and distance to cover. I use my consoles off a passive switch and have that with everything else that needs more distance on a Audio Authority switch.

Once you get it setup with a lot of devices it works, but getting it setup with a lot of devices takes time and planning.
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post #52 of 67
11/1/09 at 1:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shike View Post
Nope. Plan on using an active switch/repeater if you have a lot of items and distance to cover. I use my consoles off a passive switch and have that with everything else that needs more distance on a Audio Authority switch.

Once you get it setup with a lot of devices it works, but getting it setup with a lot of devices takes time and planning.
Ahh right. haha I know what its like. I had to get my PC and my PS3 hooked up via hdmi to my receiver but also bypass the video straight to the display because my receiver couldn't pass through 0-255 colour. A lot of cables, a lot of trial and error but worth it when it works. I think I can use my onboard toslink out for it then. I'll just have to use a software switch to change my output device from soundcard to onboard and vice versa through windows. Can you get a straight Dolby Headphone output or does it have to have a pro logic II encoding?
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post #53 of 67
11/1/09 at 1:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renugaid View Post
Ahh right. haha I know what its like. I had to get my PC and my PS3 hooked up via hdmi to my receiver but also bypass the video straight to the display because my receiver couldn't pass through 0-255 colour. A lot of cables, a lot of trial and error but worth it when it works. I think I can use my onboard toslink out for it then. I'll just have to use a software switch to change my output device from soundcard to onboard and vice versa through windows. Can you get a straight Dolby Headphone output or does it have to have a pro logic II encoding?
It can be straight Dolby Headphone (in fact, I never use Pro Logic with it). It will probably work for movies on your PC on DVD (or Blu-Ray if you use normal DD/DTS and have a drive for it). To get games to work you need something that support Dolby Digital Live. X-Fi Auzentech cards and certain Asus cards support it off the top of my head. The good news is, in my experience, it works well for making music sound like it's coming from speakers. Of course this is highly dependent on what headphones you use. I would avoid anything that tries to mimic surround (Ultrasone) or has angled drivers (Audio-Technica).

As for changing devices if you're on Vista or Windows 7 it's very simple to change devices fast and effectively.

Also I noticed you want to get away from X-Fi processing. Once again make sure it supports DDL if you plan on gaming, and drop CMSS3D like a rock. Keep EAX for games though . . .
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post #54 of 67
11/1/09 at 1:40am
Thread Starter 
SC is more versatile by a large margin. You can spend literally hrs tweaking the DSP to your liking, which can include 'dry' or 'wet' room. And supports all codecs.. DH has some benefits but feels too restricted and out dated. A up grade is needed.
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post #55 of 67
12/19/09 at 2:10am
cmss-3d headphone + yamaha straight enhancer = massive soundstage, pinpoint accuracy as well as an alternative to that crap x-fi crystalizer but is actually good and extends the low end as well as the top end without any static distortion. My preferred choice for gaming on the PC now. the silent cinema DSPs work in much the same way as the elevation filter feature on the x-fi except rather than being a filter for raised and lowered sounds, it filters noises behind you. Not entirely necessary for rear positioning and I prefer to use the straight enhancer over any dsps. But if you are going dolby digital live, my recommendation would be to go 4 speaker cmss with elevation filter, and the straight surround decoder mode. I feel the rear placement do not need filtering but fiddle around with the Action game parameters if youd like the DSP filters as well. Having now heard dolby headphone, i can agree with KBI and say that Silent Cinema is the overall winner in that battle. I would not give up CMSS-3D for pc gaming tho, but for consoles, silent cinema kicks serious butt.
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post #56 of 67
12/19/09 at 2:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by renugaid View Post
cmss-3d headphone + yamaha straight enhancer = massive soundstage, pinpoint accuracy as well as an alternative to that crap x-fi crystalizer but is actually good and extends the low end as well as the top end without any static distortion. My preferred choice for gaming on the PC now. the silent cinema DSPs work in much the same way as the elevation filter feature on the x-fi except rather than being a filter for raised and lowered sounds, it filters noises behind you. Not entirely necessary for rear positioning and I prefer to use the straight enhancer over any dsps. But if you are going dolby digital live, my recommendation would be to go 4 speaker cmss with elevation filter, and the straight surround decoder mode. I feel the rear placement do not need filtering but fiddle around with the Action game parameters if youd like the DSP filters as well. Having now heard dolby headphone, i can agree with KBI and say that Silent Cinema is the overall winner in that battle. I would not give up CMSS-3D for pc gaming tho, but for consoles, silent cinema kicks serious butt.
For consoles yes.. I would still like to combine the best of DH/SC.. But straight enhancer really en larges the horizontal landscape to the point I prefer it over the other SC 5.1 modes.. SC just has the tweak able factor that leaves DH in the dust, especially for reverb sensitive people.. DH is just a one trick pony in comparison..
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post #57 of 67
12/19/09 at 2:26am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by renugaid View Post
cmss-3d headphone + yamaha straight enhancer = massive soundstage, pinpoint accuracy as well as an alternative to that crap x-fi crystalizer but is actually good and extends the low end as well as the top end without any static distortion. My preferred choice for gaming on the PC now. the silent cinema DSPs work in much the same way as the elevation filter feature on the x-fi except rather than being a filter for raised and lowered sounds, it filters noises behind you. Not entirely necessary for rear positioning and I prefer to use the straight enhancer over any dsps. But if you are going dolby digital live, my recommendation would be to go 4 speaker cmss with elevation filter, and the straight surround decoder mode. I feel the rear placement do not need filtering but fiddle around with the Action game parameters if youd like the DSP filters as well. Having now heard dolby headphone, i can agree with KBI and say that Silent Cinema is the overall winner in that battle. I would not give up CMSS-3D for pc gaming tho, but for consoles, silent cinema kicks serious butt.
On a side note, you really know what you are talking about.. & anyone just getting into 5.1 SS should heed your advice. I couldn't agree more..
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post #58 of 67
12/25/09 at 5:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kool bubba ice View Post
On a side note, you really know what you are talking about.. & anyone just getting into 5.1 SS should heed your advice. I couldn't agree more..
Thanks, just on a side note, are you running your amp out of the silent cinema headphone out to get the DSP amplified or are you running it through a separate spdif? I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it as it seems the yamaha's headphone out doesn't drive my phones as best as the amps I've tried do.
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post #59 of 67
1/21/11 at 9:18pm

Hi all, Silent Cinema question to tack on to this thread. I have a Yamaha RX-V567 and am not sure (with a music DVD recording that I am sure is coming out of my source component in multichannel over HDMI (the display on the source component says so)) whether I'm getting a Silent Cinema effect with headphones attached to the Yahama. The Yamaha manual says that Direct and Straight modes will not provide Silent Cinema, but don't actually say what will, though I'd guess they mean one of their many concert hall/small underground club reverb settings. But none of the modes give me a strong positional sense. They just feel stereo. Maybe I'm expecting too much of the technology but it doesn't sound like it from what's being said in this thread, as people talk about strong rear position sounds. Of course it may just be the mixes on my music DVDs. I tried two, both DTS 5.1.

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post #60 of 67
12/9/12 at 9:55pm

Time to revive a super old thread. So, I'm guessing CMSS-3D combined with a Yammy receiver is still the best form of audio available? Is there a way to get this setup with the PS3?

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