5.1 Headphone experience *Foobar configuration for all stereo music files*

[A.Thorsen]

I came into this somewhat skeptical simply because I'm a bit of a "less is more" person when it comes to headphones.

In other words, I'm leery of any post processing or any other "gimmicks" and such.

That being said: I really do like the way this setup sounds and I'm doing some back and forth A/B on Foobar between this setup and without DTS, Channel Mixer, and Dolby Headphone set to DH1 and you can definitely hear a significant difference going back and forth.

I simply haven't decided yet which way I like more.

 

[Napilopez]

I must say, as much as the SQ suffers... Maxing out all the sliders on free surround and using the Movie theater preset in DH is mighty fun. Sound stage is scarily ridiculously huge. It's what I use to show off to friends XD.

 

[Xcelcio]

Been lurking for sometime....
Registered because of this post lol

I tried it and was amazed at how capable is the virtualization. Not sure I'll keep it though.
I'll admit that the soundstaging is mindblowing, but I just love clarity and crispiness. And these effects sacrifice both of em.
Love it or hate it I guess.

And I haven't seen this mentioned so just to add something to those who like this effects.
This will add Subwoofer behind you to make your aural-sex truly 5.1 instead of 5.0

Tick the "Subwoofer" and "Bass redirection" in the Subwoofer tab to ON.
And make sure you Tick the LFE channel.
Play around with the options and sliders till you reach eargasm.

(too lazy to explain, and besides YMMV lol)

Back to lurking..........

 

[GungaDin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xcelcio /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'll admit that the soundstaging is mindblowing, but I just love clarity and crispiness. And these effects sacrifice both of em.

Try putting the Noise Sharpening plugin at the beginning of the DSP chain. That brings back the clarity and IMO really improves the sound.

 

[iHelp]

Hey guys;

I downloaded everything. I just can't see the 2 decoders and the channel mixer...

 

[fenixdown110]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iHelp /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey guys; I downloaded everything. I just can't see the 2 decoders and the channel mixer...

You have to move them over to the active DSP's. Refer to the first page.

 

[malalol]

This is mighty awesome! I'm currently using Free Surround and Dolby at Live room setting. Channel mixer is good as well, I think it provides better 3D depth to the soundstage, but it's a bit forward for my taste. Just configured the FS and I'm not changing anything for a couple of days! Changing back to non-processed stereo is just plain aggressive!

I just love how the soundstage gets generous and musical. There's a tiny bit of timbre change and some "colored veil" but the soundstage change is much worth it, it's mind blowing. I also love how the bass has it's identity increased on the mix

I won't play with the settings too much for now. I'll focus on the music! Listening through HD595 out from my Realtek onboard chip. My D4 Mamba is sitting somewhere in China

I wonder what the DAC would do to this setting... if it would get clearer and better or maybe reveal the drawbacks of the software processing?

Okay ninja edit: I got back to DH1 - Reference Room because the timbre change got very evident on Piano Jazz like Hiromi.

 

[adrift]

Quote:

Originally Posted by malalol /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is mighty awesome! I'm currently using Free Surround and Dolby at Live room setting. Channel mixer is good as well, I think it provides better 3D depth to the soundstage, but it's a bit forward for my taste. Just configured the FS and I'm not changing anything for a couple of days! Changing back to non-processed stereo is just plain aggressive! I just love how the soundstage gets generous and musical. There's a tiny bit of timbre change and some "colored veil" but the soundstage change is much worth it, it's mind blowing. I also love how the bass has it's identity increased on the mix I won't play with the settings too much for now. I'll focus on the music! Listening through HD595 out from my Realtek onboard chip. My D4 Mamba is sitting somewhere in China I wonder what the DAC would do to this setting... if it would get clearer and better or maybe reveal the drawbacks of the software processing? Okay ninja edit: I got back to DH1 - Reference Room because the timbre change got very evident on Piano Jazz like Hiromi.

Welcome to the cult.... er I mean club.

 

[SiRuI]

I've been using this for a while and here are my thoughts on channel mixer settings.

My settings differ from OP's in three ways:
1. I don't use Surround up-mix before DH Wrapper; I use Copy.
2. I use a sub-woofer.
3. I use 4.1 channels.

Rationals:
1.1 Dolby Headphones simulates speakers and calculates room reflection for you, so in a sense it is already surround if you give it a stereo source. If you up-mix a stereo source to a 5.0 surround, and DH takes the sound and calculate reflection again, don't you think the sound will be "surrounded twice"? The result will be loss of details. The solution is quite simple: just use Copy instead Surround in Channel Mixer. Let rear channels simply copy front channels.
1.2 This is a bit hard to explain. After processing DH creates a muddy sound, with pronounced bass. If, however, you enable sub-woofer and set Bass redirection frequency to around 70Hz, the pronounced bass is magically gone, and sound becomes clear again. It is possible DH is so designed that lower bass should come from .1 channel instead of 5.
1.3 If a center channel is used, the sound becomes less stereophonic. How about this: 2 front, 2 rear, and a sub in the middle. Rear copies front, but with less volume so that it moves sound stage forward.

Procedures:
Use 4.1 channels (6 without center)
Mode: Copy
Rear Volume: 0.62-0.71
Use subwoofer; Bass redirection; Frequency: 70
Everything else remains default.
DH Wrapper: Whatever you like.
(Channel Mixer setting file attached for your convenience; use setting import)

Result:
Forget about stereo. I use DH.

 

[dongringo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiRuI /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been using this for a while and here are my thoughts on channel mixer settings. My settings differ from OP's in three ways: 1. I don't use Surround up-mix before DH Wrapper; I use Copy. 2. I use a sub-woofer. 3. I use 4.1 channels. Rationals: 1.1 Dolby Headphones simulates speakers and calculates room reflection for you, so in a sense it is already surround if you give it a stereo source. If you up-mix a stereo source to a 5.0 surround, and DH takes the sound and calculate reflection again, don't you think the sound will be "surrounded twice"? The result will be loss of details. The solution is quite simple: just use Copy instead Surround in Channel Mixer. Let rear channels simply copy front channels. 1.2 This is a bit hard to explain. After processing DH creates a muddy sound, with pronounced bass. If, however, you enable sub-woofer and set Bass redirection frequency to around 70Hz, the pronounced bass is magically gone, and sound becomes clear again. It is possible DH is so designed that lower bass should come from .1 channel instead of 5. 1.3 If a center channel is used, the sound becomes less stereophonic. How about this: 2 front, 2 rear, and a sub in the middle. Rear copies front, but with less volume so that it moves sound stage forward. Procedures: Use 4.1 channels (6 without center) Mode: Copy Rear Volume: 0.62-0.71 Use subwoofer; Bass redirection; Frequency: 70 Everything else remains default. DH Wrapper: Whatever you like. (Channel Mixer setting file attached for your convenience; use setting import) Result: Forget about stereo. I use DH.

Where have you been all my life?

Seriously, I'm really digging this setup...bass...clarity...etc. The only thing I'm not sure about is the 4.1. I keep switching back and forth between 5.1 and 4.1 and it seems that 5.1 brings out too much mid and 4.1 is too little. But I decided to leave it at 4.1 for a couple days to see if my ears get used to it. All in all very impressive. Thanks for sharing.

 

[upstateguy]

Tried your settings....I think, by bringing the vocals forward with the copy setting, you loose some of the depth with those settings.

I have the LF off, everything else on default. Dolby Headphone on ref. room. I find this gives the best 3 dimensional sound.

USG

 

[fenixdown110]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dongringo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Where have you been all my life? Seriously, I'm really digging this setup...bass...clarity...etc. The only thing I'm not sure about is the 4.1. I keep switching back and forth between 5.1 and 4.1 and it seems that 5.1 brings out too much mid and 4.1 is too little. But I decided to leave it at 4.1 for a couple days to see if my ears get used to it. All in all very impressive. Thanks for sharing.

I concur. I have the same feelings about 4.1 lacking mids and 5.1 having too much. It was a pretty simple fix. You still enable the center channel for 5.1, but under upmix, turn the center channel down to 0.05-0.15 depending on your own preferences. To increase depth that is lost from bring the vocals forward, use the DH2 Dolby Headphone setting and turn the amplification to 200%.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiRuI /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been using this for a while and here are my thoughts on channel mixer settings. My settings differ from OP's in three ways: 1. I don't use Surround up-mix before DH Wrapper; I use Copy. 2. I use a sub-woofer. 3. I use 4.1 channels. Rationals: 1.1 Dolby Headphones simulates speakers and calculates room reflection for you, so in a sense it is already surround if you give it a stereo source. If you up-mix a stereo source to a 5.0 surround, and DH takes the sound and calculate reflection again, don't you think the sound will be "surrounded twice"? The result will be loss of details. The solution is quite simple: just use Copy instead Surround in Channel Mixer. Let rear channels simply copy front channels. 1.2 This is a bit hard to explain. After processing DH creates a muddy sound, with pronounced bass. If, however, you enable sub-woofer and set Bass redirection frequency to around 70Hz, the pronounced bass is magically gone, and sound becomes clear again. It is possible DH is so designed that lower bass should come from .1 channel instead of 5. 1.3 If a center channel is used, the sound becomes less stereophonic. How about this: 2 front, 2 rear, and a sub in the middle. Rear copies front, but with less volume so that it moves sound stage forward. Procedures: Use 4.1 channels (6 without center) Mode: Copy Rear Volume: 0.62-0.71 Use subwoofer; Bass redirection; Frequency: 70 Everything else remains default. DH Wrapper: Whatever you like. (Channel Mixer setting file attached for your convenience; use setting import) Result: Forget about stereo. I use DH.

This is amazing. It beats out the Free Surround setup I was using before. It's much more clear and detailed. The separation is just awesome and bass detail is in your face.

 

[Brandon7s]

Ok, I'm having trouble with the Dolby Headphone wrapper. I see no DSP called Dolby Headphone that I can move to active. I have the all the files where they need to be, according to the first post. Is there some trick to getting Dolby Headphone to show up in the list?

 

[dongringo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenixdown110 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I concur. I have the same feelings about 4.1 lacking mids and 5.1 having too much. It was a pretty simple fix. You still enable the center channel for 5.1, but under upmix, turn the center channel down to 0.05-0.15 depending on your own preferences. To increase depth that is lost from bring the vocals forward, use the DH2 Dolby Headphone setting and turn the amplification to 200%. This is amazing. It beats out the Free Surround setup I was using before. It's much more clear and detailed. The separation is just awesome and bass detail is in your face.

Mmmm Fix. Thanks fenix. I'll give that a try after work.

 

[adrift]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon7s /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok, I'm having trouble with the Dolby Headphone wrapper. I see no DSP called Dolby Headphone that I can move to active. I have the all the files where they need to be, according to the first post. Is there some trick to getting Dolby Headphone to show up in the list?

Nope, there shouldn't be. Do you have Channel Mixer listed in your DSPs but just not DH? Are you sure you put them in the correct folder?