[RedSky0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAChichorro /img/forum/go_quote.gif I changed from Channel Mixer to Free Surround. Not too familiar with audiophile lingo, so it's hard to explain precisely, but it does sound better to my ears. I invite others to try it and give out their impressions.

Interesting, what settings do you use out of curiosity? Kind of hard to A/B but it definitely sounds a bit different.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Lavcat /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read the Free Surround thread, thanks. Sounds interesting. Unfortunately I had no success downloading the plugin.

Download this and stick it in Windows/System32: Download libfftw3f 3.dll

Put this in your components folder: Download foo_dsp_fsurround.dll

 

[gurubhai]

I experimented with this kind of setup couple of years back.
I liked this one much better :

Dolby Headphone Wrapper DSP - Hydrogenaudio Forums

 

[JackeShan]

Anyone know where I can get the VST plugin mentioned above? (For Foobar 0.9.6.9)

 

[gurubhai]

V.I Stereo to 5.1 Converter VST Plugin Suite

here

 

[JackeShan]

Sorry I meant VST host bridge.

 

[gurubhai]

ok, here it is

George Yohng's VST wrapper for Foobar2000 - Hydrogenaudio Forums

 

[JAChichorro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedSky0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting, what settings do you use out of curiosity? Kind of hard to A/B but it definitely sounds a bit different.

Using the same values as the maker of the plugin:

 

[bigfatdynamo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfatdynamo /img/forum/go_quote.gif My experience: Used music/Equipment: Asus WinXP laptop (circa 2006)-> Foobar -> ASIO4ALL -> generic USB cord -> Maverick DAC -> Completely stock Ultrasone HFI 780s. Music: FLAC: Rush Moving Pictures / Sarah McLachlan Closer: The Best of.. / Jay-Z Empire State of Mind / Them Crooked Vultures 320mp3: Once OST / Jay-Z Empire State of Mind / Eric Clapton Unplugged 256VBR mp3: The Clipse / Popular Demand Some other, lower quality mixtapes were also used -- Normally at 192 I played around with it some more and had a nagging feeling that it was 'colouring' the music, especially female vocals. I decieded to get a second opinion with my girlfriend, who is a trained vocalist. I loaded up a song I knew she was very familiar with - Building a Mystery from Sarah McLachlan's 'Best of CD' - and asked her to listen. I began with the Dolby headphone as set up in the OP (with 1.25 centre) and she right away took it off the headphones and gave me a look. I asked her to try it again with nothing and then switched to bs2b on the cmoy setting. She could not tell the difference between the vanilla sound and the crosfeed sound but noted that the vocals on the DH were unnatural. Personally, I prefer the stock sound but become fatigued quite quickly. I use the bs2b setting on the default or the cmoy depending on listening times. After a couple days use with multiple 4 + hour sessions, I find the the dolby headphone to be the least fatiguing setting, the cmoy bs2b to be the best balance, and no DSP to be the best sounding. The cmoy bs2b was also the most generous with lossy files, I am assuming this is because some of the highs are rolled off. Dolby Headphone completely exposed poor files; however, 320 and FLAC were mostly indistinguishable.

I listened to some Massive Attack FLAC's and tweaked the centre speaker a bit and found that the Dolby Headphone setting was really good. I set the centre speaker to .90 and I found that sound stage was really open. When I used this setting on hip hop/rap it also sounded great. The lyrical content felt more integrated with the music, artists felt more 'in tune' with the beat - as opposed to 'rapping' over it. When I went with vocal based acoustic music it did not work as well with the vocals being too muted.

Is the VST thing really worth the trouble of installing something to my windows folder and will it have any other consequences. I really like the simplicity of the foobar components folder and want to know what happens if I install this other dealie to my windows system folder or where ever it goes. I still prefer the bs2b cmoy setting and do not want it impacted. I also do not want other computer tasks to be altered such as watching movies.

I would also like some suggestions for 'rear in front.' I either notice it or do not.

EDIT: I am now using 1.25 centre // .50 rear in front. Through AB I found this to actually work with female vocals and will probably be keeping it as my Dolby Headphone setting for foobar. I also tried the 2ch to 6ch upmixer but I liked the ability to fine tune with the one the OP recommended. I am also using DH2.

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedSky0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Kind of hard to A/B

Very easy to A-B. Save them in foobar DSP Manager.

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfatdynamo /img/forum/go_quote.gif EDIT: I am now using 1.25 centre // .50 rear in front.

You know, it seems to me that by increasing the level of the center channel, you are moving the center information spatially closer to the L & R information, flattening the sound stage and decreasing the overall effect.

 

[fenixdown110]

No luck getting Free Surround to work with Win7.

 

[bigfatdynamo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by upstateguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif You know, it seems to me that by increasing the level of the center channel, you are moving the center information spatially closer to the L & R information, flattening the sound stage and decreasing the overall effect.

I would say that I am simply moving my seat forward. I had a setting of .90 and found that the vocals blended into the instrumental on tracks where it is evident listening sans DSP that the vocal is meant to be the 'centrepeic.' So, for hip hop and other 'electronic' music it was decent. For Diana and Sarah, they became lost. I found that by increasing the centre and then bringing some of the rear into the front I repositioned myself 'closer' to the stage. IMO, it should be music first, effect second. I may lose some separation, but the music sounds more true to the way it was originally equalized.

 

[JAChichorro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenixdown110 /img/forum/go_quote.gif No luck getting Free Surround to work with Win7.

Weird... I'm using Win7 Pro 64x and it works fine. Must be something else.

 

[fenixdown110]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAChichorro /img/forum/go_quote.gif Weird... I'm using Win7 Pro 64x and it works fine. Must be something else.

The dll file can't even be read by foobar. It says that it might not be compatible with the current version of foobar...

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfatdynamo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would say that I am simply moving my seat forward. I had a setting of .90 and found that the vocals blended into the instrumental on tracks where it is evident listening sans DSP that the vocal is meant to be the 'centrepeic.' So, for hip hop and other 'electronic' music it was decent. For Diana and Sarah, they became lost. I found that by increasing the centre and then bringing some of the rear into the front I repositioned myself 'closer' to the stage. IMO, it should be music first, effect second. I may lose some separation, but the music sounds more true to the way it was originally equalized.

I wish I could agree with you, but if you were just moving your seat forward, the L & R volume would also get louder as you move closer to the source. But that is not the case.

What you are doing is bringing the center information closer to you while keeping the L & R information where it was. This flattens the sound stage because the center information is no longer as far from the L & R information as it was before.

BTW, have you tried the VST plugin? I find the default values for VST and the default values for the channel mixer to sound quite similar regarding the distance of the center information from the L & R.

USG