[Alleyman]

There is no "correct" way. I prefer upmixing to 5.1 using the channel mixer plugin before feeding it to DH. I dug up an old post of mine with the settings I preferred in the upmixer. You can use the settings as a starting point and work your way to great sound

.

Channel Mixer settings

 

[Tone Def]

Sweet dude that sounds pretty good!

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tone Def /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sweet dude that sounds pretty good!

I just tried this (again) and it sounds really good on some recordings. I am listening to some old recordings of Charlie Parker and I must say that this is great. However, on some other albums it just gets muddier.

 

[Alleyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnOYiN /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just tried this (again) and it sounds really good on some recordings. I am listening to some old recordings of Charlie Parker and I must say that this is great. However, on some other albums it just gets muddier.

That is exactly the problem with DH for me too. Some recordings it shines and others it sounds like a cheap DSP effect. Thus, I have phases where I use DH and others when I just prefer the good ol' bs2b crossfeed.

 

[andyo]

I'm a little late, but some of you guys are confusing what Dolby Headphone is. It just attempts to recreate speaker sound (VERY effectively, in my opinion), UP TO 5.1 discrete surround. So while it works excellent in movies, it also works excellent in stereo. Dolby made the fine decision (unlike, say, Creative) of not messing with any stereo-to-multichannel simulation, so when you use DH with a stereo source, it will just try to emulate a set of stereo speakers (i.e. put the stereo sound as it was coming from the front).

If you wanna create a surround soundfield out of a stereo soundtrack, you can use Dolby Pro-logic II before the DH encoding. DPLII and DH are always very closely related so you will almost always be able to have that option. DH is just about simulating speakers, not simulating surround. And it works great. It has not much to do with crossfeed. As someone else said, it just takes the sound out of your head, and blissfully so.

By the way, all other cheap copies I've tried of this technology suck greatly (Cyberlink's, Arcsoft's, etc), but I haven't tried CMSS-3D headphone for 5.1 sources. For stereo sources I did try it with the Xmod, and it pretty much sucked (probably because Creative made the aforementioned mistake to integrate stereo-to-surround simulation with speaker simulation - like DH and DPLII combined). I always listen to my music with DH without DPLII, even though DPLII has a "music" setting, and it works great.

DTS is also coming out with "Surround Sensation", a competition for DH. I hope it's at least as effective, or better (like being able to encode 7.1 streams).

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolby Dolby Headphone is designed to process a 5.1 signal. It can also process stereo sources, but the stereo signal must first be converted to a 5.1 signal. Products can feature either of these logos, depending on the manufacturer. So, products with a Dolby Pro Logic II/Dolby Headphone logo use the Dolby Pro Logic II technology to expand stereo content to 5.1-channels, which are then processed through Dolby Headphone. Listeners are able to get a 5.1-channel surround sound experience from a stereo source with any pair of stereo headphones. Products with a Dolby Digital/Dolby Headphone logo decode 5.1-channel Dolby Digital soundtracks and apply Dolby Headphone processing to the multiple channels. Because the material is already encoded with 5.1 Dolby Digital, the multiple channels are discrete. Dolby Headphone then gives the listener a 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound experience from any pair of headphones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyo so when you use DH with a stereo source, it will just try to emulate a set of stereo speakers

So that would be the part where I would respectfully disagree.

 

[andyo]

Besides the mistake that the stereo source must be converted to 5.1 (it doesn't need to, but you lose multichannel simulation, though not speaker simulation) everything you quoted is pretty much what I said. For stereo-to-multichannel-to-headphone simulation, you need to use Dolby Pro-Logic II. It is right there in your quote.

Also, from here:

Quote:

Allows stereo content to be heard as 5.1-channel surround sound (when combined with Dolby Pro Logic II).

Think about it, if it can simulate 5.1 channels, then you can just imagine only two of the 5.1 channels having sound, while the other channels are quiet. That is basically what DH does for stereo, just simulates the two front/side channels. I have been using DH for years now, and there are plenty of other info sources around.

 

[andyo]

By the way, I just found where it is you quoted from (#7 of the Dolby Headhpone FAQ page). But, you missed the question. That question refers to surround playback of DH specifically and its relationship with Dolby Pro-Logic II. Take a look at paragraph 3 of question #1 (What is Dolby Headphone technology?):
Quote:

Dolby Headphone can also simulate a two-speaker stereo system and can be featured in PCs, portable DVD players, A/V receivers, digital TV sets, and wireless headsets.

 

[EnOYiN]

I think you are absolutely right.

However I don't see what we were wrong about. We are using something similar to Dolby Pro-Logic II to create some virtual speakers and then we are using DH to make all of that work for a headphone. (which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't work)

 

[andyo]

Hmm, I'm not sure if I was referring to you when I said "some of you guys" are confusing DH. I just read some posts that said that DH simulates surround when, by itself, it doesn't. You have to apply DPLII or something else like you are doing to get it. Some of those who suggested that DH simulates surround were not liking DH, and I wondered if they were applying some other processing like DPLII, that's why I posted. I for one don't like DPLII (music) plus DH, I like to hear my stereo music in DH stereo, no surround simulation.

So if DH was applying forced surround simulation, like CMSS-3D does for stereo sources, then I probably wouldn't like it either. I think it was pretty smart to separate the surround simulation (DPLII-music) from the speaker simulation (DH). Gives you more control, and actually DPLII-music kind of sucks anyway. Not to confuse with DPLII-movie, which with properly encoded material (mostly PS2 or Gamecube games), is great by the way.

 

[tfarney]

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, I'm not sure if I was referring to you when I said "some of you guys" are confusing DH. I just read some posts that said that DH simulates surround when, by itself, it doesn't. You have to apply DPLII or something else like you are doing to get it. Some of those who suggested that DH simulates surround were not liking DH, and I wondered if they were applying some other processing like DPLII, that's why I posted. I for one don't like DPLII (music) plus DH, I like to hear my stereo music in DH stereo, no surround simulation. So if DH was applying forced surround simulation, like CMSS-3D does for stereo sources, then I probably wouldn't like it either. I think it was pretty smart to separate the surround simulation (DPLII-music) from the speaker simulation (DH). Gives you more control, and actually DPLII-music kind of sucks anyway. Not to confuse with DPLII-movie, which with properly encoded material (mostly PS2 or Gamecube games), is great by the way.

So is Dolby Headphone software? If so, can I get it for a Mac? If not, does anyone know of any good software crossfeed or binaural simulators for Mac?

Tim

 

[andyo]

DH is can be implemented in software (and I'm pretty sure the cards that feature it do it in the drivers), so they can be implemented in software to any signal. In fact, software like PowerDVD features it, and it works great, though only when using said software. I suppose a solution like the SRS sandbox would be possible, but I don't think anyone has done that. About Mac support, I have no idea, unless the cards that have it (Auzen X-Meridian, Sondigo Inferno, HT Claro, Asus Xonar series) can be installed on a Mac. I got the Xonar U1 (USB) and it works great, if there's a Mac driver, it should work. But it doesn't have 5.1 analog outs, so it's pretty much for headphone or laptoop use.

By the way, the SRS headphone 360 thing sucks greatly (you can try it yourself by downloading the sandbox at srslabs.com)

 

[Hancoque]

In my opinion the best results can be achieved with this effect chain in foobar2000:

1. Channel Mixer (6 output channels, upmix mode off)
2. VST Bridge + V.I (default settings)
3. Dolby Headphone (recent dolbyhph.dll is bundled with the trial version of PowerDVD 8)

There's one caveat, though. Seeking causes V.I to only output noise. Playback must then be restarted. But I think this is acceptable.

While just using two channels as input the simulation is more like listening to stereo speakers. The sound stage is in front of the listener. This combination positions the listener more in the middle, similar to the stereo doubling approach but much better. You actually feel like the music is all around you.

Addition: Watch out for clipping. While the effect chain itself cannot clip, the volume should be attenuated enough before it is being sent to the sound card. I set the DH plugin volume to 71% (about -3 dB). At the end of the chain the Advanced Limiter should take care of the rest.