[C4 Suke]

Hello, with all this dolby headphone talk recently, I started getting curious about a few things.

Is the Dolby Headphone used in PowerDVD and WinDVD the same as the one used in Pioneer Dolby Processor, or does one sound better than the other?

Is any special sound card needed to notice a big difference with Dolby Headphone? Or will any soundcard output the dolby headphone?

The last time I used Dolby Headphone mode on my headphones with PowerDVD, it just sounded really hollow, maybe it could have been because of my headphones, I have Sony CD-180. I felt like testing it again with a ac3 Divx file, but for some reason my PowerDVD won't up them up anymore, and it doesn't let you use fullscreen without ruining the aspect ratio, so I may have to try out WinDVD. Is that better than PowerDVD? Thanks.

Suke

 

[Ruahrc]

I'm curious about this as well. I heard some good things about Dolby Headphone- and when I tried it myself I wasn't very impressed. I was using it under PowerDVDXP. Am I correct in assuming that there is only 3 options to fiddle with on DH: "Small Room", "Medium Room", or "Theatre"?

Has anyone tried the SRS Trusurround XT mode? I enabled that and DVD's to me sounded better than with Dolby Headphone.

Test DVD was Star Wars Episode 2, the scene where Obi-wan is flying through the asteroid field and Jango Fett is chasing him with the seismic charges...

Headphones were Sennheiser HD570 and some Koss UR-X0 (Forget the exact number, the foldy ones though)

Ruahrc

 

[C4 Suke]

Come on someone has to know something bout this?

 

[Achilles]

Dolby headphone is Dolby headphone. If it goes by that name its the same sound.

I'm with you, its overrated and not very surround. Just seems to apply different filters to each channel instead one for all. The binaural tracks I have recently heard have a much greater spatial plane and realism.

Oh well, maybe Dolby Headphone II.

 

[C4 Suke]

Oh ok thanks for the info Achilles.

 

[JMedeiros]

Quote:

Originally posted by C4 Suke The last time I used Dolby Headphone mode on my headphones with PowerDVD, it just sounded really hollow, maybe it could have been because of my headphones, I have Sony CD-180. I felt like testing it again with a ac3 Divx file, but for some reason my PowerDVD won't up them up anymore, and it doesn't let you use fullscreen without ruining the aspect ratio, so I may have to try out WinDVD. Is that better than PowerDVD? Thanks. Suke

Suke-
I have been enjoying films with Dolby Headphone for a few weeks now. First with WinDVD on my laptop through my Koss Porta Pros, then with the Pioneer SE DIR1000C processor and a several other headphone options.

As Achilles said, Dolby Headphone is Dolby Headphone. The processing is the same. However, I find the listening experience to vary greatly from headphone to headphone used.

Just as various Dolby Digital and DTS receivers/processors, DVD players and speaker setups will differ greatly...so will the sound from various headphones. Each delivery system brings it's own sonic characteristics to the mix.

I have only listened for about 50 hours total so far, but I can say I prefer the sound through my Senn600s to the supplied Pioneer wireless cans or the Porta-Pros on my Sony laptop.

The "hollow" sound you refer to might be the echo and delay used in the processing. It is less when set to DH1 and most present in the DH3 setting. This echo/delay is supposed to simulate the theater size. You will either like this or hate it. I use DH2 and I like it.

I wrote a lengthy report on my experiences with Dolby Headphone and the Pioneer system. It is in the headphone review section and talks about the sonic aspects of the sound via the different cans I used.

John

 

[aos]

I used DH a few times and thought that it was superb. In my opinion it created a very realistic 3D sound, and I enjoyed watching action movies with it. It may be important to note that the reference headphones that DH was calibrated for are HD600. I used HD580 which is almost the same. I assume you're using good sound cards and good headphone amplifiers. My setup was a bit unconventional though because I used digital out of the soundcard and fed it to an external DAC + amp. I am sure that a good quality amp and proper cans are critical in order to have a good DH experience.

 

[Music Fanatic]

Quote:

Originally posted by aos It may be important to note that the reference headphones that DH was calibrated for are HD600.

May I ask -- where did you learn this?

 

[Fastjack]

I use the recent version of PowerDVD's AC3-filters when watching movies with Dolby Digital track. Phones are the Ety ER4S. For me the effect works quite nicely. I can clearly discern which sounds come from the front such as dialogue and what's arround. It also gets rid of the "in your head"-feeling of normal headphone listening. OTOH I can't really feel when a sound is supposed to come from behind me. To get that effect I have to KNOW that the sound originates behind me. It also helps when the sound-source is moving. But that seems to be an inability on my part though as I have the same problem with other 3D headphone sources such as binaural recordings or Sensaura-effects.

To sum it up: It works reasonably well for me and I really like it.

BTW: It's possible to use a good video-player like Zoom-Player with the AC3-decoder filter of PowerDVD. That way you get rid of the aspect-ratio problem and still have all the sound-effects of PowerDVD. Since recently these include SRS Trusurround XT. I tried that only for a short time but didn't like it. Maybe I'll give it another test-run.

 

[Music Fanatic]

Quote:

Originally posted by Fastjack I use the recent version of PowerDVD's AC3-filters when watching movies with Dolby Digital track. Phones are the Ety ER4S. For me the effect works quite nicely. I can clearly discern which sounds come from the front such as dialogue and what's arround. It also gets rid of the "in your head"-feeling of normal headphone listening. OTOH I can't really feel when a sound is supposed to come from behind me. To get that effect I have to KNOW that the sound originates behind me. It also helps when the sound-source is moving.

I know what you mean. I wonder if we detect directionality of sound slightly through small movements of the head and neck -- turning to face the sound.

 

[Jasper994]

I personally like DH and generally use either DH1 or DH2 depending on my mood DH3 has a little to much echo for my tastes... I have tried SRS and didn't care for it as much but I'll give it another lisen and get back to you...

As far as directionality, I find that it does a very good job of simulating sound comming from the rear as I find myself turning my head when something is comming from behind... I play a lot of Counter-Strike though so I've spent a considerable amount of time dealing with simulated surround and depending on it for directional cues.

BTW I generally use my 280pros for movie watching.

 

[Fastjack]

Quote:

Originally posted by Jasper994 As far as directionality, I find that it does a very good job of simulating sound comming from the rear as I find myself turning my head when something is comming from behind... I play a lot of Counter-Strike though so I've spent a considerable amount of time dealing with simulated surround and depending on it for directional cues.

And I guess that you use headphones for gaming, too?! If so, what kind of hardware/software setup do you use to get good positional audio via headphones? Is some Sensaura stuff used for that?

Just asking cause I don't really know how to set my system up.

 

[tortie]

Speaking of movie surround software, has anybody tried AKG's hearo player software?

Its downloadable from Their site

 

[alvin138]

hey tortie, it says that your location is the philippines. My mom will be going there next month, and i was wondering whether or not it is cheaper to buy a set of wireless phones there in the PI or here in the US. i am currently leaning towards the XDream, Sony mrd-ds3000 or anything less than $250 US. But if you know that the prices are much cheaper in the PI than the US, could u let me know, and maybe recommend a pair of wireless headphones to buy in the PI =) ok thanks a lot

 

[tortie]

I don't know about the availability of headphones in Manila (our capital city). But in my city (one hour away from Manila by plane), there are no decent headphones available here...ZERO!

I buy all my headphone stuff from the US.

But if she can find some headphones when shes in the PH, it will likely be cheaper here in the PH than in the US. Again, im not sure of the availability though, the last time I was there was last year. At that time I had no interest in headphones, so I was not able to notice if they have good phones there.