[crazyface]

Hello!

Is there any means of enjoying the extra spatial information contained on SACD's/DVD's whilst using, to listen, a pair of headphones? Is there any kind of intermediate "decrypter" that can take the extra information and reinterpret it for presentation on headphones? Or is the only option to crudely "downmix" the surround channels into stereo channels, rendering the experience no different (or perhaps worse) than just listening to the stereo mix?

Alternatively - are all "surroundsound headphones" just gimmicky junk? It seems like the idea could actually work rather well, if implemented by a responsible company. The reason I can't have a multichannel speaker system is because my room acoustics would never allow for a passable setup. If there where something I could put on my head, listen through, and still the kind of audiophile quality I expect from my Grados, ER4S's, or my Ergo2, then that would be acceptable. But so far the only "surround sound headphones" I've seen are Bose/gaming rubbish.

So - is there any kind of option for audiophile-quality interface between headphones and multichannel discs?

Thanks!

 

[infinitesymphony]

There are a few different algorithms that seek to accurately reproduce surround content on headphones, though they all use downmixing and phase-shifting techniques. Dolby Headphone is one.

Whether or not the algorithms are successful is subjective.

 

[crazyface]

oh dear that doesnt sound good

 

[Duggeh]

JVC Victor make a Dolby Headphone computer for mixing 5.1 surround into a headphone signal. You have to attach it to your player by a digital connection so you'll lose the high resolution aspect because of the copy protection but Dolby Headphone is the winner for me so far as far as surround sound in a headphone is concerned. Short of the Surrounder.

Audiocubes sells them iirc.

Intervideo WinDVD also has a Dolby Headphone plugin which works the same way.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Well... There are only so many psychoacoustical tricks that can be done before more physical drivers are needed. Binaural recordings are a different story, but of course those don't involve downmixing.

Everything I've seen mentioning surround headphones pretty much says, "They don't work very well."

 

[GreatDane]

http://www.beyerdynamic.com/cms/Head...50.0.html?&L=1

 

[crazyface]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif Intervideo WinDVD also has a Dolby Headphone plugin which works the same way.

And using that instead, I wouldn't lose high resolution? What about for SACD's?

Yeah, I almost bought that Surrounder from you Duggeh! But I read some pretty bad reviews of it, wrote it off. Now I'm curious again...

Thanks for the link, GreatDane! That looks really interesting! I'll have to see if I can find any reviews on that setup!

 

[infinitesymphony]

SACDs can't be played in a computer... You'd have to get the analog outputs from a SACD player.