[lumzi23]

Hello,

Just like the question says I was wondering when it is best to turn on or off 7.1. virtual surround sound with Dolby Atmos/Windows Sonic for Headphones.

I was watching the Fellowship of the Rings Bluray yesterday and was displeased the crap/dead sound on my HE500 headphones. I looked at the back and noticed that the Bluray only had 6.1 audio for the English track and no stereo. So decided to try Dolby Atmos for Headphones (with 7.1 Virtual Surround ticked on) which I had previously ignored. The difference was remarkable. It sounded much better. I then tried without 7.1 virtual surround and it still sounded great but in a different way. I then tried switching to Windows Sonic with and without 7.1. virtual and it also sounded great but different so I don't what I prefer.

What I want to know is what do all these settings do and how do they interacting with other setting like a 5.1/6.1 bluray track or any other thing you think is important.

Thanks

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Just like the question says I was wondering when it is best to turn on or off 7.1. virtual surround sound with Dolby Atmos/Windows Sonic for Headphones.

I was watching the Fellowship of the Rings Bluray yesterday and was displeased the crap/dead sound on my HE500 headphones. I looked at the back and noticed that the Bluray only had 6.1 audio for the English track and no stereo. So decided to try Dolby Atmos for Headphones (with 7.1 Virtual Surround ticked on) which I had previously ignored. The difference was remarkable. It sounded much better. I then tried without 7.1 virtual surround and it still sounded great but in a different way. I then tried switching to Windows Sonic with and without 7.1. virtual and it also sounded great but different so I don't what I prefer.

What I want to know is what do all these settings do and how do they interacting with other setting like a 5.1/6.1 bluray track or any other thing you think is important.

As long as what you're listening to is a surround track - regardless of whether it's music or games - then enable whatever surround virtualizer you have.

 

[lumzi23]

As long as what you're listening to is a surround track - regardless of whether it's music or games - then enable whatever surround virtualizer you have.

Okay, thanks.

 

[YJX94]

As ProtegeManiac suggested, Atmos and Sonic virtualisation only takes effect when they're fed a surround signal, so if you listen to music in stereo with headphones (as you should) then it won't be affected by Atmos/Sonic but playing a game with in-game settings set to surround or a movie with a surround track will enable Atmos and Sonic effects.

TL;DR - Stereo Source = Atmos/Sonic won't work. Surround Source = Atmos/Sonic work.

 

[lumzi23]

As ProtegeManiac suggested, Atmos and Sonic virtualisation only takes effect when they're fed a surround signal, so if you listen to music in stereo with headphones (as you should) then it won't be affected by Atmos/Sonic but playing a game with in-game settings set to surround or a movie with a surround track will enable Atmos and Sonic effects.

TL;DR - Stereo Source = Atmos/Sonic won't work. Surround Source = Atmos/Sonic work.

Thank you both for your helpful responses. So just to be certain, Dolby Atmos/Windows sonic is strictly for surround sound content (like 5.1 netflix) whether or not I "Turn on 7.1. Virtual Surround Sound?"

What does clicking the "Turn on 7.1. Virtual Surround Sound" box do versus leaving it unclicked do when watching surround content?

 

[YJX94]

Thank you both for your helpful responses. So just to be certain, Dolby Atmos/Windows sonic is strictly for surround sound content (like 5.1 netflix) whether or not I "Turn on 7.1. Virtual Surround Sound?"

What does clicking the "Turn on 7.1. Virtual Surround Sound" box do versus leaving it unclicked do when watching surround content?

From my understanding, the 7.1 virtual surround sound is only for gaming and does not affect movies and etc. I've tested this myself, with the box unchecked and in-game settings set to surround it sounded the same as stereo even with Atmos/Sonic activated.

 

[lumzi23]

From my understanding, the 7.1 virtual surround sound is only for gaming and does not affect movies and etc. I've tested this myself, with the box unchecked and in-game settings set to surround it sounded the same as stereo even with Atmos/Sonic activated.

Thank you for your response.

I don't know, the 7.1 had a significant effect with the LOTR movie I watched.

 

[YJX94]

Thank you for your response.

I don't know, the 7.1 had a significant effect with the LOTR movie I watched.

Ah I see, I've only used the 7.1 with games. Well if it sounds better than normal then by all means keep it enabled.

 

[lumzi23]

Ah I see, I've only used the 7.1 with games. Well if it sounds better than normal then by all means keep it enabled.

Thank you for your help.

It does, though I haven't really tested it with games (I will have to give that a go). I will also have to give another go with films to make sure but from what I recall it definitely worked.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Thank you both for your helpful responses. So just to be certain, Dolby Atmos/Windows sonic is strictly for surround sound content (like 5.1 netflix) whether or not I "Turn on 7.1. Virtual Surround Sound?"

Not sure how it works specifically, but that's for simulating surround sound on two physical channels. As to whether they "work" in any way on stereo, that depends on the program or DSP suite used - my soundcard's virtualizer works on stereo audio that when I shut down my game and went into a loud YouTube channel I reached over to the speaker volume control since the sound seemed like it was coming out from midway between my head and the monitor (which is where my desktop speakers image it normally, but at the time I had my headphones on).

What does clicking the "Turn on 7.1. Virtual Surround Sound" box do versus leaving it unclicked do when watching surround content?

It takes a surround signal and instead of just plain downmixing it into 2ch by assiging Center and Sub to come out of boh L and R while Surround L goes into L and Surround R goes into R, it feeds the sound across the channels differently with some reverb mixed in so you don't get a normal inside the head hardpan Left strong Center-hard pan Right soundstage. It's a more complicated version of Crossfeed, which works on 2ch signals fed across both channels to simulate how both ears hear both speakers for positional cues and without that Trident soundstage/hard pan left-strong Center-hard pan Right soundstage.

From my understanding, the 7.1 virtual surround sound is only for gaming and does not affect movies and etc. I've tested this myself, with the box unchecked and in-game settings set to surround it sounded the same as stereo even with Atmos/Sonic activated.

That's kind of weird. My old Acer laptop's Dolby Headphone only works on movies, and my current Ultrabook works for movies but I haven't tested it for games thanks to it being an Ultrabook (with a Core M5 processor and no dedicated GPU etiher). Same thing with my motherboard, which was why I picked up a soundcard (which works on movies but you have to make sure the video player app is set to output the 5.1 and not its 2.0 track).

 

[YJX94]

That's kind of weird. My old Acer laptop's Dolby Headphone only works on movies, and my current Ultrabook works for movies but I haven't tested it for games thanks to it being an Ultrabook (with a Core M5 processor and no dedicated GPU etiher). Same thing with my motherboard, which was why I picked up a soundcard (which works on movies but you have to make sure the video player app is set to output the 5.1 and not its 2.0 track).

That is weird. The old Dolby Headphone as I've always understood was system wide affecting all sounds from your PC. I have only tested Atmos/Sonic with games so far and it definitely does work when the game is set to output in surround sound, unchecking the 7.1 box however for games makes it sound like stereo again. Haven't really seen anyone do an extensive test/review on Atmos/Sonic as of yet so this stuff still has a bit of confusion to it.

 

[valleynomad]

From Microsoft website:
The “Turn on 7.1 virtual surround sound” (Windows) or “Use virtual surround in apps” (Xbox) checkbox allows all existing applications that were capable of rendering to 5.1 or 7.1 channel formats to now treat headphones as a virtual 7.1 device. Content that previously would have only been heard in multichannel via a multichannel home theater, and which would have utilized a linear downmix over headphones, can now be virtualized (using the format specified in the dropdown) and heard over any pair of stereo headphones.

 

[lumzi23]

From Microsoft website:
The “Turn on 7.1 virtual surround sound” (Windows) or “Use virtual surround in apps” (Xbox) checkbox allows all existing applications that were capable of rendering to 5.1 or 7.1 channel formats to now treat headphones as a virtual 7.1 device. Content that previously would have only been heard in multichannel via a multichannel home theater, and which would have utilized a linear downmix over headphones, can now be virtualized (using the format specified in the dropdown) and heard over any pair of stereo headphones.

Thank you very much. That is what I needed.

Not sure how it works specifically, but that's for simulating surround sound on two physical channels. As to whether they "work" in any way on stereo, that depends on the program or DSP suite used - my soundcard's virtualizer works on stereo audio that when I shut down my game and went into a loud YouTube channel I reached over to the speaker volume control since the sound seemed like it was coming out from midway between my head and the monitor (which is where my desktop speakers image it normally, but at the time I had my headphones on).

It takes a surround signal and instead of just plain downmixing it into 2ch by assiging Center and Sub to come out of boh L and R while Surround L goes into L and Surround R goes into R, it feeds the sound across the channels differently with some reverb mixed in so you don't get a normal inside the head hardpan Left strong Center-hard pan Right soundstage. It's a more complicated version of Crossfeed, which works on 2ch signals fed across both channels to simulate how both ears hear both speakers for positional cues and without that Trident soundstage/hard pan left-strong Center-hard pan Right soundstage.

Thank you that is also very helpful and needed.

 

[masterkaj]

I think my new fresh Windows 1803 install broke spatial sound. I'll enable Dolby Atmos for headphones and try it in games, movies, music and there is zero difference with it on and off. It used to be immediately noticeable. Only other thing I found regarding this was https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...d/509e7965-3496-4907-a5e6-02406a16efce?auth=1

Using Bifrost Gen5 via USB.

 

[Smasha]

Atmos is broken with my pc.
Sound is like an 8th note gate,it gates videos too,have to turn it off.

No problems with Windows Sonic.

I spent 25 on Dolby Atmos for unworkable software,sigh.