[gregorio]

You don't need to select a decoder to play discrete multichannel in any format. It plays back automatically. You only need to select one for matrixed. If there is a setting in the amp for DTS or Dolby, it's for matrixed, not discrete.

No bigshot, this is not necessarily correct. Many/Most films that have a (discrete multichannel) DTS soundtrack also have a (discrete multichannel) DD soundtrack and you have to select which one you want. Of course, different Amps/AVRs and different AVRs of different ages behave differently, some are more automatic than others and what actually comes out of the AVR when playing DD, DTS or a matrixed format (such as Dolby ProLogic), will depend on various other settings (such as number of speakers in the user's system).

G

 

[bigshot]

I don't know how long it's been since you bought an AVR or blu-ray player, but with everything I've seen in the past decade, it defaults to the highest quality source and decodes it automatically. I've never had to select discrete multichannel formats from the player or amp. I just have it set to surround and it plays it. If a disc has both DTS and Dolby discrete, you select which one you want in the menu screen of the disc, not the player. If you play a 7.1 track on a 5.1 system, it automatically down mixes it for you. You don't need to adjust that either.

The only time you have to select DTS or Dolby on the amp or player is with matrixed surround. It defaults to whichever one you're selected when it encounters a stereo signal when you have it set to Surround. You can step through the various flavors of matrixed decoders and up mixers there.

 

[jason41987]

I think I am either going to need another surround sound adapter, one that supplies ample amplification, or I will need to add an amplifier in-line after the surround sound processor. Can USB transmit 7.1 data properly?

 

[bigshot]

Have you tried just inserting an amp between the headphone output of your processor and your cans? The processor isn't really putting out 7.1 discrete. It's just two channel. If so, it should amp just like any other signal.

 

[jason41987]

yeah, i mean, i could, but i wouldnt mind getting it into a single device, and if i get a nice headphone amp kit to build it wouldnt be hard to integrate the two circuits and power supplies into a single unit

 

[bigshot]

Altoids tin!

 

[jason41987]

i dont know about that.. i was thinking one of those tube amps though.. the $100 kits.. that may be overkill for my needs though

 

[bigshot]

I'd just get a little Cmoy. They're clean and inexpensive and do the job.

 

[jason41987]

well sure, if theres a good sounding $30 headphone amp kit, im all ears.. not a huge fan of the altoids tin though

 

[bigshot]

Google "cmoy amp kit". That should bring it up. You could fit it in the same case with your signal processor.

 

[jason41987]

i am also looking for a microphone to start doing some content creation.. one of them i was looking at is the samson g track pro which has a 1/4" input jack on the back to monitor instruments into the microphone... im wondering if that'd work as a headphone amp too.. if so, that'd kill two birds with one stone

 

[bigshot]

No, that wouldn't be the same. That would be a line jack, not a headphone amp.

 

[jason41987]

thats probably true. though if the line-in can handle stereo, it'd be interesting to record audio after its gone through the surround sound processing

 

[bigshot]

My AVR has a bunch of surround processors that produce discrete 5.1. In general, stereo recordings do a lot more than mono sources do. If the mike only has a mono input, it won't do much.

 

[gregorio]

i am also looking for a microphone to start doing some content creation.. one of them i was looking at is the samson g track pro which has a 1/4" input jack on the back to monitor instruments into the microphone... im wondering if that'd work as a headphone amp too.. if so, that'd kill two birds with one stone

I had a look at the specs, etc., of this mic. It's effectively a bunch of units built into the mic itself: A mono mic, an analogue mic pre-amp, an ADC, a simple 2 channel mixer and a headphone amp. The 1/4" input jack is an input, not an output, it's for inputting an electric guitar or mono line level instrument (such as a hardware mono synth). This input and the mic input can then be "mixed" relative to each other and output (through USB) as either a mono mix or as 2 separate mono channels, with the mic input on one channel and the instrument input on the other. However, in addition to the 1/4" input jack, it also has a standard 1/8" (3.5mm) mini-jack output, routed through a built-in headphone amp, to allow you to monitor the live output (mic, instrument or the mix of the two) with headphones. This "mic" does therefore work as a headphone amp but only for the mic's inputs, so you can't use it as a general purpose headphone amp because you can't send a signal to it.

There's a few points in the marketing you should be aware of:
1. It states the mic/unit has "24bit, 96kHz resolution": - This is misleading because that's just the format of the USB output file, NOT the actual resolution of what that output file contains! The mic itself is actually specified to 20kHz and although the SNR (dynamic range) is not specified, it's unlikely to be much more than about 60dB and possibly less. So although the output file format is 24bit/96kHz, the actual resolution is effectively more like 10bit/40kHz.
2. It states "1/8" stereo output and high quality headphone amplifier": - The 1/8" headphone jack output is stereo but the actual signal it outputs is not stereo, it's dual mono. Additionally, "high quality" is a relative term and, it's specified as 16ohm impedance (85mW @ 32ohm), which should be OK for most headphones but you should check you particular ones.
3. As is typically the case with consumer recording equipment, it's actually marketed as "professional" recording equipment and implies that it's suitable for commercial recording studio use, which is not the case. You're effectively getting a number of different units in a single mic housing and at it's low price point, some of them are going to be quite poor quality. This probably won't affect the ADC but will likely audibly affect the mic itself, the mic pre-amp, the mixer and the headphone amp.

Having said all the above, this mic/unit will probably be fine for your content creation, depending on what content you're talking about and how you intend to record it.

... if the line-in can handle stereo, it'd be interesting to record audio after its gone through the surround sound processing

No, the line-in is not stereo, it's only mono and so is the output (1 or 2 mono channels). And, if you decide to buy a different, stereo interface/mic then I would advise applying any processing after you record, not before.

G