Post by markc on Nov 2, 2019 8:09:02 GMT -5
Hi all,
I know there are countless old threads on which is the best for listening to older sound sources but after experimentation I'm happy with Dolby PLII Movies for all sources of 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 and older 2.0 video soundtracks (not for stereo music listening).
I have noticed however, that setting the XMC-1 default surround to "Auto" results in Dolby PLII Music for everything, anyone know why this would be?
In the Emotiva settings for Surround processing (as opposed to Stereo processing) leave it set to Auto, as Keith explained in his post above. This will apply Dolby PLIIx Music mode for 5.1 to 7.1 expansion.
The Dolby PLIIx Music is the correct algorithm to expand the two surround channels in 5.1 to the four surround channels of 7.1.
It leaves the front channels untouched and simply expands the rears/sides and, most importantly does not add to any delay already encoded in the mix.
Dolby PLIIx Movie processing adds a default minimum 10ms delay to the surround channels (Actually configurable by manufacturers between 10 and 25ms).
This is desired for Stereo to 5.1 / 7.1 expansion but even applies when expanding 5.1 to 7.1 when it is not desirable.
Music mode has 0ms delay by default (Manufacturer configurable between 0-15ms during implementation but usually left as 0). This is therefore correct as it does not add to any already encoded delay in the 5.1 mix.
However, to expand stereo to surround, it does depend on the effect required. Dolby PLIIx Music mode allows some control over the front three channels (Dimension, Width, Panorama) and has Autobalance Mode off by default so that vocals will not collapse to the centre channel.
Movie mode does not have these three optional front channel settings but has Autobalance Mode on by default (which steers vocals towards the centre channel for dialogue purposes - not desirable in music as vocals are often deliberately mixed into a stereo soundstage with left and right vocal parts)