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by Gerard Castelein
For all the advancements DVD has made in terms
of picture quality and presenting the movie in its
original aspect ratio, the greatest breakthrough is
arguably the amazing audio capability of the format.
Now you can get the kind of enveloping sound you hear
at the movie theater into your own home. Unfortunately,
you will need some money, some patience and a set
of discriminating ears to make it work.
- You will probably have heard the term '5.1' now
and then. It's the most common surround sound option
available on DVD, as it refers to the number of
channels in most of today's surround-sound configurations.
The "5" refers to the five main channels
- left front, center front, right front, left surround
and right surround - while the ".1" refers
to the low frequency effects channel, also known
as LFE or subwoofer channel.
- What kind of set-up do you need for a good surround
listening experience? Your DVD player should be
able to play both Dolby Digital and DTS-encoded
DVD discs and your A/V receiver should be equipped
with both Dolby Digital and DTS decoders to decode
the surround sources. The A/V receiver will have
separate outputs for the three front speakers (left,
center and right), the two surrounds (left and right)
and a subwoofer for very low frequencies (the "point-one").
So to get the full experience of 5.1 Dolby Digital,
at least six speakers are needed: a left front channel
speaker, center channel speaker, right front channel
speaker, right surround channel speaker, left surround
channel speaker and a subwoofer. All speakers are
important and none should be pushed aside in quality,
so balance out your budget to get the highest attainable
speakers for your money (see the terrific Home
Cinema Choice website FAQ for in-depth coverage
of all the home theater elements).
- There are film industry standards that suggest
where to locate the speakers in a 5.1 system for
a movie theater (see the Dolby
Digital website for some suggestions on that)
and modern home theater systems take this into account,
and often include sophisticated set-up features.
These allow you to tell the system, for example,
how far away the speakers are, whether they are
large or small, how to adjust the levels of the
individual speakers for the best surround sound
effect and whether or not you have a center-front
speaker and/or a subwoofer.
- Another term used in connection with the subwoofer
and the LFE is bass management which simply means
your receiver's ability to strip bass sonics from
one channel and send it to another. A subwoofer
adds a solid bottom end to the sound of the rest
of your speakers, while decreasing their individual
workloads for better sound. And a subwoofer will
really bring out those big on-screen explosions
and let you rattle your house's foundations in a
most satisfying way.
- It's worth spending some time setting up and
fine-tuning your system. The effect is greatly improved
if you make sure that your speakers are all in just
the right place and are properly balanced in volume.
Your A/V receiver will probably have a test signal
you can use to get the relative levels right. Don't
worry if you find yourself continually tweaking
the levels over the course of a few days: in fact,
a couple of weeks of testing your favorite movies
is par for the course to get everything the way
you like it. Your own ears are the ultimate judge.
Further reading:
The Home Cinema Choice web site has a terrific audio
FAQ:
Visit the Dolby Digital homepage for official standards
and general info:
And you can read a terrific article on the details
of Dolby Digital and DTS here:
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