Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with surround

The sound from a movie download comes out of two speakers, but what about 5.1?

skylar — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:29:35 -0800

These days a lot of movie viewing takes place from digital files sitting on a computer and downloaded from BitTorrent. In this environment, is it worth having a 5.1 type surround sound audio decoder? Do most of the movie files on BitTorrent come encoded as multi-channel surround sound these days? And to output 5.1 digital surround from a computer what does one need? A special sound card? Some kind of surround sound decoder separate attached to the computer via its optical out?

Recommend an inexpensive headphone amp/surround processor?

hades — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:16:28 -0800

Can you recommend a decent low-cost headphone amplifier and surround sound processor? I used to have a Sennheiser DSP which did Dolby Pro-Logic decoding and headphone simulation, and am looking for something like that, but for Dolby Digital. I'd like to be able to play games and watch DVDs on the Xbox 360 without disturbing my wife too much by using the TV speakers. I have a nice set of Sennheiser headphones that I'd like to use, but there's no receiver in that room--the Xbox is hooked straight up to the TV via HDMI, and while the TV has digital and analog audio passthrough outputs, it doesn't have a headphone jack. I do have a portable headphone amp I can use, but it doesn't do any sort of surround decoding/emulation, which would be nice for movies and I understand would make some of my gaming experience much better.

I don't care about in-game headset functionality; I'm not playing multiplayer games much.

Some products I've been able to find that look like they might fit the bill are:

+ JVC SU-DH1
+ A40 MixAmp
+ Sony MDR-DS1000

These also look promising, but I can't find any for sale, even on eBay:

+ Thrustmaster T510
+ LTB MG-AC3FX

While I'm mostly interested in something I can use with my existing headphones, I'm open to the possibility of using headphones with multiple drivers per ear, such as the Tritton AX Pro or AX360. I'm not too interested in wireless sets--these won't ever be used outside of normal corded range. But it does look like most everything on the market right now is wireless, so if there are any suggestions there, that's cool. The Pioneer SE-DIR800C looks good, but at $250-$300 is about twice what I was hoping to spend.

So, has anyone used any of these? Or something better? Any recommendations? Thanks!

How can I use my TV speakers as the center channel on my receiver?

odinsdream — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:02:13 -0800

How can I use the speakers in my TV as the "center" speaker on my receiver? I have a receiver hooked up to four normal speakers. I'd like to use the speakers in my TV as the center speaker.

My TV has audio inputs for each set of video inputs. These are normal RCA red-white connectors.

Is there some way to connect powered speaker wires to these without breaking the TV? My first thought was to open the TV and disconnect the speakers from the internal wiring and substitute my own. I'd prefer not to do this since the TV is new and still under warranty.

The other problem would be that the TV has two internal speakers, left and right, which I want to treat as one.

Any thoughts?

Best places to talk Home Audio?

Phyltre — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:42:05 -0800

What and where are the best audio/home theater discussion groups/forums for someone wanting to learn about said items? I'm working in big-box retail (and loving it, thank you very much), and there are some extremely tempting Employee Accommodations available to me. I've been looking at home audio a lot recently, and this cements it--I'm definitely buying when the components cost between 50 and 75% less than retail.

The catch is, I don't know very much about home audio. I've googled the models, and gotten some information. I've googled for audio and home theater forums as well (with tons of results), but I don't know who to trust or respect. That's where I need your help. What and where are the best audio/home theater discussion groups and forums, so I can get good advice and not waste my once-a-year accommodations purchase or, at worst, buy the wrong thing and burn the house down?

(Because I know you'll ask: My preliminary plan is to get a Harman Kardon AVR-144 receiver with two Klipsch RF-82 floorstanders and an RW10d sub. Price to me: roughly $700 for everything. Yes, this will be an ad-hoc 2.1 system on a 5.1 receiver, but I'm not buying everything at once for budgeting reasons.)

"We should have recorded the album in Dubley..."

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:31:52 -0800

Wireless speakers for a Philips HTS3555 surround sound system? After years of setting up and breaking down computers, I hate wires with a hateful, bloody passion. Is there any way to use the speakers with this surround system in a wireless fashion, without much extra expense? Is there another system you might recommend which includes wireless speakers and more or less the same features as this system?

Gift: Help me replace a Samsung HT-P38 DVD Home Theater

anonymoose — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:38:27 -0800

GiftFilter: My brother's Samsung HT-P38 DVD Home Theater receiver is broken. I'd like to fix it or replace it with something equivalent/better/the same thing. Advise! So the HT-P38 is a 5-disc DVD player and receiver for surround sound. Everything works just fine, except the tray of the DVD player is messed up and makes a grinding sound for 1 minute whenever you turn it on or off (and you can't play DVDs in it).

Repair: I get the impression that repairs on devices like that tend to cost more than replacement. Is this true?

Replacement: Can I just replace the receiver? For less than the price of a whole unit? Looks like refurbished whole units (speakers and all) are going for $150 on Amazon.

Other options: Are there other receivers that would be good, compatible with the Samsung speakers, and play dvds? (And support the HD TV)

2.0 + 3.1 = ?

daver — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 12:30:14 -0800

Surround Sound 2.0 setup: What do I do w/ my new amp and old speakers? I have 2 old Boston Accoustic "a150" 100 watt speakers, and a powered yahama 'inline' subwoofer. My old amp is dead, now I have a new (to me) Denon AVR-2700 surround sound amp.
Basic question: do I now also need 3+1 more speakers to make life complete? Or can I get reasonable performance from my old speaker setup?

Additional info: I'm just fine with how music and movies sounded on my old Stereo amp.

Extracredit:
* If I need 5.1 speakers, do I need to go out and get matched speakers, or can I use my 2 A150s as 'fronts'
* Is it reasonable to run my built in TV speaker (from a huge old Toshiba Cinema Series TV) as my 'center' channel?
* What am I loosing out on if I don't move to a 5.1 speaker setup?

Thanks in advance...

Help me wire this crazy-ass layout for surround sound...

twiggy — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:32:20 -0800

Help me inexpensively and at least somewhat discreetly wire my place for surround. The problem: Really challenging room layout and a tight budget. The short version of what I'm looking for is:
- Recommendations of quality but affordable speaker cable (please, no Monster)
- Ideas on how to find out if/how I can drill into the soffit safely (if you need pics, I can put some up)
- Ballpark figures on having a room wired for surround if you've had it done
- Creative ideas for semi-attractively achieving this wiring without going into the wall
- Or .. point me to a magical tool that will let me go through the wall with minimal damage and easy/inexpensive repairs?
- I already have the surround system, and I'm house-poor - please do not recommend I purchase wireless speakers

The more detailed notes with regard to this challenge:
- Floors are hardwood, I can't tuck wiring under baseboards or carpet, unfortunately
- It shouldn't make a huge difference, but the system I have is 6.1 surround (3 rears), not just 5.1
- Ceilings are somewhat high (9 feet). There is a soffit running around the perimeter (from the left of the entertainment center toward right, all the way around the wall with the balcony doors, and over to the kitchen), but it is unclear if I can drill into this soffit safely. Ductwork definitely runs through it, but it seems awfully big for all of that space to be air duct. Is there a safe way to find out if/how/where I can drill in and pull cables?
- Note all the doorways / hallways in the floorplan below. I was going to buy that white conduit-type tubing you can run along your trim, but it seems like it'd look awfully goofy going around so many doors or hallway openings. Please excuse my really crappy and not at all to scale MS Paint mockup of the room's floorplan:

- I'm very house-poor having just spent most of my savings on this condo, so I'm afraid spending several hundred dollars having an electrician pull cables is probably out of the question, though I don't know how much that costs.

I fully understand that waiting until I have the money to have a professional run cables is an option. However, I have 2 cats and leaving the wiring running all over the floor temporarily is not really an option as they like to muck with things once in a while, so right now I can't hook up the speakers at all. I'm really really missing the ability to listen to music and watch movies with decent sound.

surround sound for my Mac Mini?

asavage — Wed, 10 May 2006 00:29:46 -0800

What's the best surround sound solution for my Mac Mini? I'm turning a Mac Mini into a media center, outputting to my HD DLP tv. It's great, I love the idea of no more DVD players in my life, but I want surround sound.

My Mini has only a stereo mini output.

Questions: with all the surround sound systems (subwoofer + speakers) out there, do any of them decode the surround sound through a stereo mini connector (I imagine this is unlikely) or do I need a separate decoder?

What's the best system (small room, don't need a ton of sound, just nice and clear) in terms of bang for the buck (I don't want to spend craploads of $)

Bonus question: Any wireless systems?

For the record, I've googled this extensively, and am awed by the number of products etc out there, but nothing I've found clearly answers these questions. I'm looking for genuine experience trying the very same thing I'm trying: full surround sound from a mac mini while watching DVDs.

projector project?

mwhybark — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 12:08:39 -0800

Pursuant to the valuable surround sound system information found here and here, what options do I have with regard to my projector? [+] I dumpstered a brand-new InFocus projector a while ago and have recently begun to think about how to build a semi-permanent screening area. The projector has great brightness and video quality but does not incorporate some of the home-theater features seen on newer models, such as masking the non-signal areas from the projection, keystoning adjustment, and fan noise dampening.

Ideally, I'd like to mount it to the ceiling and wrap it in a noise-dampening box, venting the heat probably into my attic. Do I have to roll my own, or are there systems out there to do this?

Finally, I don't need a receiver or DVD playback system; I do need speakers. Should I even bother with fancy options such as flat-panel or Bose cubes? Additionally, what's the deal with the hype around Bose Acoustimass systems?

Thanks very much for your nerdly expertise!

Please help me get surround sound form an iMac G5.

Asef Jil — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 00:50:40 -0800

Please help me get surround sound form an iMac G5. I have a set of Logitech Z-540 4.1 analog speakers circa 2000. I'm reasonably happy with the performance of these speakers. My iMac has a single combo jack that outputs either stereo or digital pass-through, so I can currently only get stereo sound from my Logitech speakers. Should I be looking at an external (USB or firewire) sound card or a set of new digital speakers? Suggestions of specific products would be welcomed.

Home theatre audio picks?

drpynchon — Wed, 25 May 2005 23:47:57 -0800

Say you're on a budget and you need a receiver and a surround sound speaker system... So you just got one of these fancy dancy 42" plasma HDTVs, and for absolutely free no less! But the catch is there are no speakers included, and you wouldn't want to spoil the experience with shitty factory speakers anyway.

So you have $700-900 to spend on a receiver and surround sound speakers. The room is about 12' x 15', and you're more interested in the quality of the "surround" and general sound quality over sheer volume. You'd also like to use the system for general purposes other than TV/DVD viewing, basically meaning you want to run your mp3 player through the receiver. You'd like the system to last at least 5 years and hopefully much longer. In the future there may also be an Xbox 360 or Windows Media Center PC involved in the mix...

Well folks, what combo of receiver and speakers would you go for?

I have just bought a Dolby 5.1 sound system. Please tell me why I should or shouldn't listen to my CDs, recorded in stereo, using all six speakers.

meech — Wed, 14 Jul 2004 19:39:26 -0800

Audionazi-filter: I have just bought a Dolby 5.1 sound system. Please tell me why I should or shouldn't listen to my CDs, recorded in stereo, using all six speakers. [And slightly related: What movies should I rent for their brilliant 5.1 sound?]