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7.1 Rear Surround Matrix question!!!!!


Brunt

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My receiver, Onkyo HT RC180, seems to matrix DTS HD 5.1 content into 7.1 almost at random. If I play some 5.1 Blu Rays and want to matrix side surround info into the rears, what do I select on the receiver? I want to keep the DTS HD or TrueHD audio quality, but make use of my 2 rear surrounds. When I stick in Lord of The Rings, for example, it shows DTS HD on the receiver, but a little "matrix EX" is automatically lit up and the rear surrounds are also lit up on the little diagram of my setup to the left of the main info on the receiver.

When I watched Sucker Punch last night (also DTS HD), the only way I could find to make use of rears was to select THX Cinema on receiver which changed the overall quality of the audio instead of just matrixing the surrounds and keeping the other channels the same DTS HD quality.

Any thoughts? I'm researching what i can but it's hard to find a simple, direct answer on Onkyo forums. Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated!




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I have moved out of state and have not moved my stereo yet (only have a little sansui six and a pair of heresys with me). I am going back home this weekend, and can let you know what setting I use on my Integra. This is a great question for those of us who want to use those rears with the 5.1 channel.

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Using plain old Dolby Pro-Logic IIx: Movie is the most common way. Contrary to popular belief, Pro Logic doesn't alter everything, it just matrixes what isn't there to begin with. So it'll matrix stereo into all seven (or six) channels, but if it's a discrete 5.1 signal it will only touch the rears. Other proprietary options include Logic 7 on HK equipment, and less commonly, DTS Neo:6. THX Cinema usually uses the default Dolby Pro-Logic II algorithm, and then applies their proprietary filters on top of it.

As for your random matrixing, if a disc is encoded with an EX tag, it automatically asks the receiver to matrix it. Content with EX tags have discrete content matrixed the other way (discrete sixth channel information downmixed into the side surround channels), that is then pulled back out by Pro Logic into 6.1 with the surround backs operating as one "channel". It's not quite as good as discrete 6.1 or 7.1, but it's an improvement. In your Onkyo receiver, there should be a setting that allows you to tell the receiver what to do with EX tagged material when it encounters it. By default, it's set to matrix automatically. "Matrix EX" doesn't change the inherent quality of the signal, it just mixes information from the surround sides into the rears...

EDIT: For owners of recent Onkyo/Integra receivers, you can go into the menu, then go "3. Audio Adjust" -> "3-2 Dolby" -> "Dolby EX" and select either auto or manual. Setting it to manual will override the default EX tags and force your receiver to use the audio format you have selected as the default for that input...

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Using plain old Dolby Pro-Logic IIx: Movie is the most common way. Contrary to popular belief, Pro Logic doesn't alter everything, it just matrixes what isn't there to begin with. So it'll matrix stereo into all seven (or six) channels, but if it's a discrete 5.1 signal it will only touch the rears. Other proprietary options include Logic 7 on HK equipment, and less commonly, DTS Neo:6. THX Cinema usually uses the default Dolby Pro-Logic II algorithm, and then applies their proprietary filters on top of it.

As for your random matrixing, if a disc is encoded with an EX tag, it automatically asks the receiver to matrix it. Content with EX tags have discrete content matrixed the other way (discrete sixth channel information downmixed into the side surround channels), that is then pulled back out by Pro Logic into 6.1 with the surround backs operating as one "channel". It's not quite as good as discrete 6.1 or 7.1, but it's an improvement. In your Onkyo receiver, there should be a setting that allows you to tell the receiver what to do with EX tagged material when it encounters it. By default, it's set to matrix automatically. "Matrix EX" doesn't change the inherent quality of the signal, it just mixes information from the surround sides into the rears...

EDIT: For owners of recent Onkyo/Integra receivers, you can go into the menu, then go "3. Audio Adjust" -> "3-2 Dolby" -> "Dolby EX" and select either auto or manual. Setting it to manual will override the default EX tags and force your receiver to use the audio format you have selected as the default for that input...

FYI, my Lord of The Rings is a Blu Ray...do Blu Rays have EX tags? I thought DTS EX was a DVD only format?

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Using plain old Dolby Pro-Logic IIx: Movie is the most common way. Contrary to popular belief, Pro Logic doesn't alter everything, it just matrixes what isn't there to begin with. So it'll matrix stereo into all seven (or six) channels, but if it's a discrete 5.1 signal it will only touch the rears. Other proprietary options include Logic 7 on HK equipment, and less commonly, DTS Neo:6. THX Cinema usually uses the default Dolby Pro-Logic II algorithm, and then applies their proprietary filters on top of it.

As for your random matrixing, if a disc is encoded with an EX tag, it automatically asks the receiver to matrix it. Content with EX tags have discrete content matrixed the other way (discrete sixth channel information downmixed into the side surround channels), that is then pulled back out by Pro Logic into 6.1 with the surround backs operating as one "channel". It's not quite as good as discrete 6.1 or 7.1, but it's an improvement. In your Onkyo receiver, there should be a setting that allows you to tell the receiver what to do with EX tagged material when it encounters it. By default, it's set to matrix automatically. "Matrix EX" doesn't change the inherent quality of the signal, it just mixes information from the surround sides into the rears...

EDIT: For owners of recent Onkyo/Integra receivers, you can go into the menu, then go "3. Audio Adjust" -> "3-2 Dolby" -> "Dolby EX" and select either auto or manual. Setting it to manual will override the default EX tags and force your receiver to use the audio format you have selected as the default for that input...

FYI, my Lord of The Rings is a Blu Ray...do Blu Rays have EX tags? I thought DTS EX was a DVD only format?

Lord of the rings is dts-hd ma 5.1 ES (6.1) not ex

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Brunt I know this doesn’t help because it’s not onkyo but I set

my avr mode to auto. And it reads the highest mode available. Pro llx will work

really good though I have toggled to it

and it sounds the same as auto to my ears. You will still have the lossless

tracks with the added content in the rear. On blu rays with ES its basically

6.1. In fact on my screen ES shows as 6.1. Here is a movie that is dts hd 5.1

ES. (Just like lord of the rings)

That’s what it shows on the ps3 blu ray player when I hit

display on it.

post-50231-13819663599124_thumb.jpg

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I like 6.1 in a big room, and 5.1 in a small room.

That would be a good compromise. I remember the Lord of the Rings being in 6.1, I think. But I still thing 7.1 is a waste when 6.1 or 5.1 will do. Now 10.2 makes more sense with overhead speakers, but very few homes have 9 or 10 foot ceilings.

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I quit 7.1 and went back to 5.1.........................diminishing returns galore. Besides, almost everything, including Blue Ray is still 5.1, even though they can do 7.1, very few producers do it.

I have a small, less than 2,000 cu ft HT and prefer running 5.1 material in "7.1" using direct firing speakers (especially on 5.1 music) using only the matrixing function of my Denon AVR-4806.

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