![]() In an ideal Atmos configuration, all 7.1 of the base layer channels should be at or near ear level, whereas I had the Surround Backs on the same plane as the height channels. One thing that left me particularly unsatisfied was that my Surround Back channels were mounted to the ceiling in the back of the room. When I initially installed Atmos, I had to make some compromises in speaker placement due to the way my former 7.1 system had been wired and installed when I built the home theater room. I then had to decide what to do with those MC200s, and that was especially complicated. Because I was left with a spare MC300 speaker that I didn’t want to put to waste, I next hunted down a second MC300 in order to replace my left and right Surround channels (formerly MC200s). Replacing the center channel then triggered a chain reaction. That wasn’t the end of my changes, though. My front soundstage sounds a lot better now, not just for the rare mono movie but for everything I watch. Just look at how much more space it takes up on that stand, for starters. I have now moved up to the MC500, which is significantly larger and more powerful. Previously, I used a model MC300 speaker for my center channel, as you can see in this old photo. ![]() The company used to have a big retail presence in my area, so its products (even high-end speakers) turn up pretty regularly on Craigslist and eBay. Fortunately, I’ve had a lot of good luck finding used Soundworks speakers for reasonable prices. The company doesn’t make home theater speakers at all now. If I’d had a better center channel, I shouldn’t have had to do that.Īs I explained in my prior post after I made the Atmos upgrade, upgrading speakers is a little tricky for me, because all of the speakers I have are from a brand (Cambridge Soundworks) that isn’t even in the home theater market anymore. I realized that this was a problem when I played a mono movie and found myself disabling that speaker in order to split the mono signal to my left and right front mains instead. In my case, wiring my home theater for 7.1.4 channels of surround sound made me question the adequacy of some of my speakers – especially my center channel speaker, which is tasked with reproducing the majority of dialogue and significant portions of any movie soundtrack. Is it ever possible to be happy with what we have? However, as these things usually go, making one big change inevitably prompted even more. (In other words, it only happens in this combination: PowerDVD+SBLive+SPDIF 5.When I added Dolby Atmos surround sound to my home theater a few months ago, I expected that to be the last major upgrade that I would tackle for a while. Using trial and error, my best guess is that PowerDVD's SPDIF output has an issue with the Sound Blaster Live! SPDIF passthrough. I have tested the XP SBLive drivers, plus the original drivers that came on the SBLive CD. If I use WinDVD with SPDIF output (or any other audio app for that matter), it all works fine. If I use normal Analog output in PowerDVD, it works fine, but I only get 2.1 stereo sound. (But the SBLive generally has better sound quality and features) If I use the Onboard C-Media AC97 sound chip with Optical SPDIF, it works fine. It only happens when I am using the Sound Blasters SPDIF Digital Output (Dolby Surround 5.1) when playing DVD's in PowerDVD. The Dolby Digital LED on the DTT2500 unit flashes like crazy, which means the Digital/AC3 signal is not smooth. After a few seconds, it goes back to normal. PowerDVD plays DVD's fine most of the time, but occasionally the video would fastforward by itself (about 4x), and the Audio would be really jittery and pop and squeal. Power DVD 5.0 Deluxe (Audio settings are set to "SPDIF" output). Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Digital Entertainment Special EditionĬreative Cambridge Soundworks DTT2500 5.1 Speaker System (Which has its own Amp and Dolby Digital SPDIF receiver/processor)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |