5.1 or 7.1? - Blu-ray Forum

Tom Bars · 02-22-2009, 01:33 AM

my set up so far is a
47' LG
40gb PS3
and a lame sony soundbar

i want to upgrade to 5.1 0r 7.1...
heres my question, most of the blu-rays that i own say
'Dolby TrueHD 5.1' or 'DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1'
..so if i have a 7.1 setup for example
but the audio on the bluray says it supports 5.1 (like one of those i listed above), will any sound come out of the other two speakers.
its a newbie question i know, but if someone could briefly awnser it or kind of explain a bit better that would be much appreciated

Steve · 02-22-2009, 01:49 AM

If you have a 7.1 system and watch a 5.1 blu-ray and use the lossless audio trac on the disc, then no, no sound will come from the 2 surround back channels. I think some receivers allow you to "matrix" the 5.1 trac into 7.1, but you're then listening to an altered trac.

On the other hand, if you have a 5.1 setup and play a 7.1 movie using the lossless audio trac, the audio meant for the 2 surround back channels will be redirected by the receiver and combined in with the surround channels.

Tom Bars · 02-22-2009, 01:55 AM

oh thanks. i have heard of
'DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1'
but that is only on a select few movies,
i think lions gate movies to be exact.
what do you have?
is having 7.1 kinda of pointless or is that going to be the new 'starndard' one of the days

Steve · 02-22-2009, 02:10 AM

I have 5.1. You can see pics in my HT gallery if you want. I think 7.1 blu-rays are gradually becoming more common, and I expect we'll start to see more and more of them in the future. In my situation, I couldn't properly set up a 7.1 system. I don't have enough room to properly place the surround back channel speakers. Most people will tell you it's "better" to have a properly set up 5.1 system than an improperly set up 7.1 system.

Miller Lite1 · 02-22-2009, 02:24 AM

I think going to 5.1 from surround bar will be huge difference. Will your receiver even do 7.1?

If yes then you can always upgrade later.

If no, then your answer is 5.1.

Tom Bars · 02-22-2009, 02:33 AM

well this is what i had in mind
HT-S7100
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=...ss=Systems&p=i
it comes with a 606 which i thought was nice, i mean that is my main reason for looking into a 7.1.

If i were to go the ' 5.1 ' route, do you have any suggestions that would follow close to the price of the HT-S7100,
still in school so my price range is kind of around 1000$

mreilly611 · 02-22-2009, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Bars

oh thanks. i have heard of
'DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1'
but that is only on a select few movies,
i think lions gate movies to be exact.
what do you have?
is having 7.1 kinda of pointless or is that going to be the new 'starndard' one of the days

7.1 is great if you have a big room. Take a look at my pictures to see size of my room. I watch most of my 5.1 DVD's and 5.1 Blu-Rays using a Onkyo 875 receiver with the sound field switched to THX Ultra2 Cinema and everything sounds amazing matrixed to 7.1, it makes a big difference in a big room. I cant wait for the Star Trek movies to come out in Blu-Ray they are all going to have 7.1 True Hd Sound. I would say about 5% of Blu-Rays come out now with 7.1 sound and that number should be growing in the future. So if you have the room, 7.1 is the way to go.

Tom Bars · 02-22-2009, 03:11 AM

got a decent size room.
thanks though.
when "matrixed",
does it sound at all strange or fake?

mreilly611 · 02-22-2009, 03:38 AM

[QUOTE=Tom Bars;1643927]got a decent size room.
thanks though.
when "matrixed",
does it sound at all strange or fake?[/QUOTE
Not at all it sounds fuller as if you are In the center of the action. I guess a good speaker system also has a lot to do with it also.

02-22-2009, 01:33 AM	#1
Tom Bars Member Member since:Jan 2009 Home Theater Gallery:24	5.1 or 7.1? my set up so far is a 47' LG 40gb PS3 and a lame sony soundbar i want to upgrade to 5.1 0r 7.1... heres my question, most of the blu-rays that i own say 'Dolby TrueHD 5.1' or 'DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1' ..so if i have a 7.1 setup for example but the audio on the bluray says it supports 5.1 (like one of those i listed above), will any sound come out of the other two speakers. its a newbie question i know, but if someone could briefly awnser it or kind of explain a bit better that would be much appreciated

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02-22-2009, 01:49 AM	#2
Steve Blu-ray Knight Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:May 2008 Location:Anna, TX 4K collection:128 Blu-ray collection:416 Trading Score:41	If you have a 7.1 system and watch a 5.1 blu-ray and use the lossless audio trac on the disc, then no, no sound will come from the 2 surround back channels. I think some receivers allow you to "matrix" the 5.1 trac into 7.1, but you're then listening to an altered trac. On the other hand, if you have a 5.1 setup and play a 7.1 movie using the lossless audio trac, the audio meant for the 2 surround back channels will be redirected by the receiver and combined in with the surround channels.

02-22-2009, 01:55 AM	#3
Tom Bars Member Member since:Jan 2009 Home Theater Gallery:24	oh thanks. i have heard of 'DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1' but that is only on a select few movies, i think lions gate movies to be exact. what do you have? is having 7.1 kinda of pointless or is that going to be the new 'starndard' one of the days

02-22-2009, 02:10 AM	#4
Steve Blu-ray Knight Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:May 2008 Location:Anna, TX 4K collection:128 Blu-ray collection:416 Trading Score:41	I have 5.1. You can see pics in my HT gallery if you want. I think 7.1 blu-rays are gradually becoming more common, and I expect we'll start to see more and more of them in the future. In my situation, I couldn't properly set up a 7.1 system. I don't have enough room to properly place the surround back channel speakers. Most people will tell you it's "better" to have a properly set up 5.1 system than an improperly set up 7.1 system.

02-22-2009, 02:24 AM	#5
Miller Lite1 Active Member Member since:Dec 2008 Location:Rochester NY Home Theater Gallery:15	I think going to 5.1 from surround bar will be huge difference. Will your receiver even do 7.1? If yes then you can always upgrade later. If no, then your answer is 5.1.

02-22-2009, 02:33 AM	#6
Tom Bars Member Member since:Jan 2009 Home Theater Gallery:24	well this is what i had in mind HT-S7100 http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=...ss=Systems&p=i it comes with a 606 which i thought was nice, i mean that is my main reason for looking into a 7.1. If i were to go the ' 5.1 ' route, do you have any suggestions that would follow close to the price of the HT-S7100, still in school so my price range is kind of around 1000$

02-22-2009, 03:11 AM	#8
Tom Bars Member Member since:Jan 2009 Home Theater Gallery:24	got a decent size room. thanks though. when "matrixed", does it sound at all strange or fake?

02-22-2009, 03:38 AM	#9
mreilly611 Special Member Member since:Jan 2009 Location:4th Planet from the Sun Home Theater Gallery:37 Blu-ray collection:154	[QUOTE=Tom Bars;1643927]got a decent size room. thanks though. when "matrixed", does it sound at all strange or fake?[/QUOTE Not at all it sounds fuller as if you are In the center of the action. I guess a good speaker system also has a lot to do with it also.

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