Do always set your receiver to the encoded mix?

[Warm Gun]

I play all surround sound tracks in Direct, because I don't trust the upmixers to know what should go above me.

Mono 2.0 and single mono in Direct. Sometimes I use headphones.

Most stereo tracks upmixed in Dolby Surround or DTS Neural:X. But there are enough exceptions to the rule of stereo tracks being matrixed for surround that it becomes annoying if not properly labeled. I've said it before.

"Because of Out of Phase Stereo (OOPS), it's still sometimes so hard or impossible to know what you are supposed to matrix and what not. You can matrix plain stereo songs too and will notice things like the backing chorus and some of the instruments go separately to the surrounds, but that doesn't mean it's ideal or intended."

[Canada]

I rarely if ever use an up mixer. I also don't understand why more films don't have a lossless original track mix. I rarely see a lossless 4 channel mix. I think the only time I have seen a lossless 4 channel mix is on Arrow's copy of Robocop. There are probably more but I don't know of any.

[thekrouser56]

I'm watching the blu-ray of "The Poseidon Adventure" and the audio options are 4.0. My receiver is always set for 5.1. I never thought to change any of the settings on any of the movies I watch wheather it's mono, stereo or surround. But I did change the settings for this viewing. And I don't know, maybe it's all psychological, but it sounds different, a good different! You tech people out there, should I be changing my settings to fit the discs settings or just leave it set at 5.1 for every movie and the receiver knows automatically what speakers to use. Thanks.

[dobyblue]

You’re only hearing what the sound mixer intended using DIRECT if your listening room is exactly the same as theirs. If you’ve run a calibration on your AVR, it is helping with the characteristics of your room. As soon as you go into DIRECT mode, you’re bypassing all those settings. This is entirely different than listening to a 5.1 PCM track in your 5.x.x system and adding dts:X or Atmos upmixing, most (not all) receivers should allow you to listen to 5.1 PCM as MULTI CH which plays 5.1 as 5.1 but engages the equalization and room correction settings from your calibration. Similarly a TrueHD 5.1 track you could select either TrueHD (plays in 5.1) or TrueHD+Atmos (upmix) or TrueHD+dts:X (upmix). If you want to hear roughly what was intended, you would choose TrueHD not “DIRECT”.

[Harry110]

I'm primarily a movie watcher, but lately I've been getting more into listening to multi-channel music. I've been acquiring SACDs, DVD-A and Blu-Ray Audio. I'm struggling to find the right way (which I know is subjective) to listen. My equipment is older but still works great. I have a 5.1 set up with an Oppo 93 and a Denon 4311 Receiver.

1) If I listen to a 5.1 SACD and the receiver says "Multi Ch In" it sounds like the Audyseey (which sounds great for movies) is a little too aggressive. Should I be going for "Direct/Pure Direct?" Something else?

2) I tried listening to a 4.0 mix, and no matter what I selected, the Denon sent it to 5 channels. I had to go into settings and tell my Denon that I didn't have a center channel in order to get true Quad playback. Is there a setting I'm not aware of or is this a known challenge with the 4311?

3) I watched a movie with a 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. My receiver played it "Dolby PLII" through 5.1 speakers. How do I listen in 2.0? "Direct" and "Stereo" played it in 2.0 but is that bypassing all the Audyseey adjustments (which I'd like to keep for a movie?) How do I get the Denon Receiver to play DTS Master Audio in 2.0?

Thanks in advance - and feel free to dumb down any explanation! Pretend I'm your grandparent!

[oddbox83]

As has already been said, Pure Direct bypasses room corrections. I would try a specific music setting and ensure no DRC is turned on, Turn Dynamic EQ off, change reference setting to flat etc, for that setting and see how it sounds for you then.

Multi-Ch-In is fine - multi-channel audio is being input into the receiver as LPCM.

Why would you want to play 2.0 surround as stereo? Dolby PLII is the best way to process it, since you can't do a legacy decode with mono rears as they don't include that as a setting.

[Harry110]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

Why would you want to play 2.0 surround as stereo? Dolby PLII is the best way to process it, since you can't do a legacy decode with mono rears as they don't include that as a setting.

The Blu-Ray in question was the Criterion Collection's release of Before Sunrise. If it is in 2.0 on the disc - I'd like to listen to it in 2.0.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by Harry110

The Blu-Ray in question was the Criterion Collection's release of Before Sunrise. If it is in 2.0 on the disc - I'd like to listen to it in 2.0.

Are you under the impression 2.0 means the mix should only ever be listened to in stereo?

[Harry110]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

Are you under the impression 2.0 means the mix should only ever be listened to in stereo?

"Should only be listened to in stereo?" No. I am not under that impression. But I'd like to be able to have the option and I'm struggling to figure what setting I need for it.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by Harry110

"Should only be listened to in stereo?" No. I am not under that impression. But I'd like to be able to have the option and I'm struggling to figure what setting I need for it.

Cheers, as long as you know what matrixed 2.0 is.

Doesn't the Denon's movie - stereo setting play with room corrections still applied?

Or just select the audio coming in from the disc, avoiding Surround (it's usually available as an on-screen option when you press the green movie button on the remote). Or are you saying it kicks in the surround setting when you play it whether you want it to or not? That would mean it's flagged as surround and you'd have to force stereo by using the above setting.

[Warm Gun]

Originally Posted by Harry110

The Blu-Ray in question was the Criterion Collection's release of Before Sunrise. If it is in 2.0 on the disc - I'd like to listen to it in 2.0.

Criterion is one of the only distributors that correctly labels 2.0 surround mixes. Most of the time.

"with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Before Sunrise Blu-ray"

https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/12...before-trilogy

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Harry110

1) If I listen to a 5.1 SACD and the receiver says "Multi Ch In" it sounds like the Audyseey (which sounds great for movies) is a little too aggressive. Should I be going for "Direct/Pure Direct?" Something else?

I prefer DSD DIRECT for most of my 5.1 SACDs, not sure why because I know it skips the room treatments but you have to go with what your ears prefer.

2) I tried listening to a 4.0 mix, and no matter what I selected, the Denon sent it to 5 channels. I had to go into settings and tell my Denon that I didn't have a center channel in order to get true Quad playback. Is there a setting I'm not aware of or is this a known challenge with the 4311?

Quad can be funny, for the 4.0 files I have for streaming I usually go in and add a quiet centre channel to take care of this, then you listen in DIRECT and you'll get proper quad playback.

There's a good tool for doing this from one of the QQ forum members, found here - https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/for...-videos.22693/