Worth Buying 7.1?

[sarnell2]

Is it worth buying a 7.1 Receiver / Speakers? Most of the movies seem to be 5.1. What plays out of the 6th and 7th speaker w/ 5.1 movies?

[SS316SRV]

It is smart buying a 7.1 receiver. I wouldn't buy any other type of receiver. You can always expand your system by buying more speakers later when there are more 7.1 releases.

[Footloose301]

YES! There are already a ton of movies, even DVD's that have DTS ES 6.1 Discrete track on them and sound awesome. Heres some that I have:

1) Snakes on a Plane
2) Blade Trinity
3) Blade 2
4) Final Destination 1
5) Final Destination 2
6) Final Destination 3
7) Texas Chainsaw Massacare: The Beginning
8) The Butterfly Effect

Thats just some of them. In order to get that sound you need atleast a 6.1 receiver, so just go get the 7.1! It is worth it. Get the speakers too, not just receiver.

[CptGreedle]

Originally Posted by Footloose301

YES! There are already a ton of movies, even DVD's that have DTS ES 6.1 Discrete track on them and sound awesome. Heres some that I have:

1) Snakes on a Plane
2) Blade Trinity
3) Blade 2
4) Final Destination 1
5) Final Destination 2
6) Final Destination 3
7) Texas Chainsaw Massacare: The Beginning
8) The Butterfly Effect

Thats just some of them. In order to get that sound you need atleast a 6.1 receiver, so just go get the 7.1! It is worth it. Get the speakers too, not just receiver.

Don't forget Lord of the Rings Extended Edition supports 6.1.

Also, many receivers have pre-programed settings to make the sound reflect a certain environment or the enhance certain characteristics for certain types of movies, etc. For example, there are some receivers that can mimic the sound of a big hall, or more specifically, you can find some that can mimic what it would be like to be sitting inside a specific cathedral, church, or music hall (e.g. Notre Damn), or to enhance the common sounds found in Sci-fi films or even video games.
These pre-set sound settings fake a lot of sounds you hear, since they are now manipulated and no longer sound like the original input/movie, but they often use more speakers than the film is capable of using. So you can actually set up a pre-set that can turn a 5.1 surround sound movie, into a 9.1 experience by faking the extra speakers.
I recommend not using that, but there are lots of movies out there that do use these extra speakers, and even a 9.1 system can benefit from them (since 2 of the speakers are "ambient" and do not have separate signals from the source).

[sarnell2]

These responses are great! I'll def go w/ a 7.1 receiver. Last question:

If I have 7.1 Speaker set up, how does 6.1 play out of the speakers (I understand how the first 5 work), but does the 6th speaker play from the 6th and 7th of the 7.1 set up?

Thanks!

[Zaphod]

Originally Posted by sarnell2

These responses are great! I'll def go w/ a 7.1 receiver. Last question:

If I have 7.1 Speaker set up, how does 6.1 play out of the speakers (I understand how the first 5 work), but does the 6th speaker play from the 6th and 7th of the 7.1 set up?

Thanks!

Yes, the last channel is played by both the 6th and 7th speaker. Almost all mainstream receivers play 6.1 or 7.1 channels. You would have to look very hard to find one that only plays 5.1. Most home theatre in a boxes are where you find only 5.1 sound.

[buckshot]

since I bought my first 7.1 system a couple years ago I can't listen to 5.1 anymore. its just not enough. most 7.1 receivers will convert a 5.1 signal into 7.1, I believe its called matrixing. but 7.1 is amazing.

[Matt X]

I read somewhere about a guy who did cheap 7.1 by routing the rear outs on his 5.1 receiver to a second (older, spare) surround receiver's stereo inputs and setting the suround mode to "matrix" or something like that. not as good as LPCM, but creative, I guess.................

[MouseRider]

Originally Posted by Matt X

I read somewhere about a guy who did cheap 7.1 by routing the rear outs on his 5.1 receiver to a second (older, spare) surround receiver's stereo inputs and setting the suround mode to "matrix" or something like that. not as good as LPCM, but creative, I guess.................

Well, that's based on the idea that in Dolby Digital EX, the rear channel information is encoded into the discrete side channels using the technique employed by "Dolby Pro Logic" to encode the center channel in the days before discrete digital tracks.

To be EX compatible, DTS:ES does contain the same matrixed rear channel in addition to their discrete channel.

The big difference between the different processors that can "expand" 5.1 or 6.1 to 7.1 is how they steer the sound to stereo rears. There are those that give lip service and there are those that work pretty well.

Remember that currently with very few exceptions, most theatrical soundtracks are mixed to either
6 channels (L,C,R,SR,SL,Sub) i.e. Dolby Digital, DTS,
7 channels (L,C,R,SR,SL,Rear,Sub) i.e. Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES
or
8 channels (L, CL, C, LR, R, SR, SL, Sub) i.e. Sony SDDS

There are no current mainstream theatrical systems that have stereo rear channels.

[Footloose301]

Also, the movie Condemned that just came out today has a DTS HD 7.1 track on it and sounds alright. The movie doesn't seem to use the surrounds too much. Most everything in the movie comes from the front. Still neat having my first 7.1 movie.