All Software SM?

[atrocity]

Yes but it does a terrible job!

It does? I can't stand the current one-size-fits-all iteration of "Dolby Surround" but I've always found listening to stereo/QS music via DPL-II Music Mode very pleasant. Not quite as good as a Surround Master, but still good.

 

[ssully]

I can't find any such setting on my Arcam AVR31. If anyone knows where it is please let me know.

The Center Spread DSU option has a history. It was available (not sure how widely) at first, then withdrawn in 2020, then reinstated after public complaints from, e.g. Gene at Audioholics.

It might be your Arcam either never had it, or is from the 'withdrawn' era. Though IIRC it was possible to enable it with firmware upgrade on some AVRs.

A look at your user manual seems to indicate its scenario #1 -- never had the option.

What Center Spread did was allow toggling between OFF (default, which was equivalent to DPLII Center Width 0 i.e, strongest center steering, which I think was default for DPLII Movie mode) and ON (equal to DPLII Center Width 3 on a scale of 0-7 -- i.e. halfway between strongest steering and phantom center. This was the default for DPLII Music mode). This is all from memory , so caveats apply.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

We looked into and hashed over some of this DSU / PLII stuff on the below thread in 2022 also. Might get some tidbit of info out of that as well.

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/dolby-surround-upmixer-dsu.31728/#post-607323

 

[mandrix]

@chucky3042
I just became aware of the recent posts.
You've had a life, brother. I can relate to some of your experiences.
Hang in Bro.

 

[chucky3042]

@chucky3042
I just became aware of the recent posts.
You've had a life, brother. I can relate to some of your experiences.
Hang in Bro.

Hanging by my toe nails!!

Hope you are great.

 

[mandrix]

Hanging by my toe nails!!

Hope you are great.

As Bill France used to respond when asked how he was doing, he would reply that every day my A$$ is above the grass is a good one.

 

[chucky3042]

As Bill France used to respond when asked how he was doing, he would reply that every day my A$$ is above the grass is a good one.

Well censored!!

 

[MidiMagic]

DPL II Music mode does a much better job (to a 5.0 speaker system) on stereo music than anything modern AVRs have, like Dolby Surround Upmix, DTS Neural:X or Auro 2D. DTS Neural:X is too 4 corners and centre oriented. Dolby Surround Upmix is less offensive but still uses the centre way too much. And Auro 2D doesn't really do anything.

My Arcam AVR31 has no multi channel analogue ins so I can't use any legacy quad decoders or a Surround Master. If I could pay a licence fee to get DPL II Music on my AVR I would gladly do so.

There is no license fee. The patents have expired. That's why Dolby discontinued them - they can't make any money from them.

 

[MidiMagic]

At what? I've used it as an upmixer in foobar2000 and it definitely served that purpose well.

I don't have much actual Dolby encoded 'stereo' content to decode, and I couldn't care less about its QS/SQ emulating powers.

It also went through a number of substantial upgrades, so version matters too.

The encoder was not changed, other than to accommodate LB and RB surrounds. The basic matrix is the same.

 

[chucky3042]

I have an old “Esoteric Audio” Surface Noise Reducer that used to be pretty darn good at removing clicks and pops. One of my records (bought used, cheap) sounds a bit like a popcorn machine when played directly, but is pretty listenable through the device (devise). And one day, it was no longer effective.

I haven’t actually been able to play vinyl since the movers busted my tonearm mounts six years ago, although I got a text that my new Pro-Ject is at the store yesterday.

Once your cleaner-upper hits the market, I’m pretty sure it will be the nexr shiny sparkling thing in my system. Will there be an equivalent to the SM evaluation module?

Hi Barfle

We have no plans or an evaluation module as it really is not pitched at that end of the market.

 

[Asklia]

Shy question: Is this device for "line in" or "phono in"?

 

[par4ken]

It does? I can't stand the current one-size-fits-all iteration of "Dolby Surround" but I've always found listening to stereo/QS music via DPL-II Music Mode very pleasant. Not quite as good as a Surround Master, but still good.

I'm not endorsing the current iteration of "Dolby Surround" either but both the Tate SQ, QS Vario-matrix and Involve decoders wipe the floor with anything Dolby. DPL-II Music Mode doesn't even come close.

When I installed the Sony MEX-DV2000 first in my Dodge Caravan and then in my Ford F-150 I much preferred listening in double stereo rather than Dolby PL Music Mode. Even in music mode Dolby is far too front oriented. Dolby was designed for movies, music was just an afterthought.

I was also using a Sony ES AVR in the bedroom until some of the channels became intermittent. It had Dolby PL and also sounded terrible on music, I used the very basic Sansui QS-1 instead! The QS-1 although hardly discrete sounded very nice on music as well as movies. The poor performance of Dolby with music is IMHO the reason that so many people watch movies in surround but listen to music in stereo!

 

[Owen Smith]

Even in music mode Dolby is far too front oriented. Dolby was designed for movies, music was just an afterthought.

That's not true for Dolby Pro Logic II. Jim Fosgate invented it and then sold it to Dolby, and Jim did a lot of his development using music indeed that was his primary interest for the format.

 

[ssully]

The encoder was not changed, other than to accommodate LB and RB surrounds. The basic matrix is the same.

Are you talking about DSU or FreeSurrround?

 

[ssully]

I'm not endorsing the current iteration of "Dolby Surround" either but both the Tate SQ, QS Vario-matrix and Involve decoders wipe the floor with anything Dolby. DPL-II Music Mode doesn't even come close.

When I installed the Sony MEX-DV2000 first in my Dodge Caravan and then in my Ford F-150 I much preferred listening in double stereo rather than Dolby PL Music Mode. Even in music mode Dolby is far too front oriented. Dolby was designed for movies, music was just an afterthought.

That's nonsense, DPLII Music Mode was hardly an afterthought. Otherwise why did it offer, in addition to Center Width, user adjustable front versus rear (Dimension) as well as 'wrap around'(Panorama)?

I was also using a Sony ES AVR in the bedroom until some of the channels became intermittent. It had Dolby PL and also sounded terrible on music, I used the very basic Sansui QS-1 instead! The QS-1 although hardly discrete sounded very nice on music as well as movies. The poor performance of Dolby with music is IMHO the reason that so many people watch movies in surround but listen to music in stereo!

DPLII Music sounded great for upmixing 2-channel content on my very well balanced 5.2 system.

 

[Sonik Wiz]

I'm not endorsing the current iteration of "Dolby Surround" either but both the Tate SQ, QS Vario-matrix and Involve decoders wipe the floor with anything Dolby. DPL-II Music Mode doesn't even come close.

When I installed the Sony MEX-DV2000 first in my Dodge Caravan and then in my Ford F-150 I much preferred listening in double stereo rather than Dolby PL Music Mode. Even in music mode Dolby is far too front oriented. Dolby was designed for movies, music was just an afterthought.

I was also using a Sony ES AVR in the bedroom until some of the channels became intermittent. It had Dolby PL and also sounded terrible on music, I used the very basic Sansui QS-1 instead! The QS-1 although hardly discrete sounded very nice on music as well as movies. The poor performance of Dolby with music is IMHO the reason that so many people watch movies in surround but listen to music in stereo!

When my Sansui QSD-1000 and Fosgate Tate 101A were getting problematic, DPL II was new & coming on the rise. I've studied many of Fosgate's patents, always read positive things about his other designs & boy I really looked forward to getting my hands on the new DPL II.

It was first released retail in receivers, but I'm not a receiver kind of guy. The first quality stand alone processor was a Tag McLaren AV32R at $4k & I snapped it up. It also had proprietary decode modes but I was under whelmed by them all, including DPL II for stereo music into surround, which is very important to me.

The Tag developed early Alzheimer's & was replaced by a better product at half the cost, an Anthem AVM 30. Again I was not impressed with any of the decoding modes for S2S. Compared to the 101A & QSD-1000, DPL II just seemed so dull & lifeless with no specific pinpoint sounds in the soundfield compared to those earlier decoders. I limped along with DPL II because that's the only choice for a long time.

Eventually I devised a way to duplicate the Sansui VarioMatrix Synthesize mode on the PC that I posted about here long ago. The results were excellent but very labor intensive. I did a lot of decoding stereo usually with video & created DVD with DTS audio similar to what @kfbkfb mentioned in post #9.

And the the SM v2 came out & I jumped at the chance to get it. It is the best QS decoder I've ever owned & good enough on SQ that I don't miss the 101A. It lacks a good wrap around surround synthesis mode but on important music that's easy to pre-synthesize on the PC as I've written about before.

At any rate I would never choose DPL II as preference for playing back music S2S with my current choices.

 

[par4ken]

That's not true for Dolby Pro Logic II. Jim Fosgate invented it and then sold it to Dolby, and Jim did a lot of his development using music indeed that was his primary interest for the format.

Jin had to develop something of his own when the supply of Tate chips dried up. His efforts fell very short indeed. His pre Dolby "Gavotte" efforts were OK but still not up to the Tate standards!

 

[par4ken]

Compared to the 101A & QSD-1000, DPL II just seemed so dull & lifeless

I'm still waiting on my QSD-1000. The Canadian Postal Service has been on strike for four weeks so far. My package from Japan is stuck in the system somewhere. This is a terrible situation for retailers, charities and the public in general. We can't even mail out Christmas cards (yes some of us still do that). Not to mention the vast areas of the country that the private carriers don't service because of cost. Political rant, they should have been legislated back to work right from day one. The two sides say that they don't want binding arbitration but I see no other solution, they are far too far apart! No end in sight!

 

[chucky3042]

Shy question: Is this device for "line in" or "phono in"?

If we are talking on our declicker, it's a full preamp. Moving magnet, moving coil, optical, RCA, 3.5mm and Bluetooth

 

[Asklia]

Thanks!