New Alan Parsons album "From The New World" out in July! (CD/DVD release)

[mandrix]

Had to order my DVD from the UK, they say it's on-the-way.
I'm a poet, and it didn't even know it. LOL
Can't wait to hear the whole thing in 5.1.
I believe it's one of Alan best yet.
The older I get the more I love Alan,
Maybe it's cause we're the same age?

Yeah, yeah, we're a bunch of old farts.
I get in moods for certain music, and for sure AP is right up there in the top 10 for me in the long haul.

Another old guy, now passed, and I, had many disagreements about almost everything. But the two of us could always agree about our love for APP.
R.I.P. Aart. The music lives on.

 

[ddahl44]

Disagreeing with the above, I find little similarity between Parsons’ latest and TOMAI or I Robot, save for the opening bars of the first track (which is a touching ode to Eric Woolfson, I believe). Granted if you compared Please Please Me with Abbey Road you would be hard pressed to name this as the same band, what with the evolution of the Beatles songwriting skills and increasing complexity of style. Yes, TOMAI and I Robot were from The Project, but there seems to be a de-evolution from complex works to more standard pop soundcraft. The tunes are pleasing, nonetheless, and I like the addition of Mr. Shaw to the mix and the above mentioned tribute to Mr. Woolfson. He is missed.

 

[JulesRules]

Yes, TOMAI and I Robot were from The Project, but there seems to be a de-evolution from complex works to more standard pop soundcraft.

You could say the same thing already about Ammonia Avenue, not even ten years after the Project had started. Who knows, maybe Parsons will write something with Steven Wilson next time... (Jokes aside, I would certainly welcome David Pack again, and not just as a vocalist - "The Three of Me" from Try Anything Once is one of the best thing Parsons ever released.)

 

[mandrix]

Disagreeing with the above, I find little similarity between Parsons’ latest and TOMAI or I Robot, save for the opening bars of the first track (which is a touching ode to Eric Woolfson, I believe). Granted if you compared Please Please Me with Abbey Road you would be hard pressed to name this as the same band, what with the evolution of the Beatles songwriting skills and increasing complexity of style. Yes, TOMAI and I Robot were from The Project, but there seems to be a de-evolution from complex works to more standard pop soundcraft. The tunes are pleasing, nonetheless, and I like the addition of Mr. Shaw to the mix and the above mentioned tribute to Mr. Woolfson. He is missed.

Well I certainly agree it's getting more "pop-y". But Alan's influence is all over it, maybe not as leading edge as before.
For sure, I don't think Woolfson got as much credit as he deserved, but we at least still have those APP albums to listen to. I do wish someone would remix them, however, for Atmos.

 

[Sal1950]

I do wish someone would remix them, however, for Atmos.

Oh hell yes!!!

 

[par4ken]

Just think about it: With QUAD there are 2 FRONT and two REAR speakers. 5.1 only adds a center and sub. What's so difficult to comprehend???????

That is the way that its should be but with my Oppo player for one it won't. 5.1 plays through front and sides! If it's set up for front and rear speakers there is no rear output when playing 4.0 or 5.1 discs. It should be smart enough to route both side and rear encoded sounds to whatever speaker you set it to but it doesn't work that way.

It would appear that the standard for 4.0 and 5,1 is to encode the rears as side not back.

 

[Sal1950]

It would appear that the standard for 4.0 and 5,1 is to encode the rears as side not back.

Yes, that is the convention. A 4.0 and 5.1 system is coded to use the sides. The rears are coded for a 7.1 source.

 

[DuncanS]

From the Smyth Realiser A16 manual, what used to be rears in Quad/5.1 IDs 5 (Ls) & 6 (Rs) are now sides - its annoying when things 'advance' but they don't retain backwards compatibility.
Edit: Green are Ear Level speakers, Orange are Heights, Blue Are Overheads, Yellow are Grounds, and Red are Subwoofers.

 

[srbjab]

That is the way that its should be but with my Oppo player for one it won't. 5.1 plays through front and sides! If it's set up for front and rear speakers there is no rear output when playing 4.0 or 5.1 discs. It should be smart enough to route both side and rear encoded sounds to whatever speaker you set it to but it doesn't work that way.

It would appear that the standard for 4.0 and 5,1 is to encode the rears as side not back.

That is the standard, but for 5.1 and 4.0 I also prefer the surround /rear signals to come from my actual rear surround speakers (full range), not the sides (small). Modern upmixers will typically route signals to all the speakers detected in the system, which partially fixes the side versus rear 4.0 and 5.1 problem and then works correctly for 7.1 and atmos signals, but not everyone likes to upmix everything. Alternatively, if you have enough inputs and outputs you could always set up a 4.0 / 5.1 mode where you physically swap the side and rear output cables.

 

[mandrix]

Every time I set up speaker mapping in an app, it's usually sides before Ls Rs speakers.. Varies, though. I notice when I do a 7.1 check in Windows 11 the rears come from the sides. YMMV. (From the Sound properties)

 

[mandrix]

From the Smyth Realiser A16 manual, what used to be rears in Quad/5.1 IDs 5 (Ls) & 6 (Rs) are now sides - its annoying when things 'advance' but they don't retain backwards compatibility.
Edit: Green are Ear Level speakers, Orange are Heights, Blue Are Overheads, Yellow are Grounds, and Red are Subwoofers.
View attachment 85060

Thanks! When I win the lotto I'm going to build a concert hall/theater and have them all installed...or buy a Smyth Realizer. Not joking! Would it not be cool to have a very very large room for a theater and a busload of speakers? A giant screen for video, and a popcorn machine and a bartender?
Every time that large speaker layout or similar is posted, I lust for more room and audio equipment. Sound familiar?

 

[panamac]

That is the way that its should be but with my Oppo player for one it won't. 5.1 plays through front and sides! If it's set up for front and rear speakers there is no rear output when playing 4.0 or 5.1 discs. It should be smart enough to route both side and rear encoded sounds to whatever speaker you set it to but it doesn't work that way.

It would appear that the standard for 4.0 and 5,1 is to encode the rears as side not back.

I'm guessing that you're using the Oppos digital volume and routing it straight to your Amp? I used to route my udp-205 that way, and it was super. But, once I routed it through a Marantz AV8805a, I found that I had choices which allowed me to include the backs in a 5.1 playback.

 

[jaybird100]

That is the way that its should be but with my Oppo player for one it won't. 5.1 plays through front and sides! If it's set up for front and rear speakers there is no rear output when playing 4.0 or 5.1 discs. It should be smart enough to route both side and rear encoded sounds to whatever speaker you set it to but it doesn't work that way.

It would appear that the standard for 4.0 and 5,1 is to encode the rears as side not back.

All that should matter is that it sounds good to YOU. My surround speakers are slightly behind my listening position; this is because the room is rather small. Besides, if it sounds fine to your ear, that should ultimately be what counts.

 

[barfle]

That is the way that its should be but with my Oppo player for one it won't. 5.1 plays through front and sides! If it's set up for front and rear speakers there is no rear output when playing 4.0 or 5.1 discs. It should be smart enough to route both side and rear encoded sounds to whatever speaker you set it to but it doesn't work that way.

It would appear that the standard for 4.0 and 5,1 is to encode the rears as side not back.

I’ll have to check what settings I used in my 105. I know I use the analog outputs, but I’m not certain if my 5.1 setup is set for sides or rears. I know that my Chicago Quadio box decodes to the four corners, as do the DSD digital files on the thumb drive and MCH FLACs on my NAS. I don’t believe I have any 7.1 material in my collection, but I haven’t heard anything I would consider wrong lately.

 

[par4ken]

All that should matter is that it sounds good to YOU. My surround speakers are slightly behind my listening position; this is because the room is rather small. Besides, if it sounds fine to your ear, that should ultimately be what counts.

I'm a bit confused by your post. I'm not saying that you should listen to 5.1 or quad via side speakers rather than back speakers. It's just that they are normally encoded that way. I use the Oppo's side outputs for my back speakers, I don't use side speakers. Playback could be sub-optimal for those with a 7.1 setup, unless perhaps your AVR can be set up to "properly" route the channels to the correct speaker.

I do like to place my back speakers more off to the sides than directly behind me due to the room layout. I still consider them to be the back speakers. That is a separate issue however.

 

[esimms86]

Thanks! When I win the lotto I'm going to build a concert hall/theater and have them all installed...or buy a Smyth Realizer. Not joking! Would it not be cool to have a very very large room for a theater and a busload of speakers? A giant screen for video, and a popcorn machine and a bartender?
Every time that large speaker layout or similar is posted, I lust for more room and audio equipment. Sound familiar?

I'm not a lottery winner by any means but I do count myself lucky to have a Smyth Realiser that I paid $800 for through their Kickstarter campaign. I put another $2100 into it spread out over a couple years, to upgrade to Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro 3D, and obtain a personalized PRIR made in a pro studio. After all's said and done, I can go anywhere from a stereo setup to a 12.1.10 Dolby Atmos(and 13.1 Auro 3D) and everything in-between. What's also cool is that the Realiser has allowed me to setup 4.0 and 5.1 rooms with rear surrounds in place of side surrounds. Life is good.

 

[Sal1950]

Every time that large speaker layout or similar is posted, I lust for more room and audio equipment. Sound familiar?

Yep, and if I hit that Billion dollar lotto ticket I'll do the same.
Till then I live in the real world with my 5.2.4 rig.

I'm guessing that you're using the Oppos digital volume and routing it straight to your Amp? I used to route my udp-205 that way, and it was super. But, once I routed it through a Marantz AV8805a, I found that I had choices which allowed me to include the backs in a 5.1 playback.

Agreed. Not using some type of AV controller would normally then remove the option of using all the features offered, specially some form of DSP. Well configured Audyssey, Dirac, etc; can offer much greater improvement in sound quality that any offered by Oppos DAC's alone.
YMMV

 

[mandrix]

Yep, and if I hit that Billion dollar lotto ticket I'll do the same.
Till then I live in the real world with my 5.2.4 rig.

Agreed. Not using some type of AV controller would normally then remove the option of using all the features offered, specially some form of DSP. Well configured Audyssey, Dirac, etc; can offer much greater improvement in sound quality that any offered by Oppos DAC's alone.
YMMV

I'm looking at a 9.2 Onkyo with Dirac. Wonder if it really is as good as advertised. B&H has a good deal on a 9.2 with pre outs for another pair.

 

[Sal1950]

I'm looking at a 9.2 Onkyo with Dirac. Wonder if it really is as good as advertised. B&H has a good deal on a 9.2 with pre outs for another pair.

Something like this,
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../onkyo-tx-rz50-review-home-theater-avr.30842/As it stands the RZ50's amps exhibited some serious issues when attempting to drive 4 ohm loads but if your speakers are closer to 8 ohm loads it should offer acceptable performance at this price level. The Dirac Live DSP is a big plus here.

 

[Glentheed]

I'm guessing that you're using the Oppos digital volume and routing it straight to your Amp? I used to route my udp-205 that way, and it was super. But, once I routed it through a Marantz AV8805a, I found that I had choices which allowed me to include the backs in a 5.1 playback.

I've an Oppo 205 connected to a Denon X2400W (which is some 6 years old) and here's my configuration which gives me Atmos and Aura3d