Playing 1982 Dolby Surround in 2024...and beyond...

[Rango]

I've got a "Dolby Surround" CD, but I can't seem to get the surround to pop.

My receiver just seems to default to PLIIx - like I'm playing a regular CD - and the result is underwhelming, to say the least: there's barely anything coming out of the side speakers.

I have a Sony UBP-X800M2 (player) and an Onkyo TX-NR609 (receiver); I'm guessing these are too new.

I also have a Pioneer DV-575A (player) but it's not compatible with my Onkyo, because my Onkyo has HMDMI inputs instead of 5.1 RCA sockets.

How far back do I need to be looking, hardware wise, to play a Dolby Surround (1982) CD?

P.S. I ran a search for this topic but the information was spotty at best; I couldn't find a discussion on it.

​

 

[DuncanS]

I've got a "Dolby Surround" CD, but I can't seem to get the surround to pop.

My receiver just seems to default to PLIIx - like I'm playing a regular CD - and the result is underwhelming, to say the least: there's barely anything coming out of the side speakers.

I have a Sony UBP-X800M2 (player) and an Onkyo TX-NR609 (receiver); I'm guessing these are too new.

I also have a Pioneer DV-575A (player) but it's not compatible with my Onkyo, because my Onkyo has HMDMI inputs instead of 5.1 RCA sockets.

How far back do I need to be looking, hardware wise, to play a Dolby Surround (1982) CD?

P.S. I ran a search for this topic but the information was spotty at best; I couldn't find a discussion on it.

​

Dolby Surround CDs are just PL/PLii encoded (matrix encoding) not Dolby Digital, its just a standard CD, so your amp/player will see it as such and you have to select PL/PLii manually/auto to PLii x.

 

[Rango]

Dolby Surround CDs are just PL/PLii encoded (matrix encoding) not Dolby Digital, its just a standard CD, so your amp/player will see it as such and you have to select PL/PLii manually/auto to PLii x.

Oh okay, so, it's just an underwhelming mix? It doesn't seem much different to a regular CD with PLii x selected; I was expecting more from it. :0/

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Oh okay, so, it's just an underwhelming mix? It doesn't seem much different to a regular CD with PLii x selected; I was expecting more from it. :0/

What is the title?

 

[Rango]

ZYX Music's The World of Krautrock (1997) the case and discs carry the Dolby Surround logo; not the 1987 Pro Logic Dolby Surround logo, just the "Dolby Surround" logo.

It's listed as Multichannel on Discogs.

To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm giving PLii x too much credit, or not giving these ZYX discs enough, but the World of Krautrock discs are not such a far cry from what regular CD's sound like with PLii x...

...although I might need to review that; I'll spin some regular CDs today and see how they measure up; it might be that I'm not seeing the woods for the trees.

 

[MidiMagic]

The recordings are exactly the same for original Dolby Surround, Pro-Logic, and Pro-Logic II. Only the decoding is different.

The player must deliver a stereo signal to the decoder, and the decoder just matrix decodes it. Mine can give 5.1, 5.0. 4.1, or 4.0 outputs.

Your player must not try to give a 5.1 output. That reduces the output to two used channels and three unused ones.

 

[kfbkfb]

https://delosmusic.com/recording/surround-spectacular-the-music-the-tests/

This test set might be useful.


Kirk Bayne

 

[Rango]

https://delosmusic.com/recording/surround-spectacular-the-music-the-tests/

This test set might be useful.


Kirk Bayne

Awesome, thanks. I’ll see if I can snag a copy.