Pro Logic History

[lotones]

What year were the last, supposedly improved PLII devices made? I think the receiver I have was made circa 2012 or thereabouts.

Actually I think it's older than that. Still works good though.

My Rotel pre/pro was manufactured from 2015-2020. But Rotel was/is notoriously late to adopt and adapt to new tech and formats.

 

[Owen Smith]

But Rotel was/is notoriously late to adopt and adapt to new tech and formats.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, it means they don't participate in all the teething problems when it is bleeding edge.

 

[lotones]

That's not necessarily a bad thing, it means they don't participate in all the teething problems when it is bleeding edge.

You would think...

 

[MidiMagic]

If what I’ve read is correct, a/v manufacturers can license both the Atmos/Doldy Surround package and the older package with PLII, but understandably none have. Dolby should have made PL II part of the Atmos package for legacy customers.

No, they can't. The patents have expired, so there is no licensing PLII. They can just use it. It's in the public domain.

However, Dolby does not want them to use it.

 

[Sonik Wiz]

No, they can't. The patents have expired, so there is no licensing PLII. They can just use it. It's in the public domain.

However, Dolby does not want them to use it.

When the Sansui patents expired they were revitalized by Involve Audio. No one wants to revitalize D PL II.

 

[par4ken]

Could use this method (it's ~$15.60 now ):
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...decode-tech-articles.37002/page-2#post-829621


Kirk Bayne

I was almost going to suggest that but expected Kirk to mention it! Easy and costs nothing! I might also suggest double stereo.

 

[Owen Smith]

No, they can't. The patents have expired, so there is no licensing PLII. They can just use it. It's in the public domain.

The patents have expired but that does not mean the source code for the firmware to decode it is in the public domain. I doubt very much Dolby would just give that away, and they could choose to licence it still.

 

[Lt1z323]

I still have a receiver with PLII. I use it to run my height speakers. (in direct mode, not PLII)
Would be interesting to try it again, but moving equipment and re routing cables doesn't appeal to me, only to change it back.
Still I may try the PLII again at some point.
A PLII VST could be nice to have, if such an animal exists, since I mainly listen from the pc anyway.

I agree with @Owen Smith the Dolby Surround on my main AVR doesn't appeal at all, at least to me. I think the DTS Neural upmixing sounds better than the Dolby.

A PLII VST did exist however it's no longer for sale.

I'm working on a few video's to compare upmixers using the same content. Will be fun to hear each approach.