Surround Master V3 has landed (news, discounts etc)

[ar surround]

it even works on youtube.
Listening 'birds of fire' by Mahavishnu. (I have it on the surround SACD of course)
It separates well both on SQ and QS
On youtube!

I was blind and I can seeeeeeeee

And don’t forget to crank up the rears when you come across certain stereo recordings that sound blasé when enhanced by the SM. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the results.

 

[par4ken]

Actually the SM even has a slight edge over many other decoders when playing mono. Many of the decoders when playing 2 ch mono will steer it to a hard center front in 5.1 mode. Very pin point center front but sort of lacking. The SM in 5.1 will produce at full level in the center front speaker & duplicate at -6dB in the front left/right speakers. So it is not a hard (what I call) karaoke effect. This way the sound is center front mainly but has a L/R spread that seems more spacious, even for mono.

I like to hear my mono from all the speakers. Lacking a mono switch I can play mono through the S&IC and turn the separation control all the way down. In SQ mode the fronts are in phase focusing the image there between the speakers, while the back channels play with a phase shift to expand the sound field.

 

[JohnA]

Question about the 'input level' knob

Chucky said it should ideally be as loud as possible as long as the overloading LED doesn't come on.

So I had it full blast for a while with no sign of overload.
With no music playing I've noticed it produces some hiss though, which is reduced as you lower the knob, and hits minimum at the 0db setting. Lowering it further doesn't affect hiss any more.

Comments?

 

[chucky3042]

Question about the 'input level' knob

Chucky said it should ideally be as loud as possible as long as the overloading LED doesn't come on.

So I had it full blast for a while with no sign of overload.
With no music playing I've noticed it produces some hiss though, which is reduced as you lower the knob, and hits minimum at the 0db setting. Lowering it further doesn't affect hiss any more.

Comments?

Once the knob is fully clockwise it also enables you to lower the volume of your amplifier, thus reducing the overall hiss.

 

[JohnA]

Hi Chucky,

Of course it does.
However, on my setup, I've found that I can reclaim these 6 (or whatever) db by increasing the output of the DAC a bit and increasing the output from foobar (both digital) without adding any hiss.
I guess if I was trying to compensate from the analog preamp then I'd be adding as much hiss as the SM3 adds (haven't tried it though)

Am I losing much bitdepth from the AD/DA conversion of the SM3 with the knob at 0db?

PS
Alan Parson's I robot sounds glorious SM3'd

 

[Misterbee]

You would need the analog inputs. What kind of system are you running?

Pretty basic: Cambridge Audio 752BD, SONY STR-1040, and NHT 5.1 speaker setup.
I was pretty late to the 5.1 party, and I have almost run out of discs on my buy list.

 

[HiFiMan]

Which one would you suggest?

The Marantz SR-5002 has analog inputs. I've had mine since I bought it new in the mid 2000s and haven't had a bit of trouble with it! It was $800.00 new.

 

[Misterbee]

The Marantz SR-5002 has analog inputs. I've had mine since I bought it new in the mid 2000s and haven't had a bit of trouble with it! It was $800.00 new.

Thanks!

 

[Misterbee]

I don’t wish to be impertinent, and I realize that this may be a very ignorant question: In layman’s terms, what does SurroundMaster do? How does it differ from filters like PL II and NEO 6? It this the appropriate place for this question?

 

[LB-V]

I don’t wish to be impertinent, and I realize that this may be a very ignorant question: In layman’s terms, what does SurroundMaster do? How does it differ from filters like PL II and NEO 6? It this the appropriate place for this question?

Misterbee, there is a great deal of information on QQ on the SM and what is does, particularly in reference to PL / Neo / Sansui etc. Just do some searches. If you haven't already, you can check out the Involve Audio site as well.

https://involveaudio.com/product/surround-master-v3/

 

[chucky3042]

Hi Chucky,

Of course it does.
However, on my setup, I've found that I can reclaim these 6 (or whatever) db by increasing the output of the DAC a bit and increasing the output from foobar (both digital) without adding any hiss.
I guess if I was trying to compensate from the analog preamp then I'd be adding as much hiss as the SM3 adds (haven't tried it though)

Am I losing much bitdepth from the AD/DA conversion of the SM3 with the knob at 0db?

PS
Alan Parson's I robot sounds glorious SM3'd

Probably only 6db, that does not matter a hill of beans

 

[Akaiquadster2]

Just to say - and I note the one man band thing - but the link webpage seems to have some confusion in text here and there realising it is V3 and not V2…

 

[chucky3042]

Question about the 'input level' knob

Chucky said it should ideally be as loud as possible as long as the overloading LED doesn't come on.

So I had it full blast for a while with no sign of overload.
With no music playing I've noticed it produces some hiss though, which is reduced as you lower the knob, and hits minimum at the 0db setting. Lowering it further doesn't affect hiss any more.

Comments?

Once the knob is fully clockwise it also enables you to lower the volume of your amplifier, thus reducing the overall hiss.

Just to say - and I note the one man band thing - but the link webpage seems to have some confusion in text here and there realising it is V3 and not V2…

Yeah ooops, thanks for that, I have passed it onto Chris to fix. Actually we are a 12 man band shared between 2 companies

 

[fredblue]

i had a dream the other night the SMv3 had an Optical Out..

and then i woke up (!) and realised the SMv3 has an Optical In (PCM Stereo) and that a theoretical Optical Out connection could only handle PCM Stereo..

and then it got me thinking, Optical tops out at 5.1 DTS 96/24..

so if HDMI's a non-starter, would Optical Out @96/24 5.1 DTS be an acceptable way to digitally hook up a Surround Master to an AVR with no Multichannel Analogue Inputs?

 

[chucky3042]

i had a dream the other night the SMv3 had an Optical Out..

and then i woke up (!) and realised the SMv3 has an Optical In (PCM Stereo) and that a theoretical Optical Out connection could only handle PCM Stereo..

and then it got me thinking, Optical tops out at 5.1 DTS 96/24..

so if HDMI's a non-starter, would Optical Out @96/24 5.1 DTS be an acceptable way to digitally hook up a Surround Master to an AVR with no Multichannel Analogue Inputs?

Nup, the optical is strictly 2 channel

 

[fredblue]

Nup, the optical is strictly 2 channel

i meant adding an Optical OUT that outputs 5.1 DTS 96/24 - in a future update SMv4 or something

 

[olgitnorm]

i meant adding an Optical OUT that outputs 5.1 DTS 96/24 - in a future update SMv4 or something

I’d be up for one of these

 

[fredblue]

I’d be up for one of these

me too and it would default to Core DTS for any owners of older Receivers that predate the 96/24 extension.

it could even be Dolby Digital enabled (dirty words when used in conjunction round here, i know!) for those without DTS decoding.

its all lossy but it is Digital Surround Output and would enhance the connection opportunities for SM users and open the SM up to more new potential customers who's receivers lack MultiCh Analogue Inputs.

anyway just a dream i dreamed of days gone by!

 

[jaybird100]

I’d be up for one of these

Would be nice, but nearly double the price!

 

[chucky3042]

me too and it would default to Core DTS for any owners of older Receivers that predate the 96/24 extension.

it could even be Dolby Digital enabled (dirty words when used in conjunction round here, i know!) for those without DTS decoding.

its all lossy but it is Digital Surround Output and would enhance the connection opportunities for SM users and open the SM up to more new potential customers who's receivers lack MultiCh Analogue Inputs.

anyway just a dream i dreamed of days gone by!

It's just not defined as 4 or 5 channel. Unless you mean 2 x optical but then all the crap "receivers" would need a 2 x optical input...... Or am I somehow nuts and missing something late night?