I was wondering if you've found any stereo albums/songs that have so-so surround sound on no logic decoders but have good surround sound with logic decoders (even thought there's nothing specific for the logic to latch on to)?
Kirk, it's been so long ago listening to surround sound from a simple matrix decoder I can't answer that directly. And in the past I never listened in that context because any stereo to surround done right always sounded better in separation enhanced decoding.
Now the the little original ElectroVoice decoder gave the best surround to my ears from stereo in regards to simplicity and cost. But it has such limited rear separation it can never reproduce (just an example) a rear left or right only speaker feed.
Currently, I have DynaQuad and DPL2 (music or movie, depending on which input is selected) surround sound systems set up.
I tried a few of my newest CDs (not surround sound encoded) on both systems, I didn't notice any major difference in directionality between the 2 decoding methods.
Some of this might have to do with the DPL II settings. With the dimension control all the way forward (towards + numbers) it's stereo front and a narrow rear. Move the Dimension control all the way to the back (minus numbers), Panorma off, Center front to minimum & it decodes almost exactly in high separation QS/RM mode.
But tonally it sounds rather dull and the decoding action sounds sluggish. It pales in comparison to the sonic detail & fast action artifact free decoding of the Surround Master & other decoders I've heard.
However the Surround Master & DPL II both lack what other decoders had for stereo synth which was 270 deg wrap around surround from stereo. Some call this a horseshoe pattern. The Space & image Composer, Fosgate Tates, and about all of Sansui anything had this. In the the Sansui method just a bit of opposite phase mixing on the input chs meant a sound in stereo left only emanates from the left back speaker only. Or a sound panned right to left makes a big beautiful CCW sweep around the sound field. It makes a huge difference that simple decoding can not approach.
I know you asked mainly about stereo music that sounds different by decoding methods & I'm talking mainly hardware differences. But you have to consider the wide range of hardware to make these comparisons.
Lastly if you are using two entirely separate listening set ups then differences in speakers, room acoustics, etc could also alter evaluation of the material as well.
