Just tried Dolby Headohone from Realtek ALC892 codec

Uriel

Uriel

Uriel

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And in a word, it was muffled. I'm a bit baffled by this, as the general sound quality from the motherboard isn't too bad so it must be the DH implementation itself that's not great.

If I use the Dolby Headphone plugin for Foobar2000 with it that sounds like it should do so it's not that the Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 motherboard's analogue output is bad. Whatever they call Dolby Headphone on this board does not correspond with DH1, DH2 or DH3. It fails to deliver the kind of out-of-head soundstage and clarity I expect.

So if you have Dolby Headphone on Realtek and have been unimpressed, I'd say it's definitely worth the upgrade to a soundcard or receiver that supports it.
 
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I commented the same last year. On the gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P I enabled dolby headphone and it sounded shocking in comparison to the xonar D1, muddy, muffled and downright poor.

-----------------------------------
(from gigabyte website)
Dolby Home Theater - Enjoy a Rich Home Theater Surround Sound Experience
Dolby Home Theater places listeners in the middle of the action, giving their PCs a powerful set of tools to deliver a cinema-style experience in vivid surround sound.
* Delivers vivid surround sound for music, movies, and games, using two to eight speakers or any set of headphones
* Designed to automatically deliver the best possible listening experience

----------------------------------

I would certainly recommend a xonar to anyone looking at going for dolby headphone.

EDIT:- I also tried a few different sets of drivers from gigabytes own to realtek direct.
 
Uriel said:
And in a word, it was muffled. I'm a bit baffled by this, as the general sound quality from the motherboard isn't too bad so it must be the DH implementation itself that's not great.

If I use the Dolby Headphone plugin for Foobar2000 with it that sounds like it should do so it's not that the Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 motherboard's analogue output is bad. Whatever they call Dolby Headphone on this board does not correspond with DH1, DH2 or DH3. It fails to deliver the kind of out-of-head soundstage and clarity I expect.

So if you have Dolby Headphone on Realtek and have been unimpressed, I'd say it's definitely worth the upgrade to a soundcard or receiver that supports it.
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I've just been trying dolby headphone, the dh1-dh3 just seems to give more spacial awareness so to speak. But it does give a nice clear sound with plenty of bass.
 
If you want to test DH just grab Foobar2000 and the DH plugin and DLL, you can then test it in music and decide whether DH is a deciding factor in card purchases.
 
Be careful about which Dolby Headphone .dll you use for Foobar. I've had variable results. The version that comes with PowerDVD 9 Ultra is fine (but that's paid software). I tried a version from a very old trial version of WinDVD and it sounded awful.
 
Uriel said:
Be careful about which Dolby Headphone .dll you use for Foobar. I've had variable results. The version that comes with PowerDVD 9 Ultra is fine (but that's paid software). I tried a version from a very old trial version of WinDVD and it sounded awful.
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Do I need to do any of these when using DG's internal Dolby Headphone function?

Here's a link with instructions for anyone interested in trying out DH.

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread...obar-configuration-for-all-stereo-music-files
 
No need for Foobar malarkey if using the DG. Xonar Dolby Headphone and PowerDVD 9 Ultra Dolby Headphone are exactly the same.
 
Uriel said:
No need for Foobar malarkey if using the DG. Xonar Dolby Headphone and PowerDVD 9 Ultra Dolby Headphone are exactly the same.
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Am I to understand that it's just a software implementation of Dolby Headphone then? E.g. it would work with any DAC and source?

I've got some onboard soundcards on two netbooks, one supports Dolby Home Theatre and the other Dolby Headphone only. Do these work out of the box or do they also require a bit of fiddling around to get the most out of them?
 
I've always found Dolby Headphone to be like that, slightly muffled.

EDIT: Try changing the nature of the ports - on my gigabyte w/ realtek if you use headphones in the rear ports with "line out" selected (default for speakers) its quite weak and muffled (same for front "headphone" port), changing the rear port to headphone mode suddenly its really clear and powerful - seems like the rear headphone setting enables some kinda line amp as headphones in the front "headphones" connection lacks the same punch.
 
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Rroff said:
EDIT: Try changing the nature of the ports - on my gigabyte w/ realtek if you use headphones in the rear ports with "line out" selected its quite weak and muffled, changing the rear port to headphone mode suddenly its really clear and powerful - seems like the rear headphone setting enables some kinda line amp as headphones in the front "headphones" connection lacks the same punch.
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Already tried it. If the rear port isn't set to headphone I don't even get a Dolby Headphone option. As stated - software Dolby Headphone is fine. The board's native Dolby Headphone is shocking.
 
Angel_Rex said:
Is that from onboard sound or a xonar card?
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Xonar DX. In another thread, he was saying how disappointed he was with DH, in comparison to the Roccat Kave's. I think some setting changes improved DH for him, but he still thinks the Kave's are superior for positional sound.
 
Marsman said:
Xonar DX. In another thread, he was saying how disappointed he was with DH, in comparison to the Roccat Kave's. I think some setting changes improved DH for him, but he still thinks the Kave's are superior for positional sound.
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Ah right. Cheers.

Yeah I think I commented on that one too as I also have both. ITs tough but in older games where 'close quarters' gaming is the key (as uriel said) the 5.1 seem to be better. in all other games though you can hardly tell the diff.
 
Angel_Rex said:
Ah right. Cheers.

Yeah I think I commented on that one too as I also have both. ITs tough but in older games where 'close quarters' gaming is the key (as uriel said) the 5.1 seem to be better. in all other games though you can hardly tell the diff.
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sorry i didn't reply mate i missed ur question earlier in the thread.

i'm finding the 5.1's really good. positional cues are really good, I did find getting the set-up just right was kinda difficult especially where low level frequencies were concered.

i'm just trying out some games each day and so far i'm really im pressed with the kaves.
 
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