9.1 channel surround sound

TECHRESPECT · 11 Oct 2009 at 03:39

Are there speaker 1systems available for this yet? :confused:

Can anyone suggest best in small, medium and large price range.
Thanks.

blaineoliver · 12 Oct 2009 at 22:51

You would trip over the speakers.. plus, 7.1 is around and even thats barely adopted by cinema recording.

TECHRESPECT · 13 Oct 2009 at 02:55

Then why are Asus including it on boards such as P7P55D DELUXE ?

I get your point, but with very small speakers, it may be worth having. The two extra speakers are there for sounds of rain wind etc. which may be aimed specifically at gaming, but 9.1 is already being supported on Blue Ray disks (Dolby Pro Logic IIz).

I would like to know if the 10 channels codec still makes a difference regardless of the number of speakers. I also wonder if this is superior to the high end 7.1 cards and if it is now better to buy M/b's with on board sound. i.e. if nobody is going to bother buying 9.1 speakers then has sound technology gone as far as it can for now.

Still waiting for any advice on what speakers to get to for this Asus M/b whether 9.1 or less (best quality per buck). Anyone

Arthalen · 13 Oct 2009 at 08:23

Asus Xonar DX & GoldRing Dr50s or DR150s = WIN for Gaming

Edit: I will never go back to onboard sound. The difference is simply amazing.

cokecan · 13 Oct 2009 at 10:11

TECHRESPECT said:
I get your point, but with very small speakers, it may be worth having. The two extra speakers are there for sounds of rain wind etc. which may be aimed specifically at gaming, but 9.1 is already being supported on Blue Ray disks (Dolby Pro Logic IIz).

Dolby Pro Logic IIx and z is just an extension of old skool Pro Logic and Pro Logic II. It simply upmixes a stereo or DD5.1 stream to 6.1 and 7.1, or in the IIz's case upto 9.1. As far as I know this has nothing to do with being support on a disk or game but instead a function the amplifier does. you'll find the majortiy if not all Blu-Ray movies actually have a Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA soundtrack, that is basically a high quality lossless 'true' 7.1 soundtrack (by true I mean it actually has 8 individual channels that have been recorded and no upmixed from a lesser source)

From a film POV, personally I think that unless you have the equiptment that can show off a lossless 7.1 soundtrack, you'd be better off sticking to a good 5.1 setup. I'm not sure how this would really translate to gaming though??

Greenlizard0 · 13 Oct 2009 at 19:47

The time has come to get rid of anything by the most basic sound from motherboards. I honestly don't see the point in 5.1/7.1 in them. Take them out and fit more USB ports; things that seemingly everybody runs out of.

TECHRESPECT · 14 Oct 2009 at 01:54

you'd be better off sticking to a good 5.1 setup

Edit: I will never go back to onboard sound. The difference is simply amazing.

Thanks for your comments. I will look into getting a serperate card.

The trouble is that I am still uncertain about what is best. I understand the comment about sticking to 5.1, but a few years ago the same was said about stereo and about more than two speakers being too much trouble.

10 channel as a recording format is definetely the way forward and future games and films will have it. The problem that I am trying to work out for myself (that I haven't made clear in my previous postings) having alredy chosen a M/B with the VIA® VT2020, what should I buy to get the most from it. Is it only worth getting speakers up to a certain wattage and value before I will be throwing money away. Do I buy a 2.1 or 5.1 etc., or do I do as suggested and forget the onboard and get a card, for which I will have to ask the same questions.

I know that an answer could be 'how long is a piece of string', so to sum it up, I want to buy a speaker system to play music and play games on that will match the quality of my new i7 system and that will be fairly futue proof for about three years if I want to dable with some music creating software in the future etc. I will initially be buying the speakers and if necessary I will upgrade to a card later. Would also like the option of using for watching films as well.

simon194 · 14 Oct 2009 at 16:18

TECHRESPECT said:
Then why are Asus including it on boards such as P7P55D DELUXE ?

I get your point, but with very small speakers, it may be worth having. The two extra speakers are there for sounds of rain wind etc. which may be aimed specifically at gaming, but 9.1 is already being supported on Blue Ray disks (Dolby Pro Logic IIz).

You a bit off on this. Dolby Pro Logic IIz is actually a processing system to augment existing 5.1 and 7.1 setups that decodes spatial cues.

From the Dolby website:

"Pro Logic IIz identifies and decodes spatial cues that occur naturally in all content--stereo and 5.1 broadcast, music CDs, DVDs, 5.1 and 7.1 Blu-ray discs, and video games. Dolby Pro Logic IIz processes low-level, uncorrelated information--such as ambience and some amorphous effects like rain or wind--and directs it to the front height speakers."

Blu-ray only supports 7.1 and there are very few around with 7.1

TECHRESPECT · 15 Oct 2009 at 05:19

Also from the Dolby website:-

With a 9.1-channel setup, you have even more choices, including state-of-the-art 9.1 playback with both surround and back speakers and two front height speakers.

If it supports Pro Logic IIz, then it supports 9.1. Not all Blue-ay support it but some do.

What your quote does confirm is that lower standard speakers can also benefit from new recording standards once you have the new equipment to decode it.

So will the newer on board sound be better than an older plug in card?

What are the best speakers for under £100. I think that I will go for Logitech X-540 or Creative Labs Inspire T7900 7.1 and wait for technology to catch itself up. Any comments on which one is best.

cokecan · 15 Oct 2009 at 17:10

TECHRESPECT said:
Also from the Dolby website:-

If it supports Pro Logic IIz, then it supports 9.1. Not all Blue-ay support it but some do.

All Blu-Rays and HD-DVD's will have a Dobly TrueHD or DTS-HD MA soundtrack on them that will be upto 7.1.

Essentially everything supports Pro Logic IIz because as Simon194 has said, its just a processing system. All it does is take an audio stream of x-ammount of channels, say a 5.1 stream, and basically scales/upmixes it to 9.1. So even though it has 9.1 channels its not actually a true 9.1 signal (I guess thinking of it as adding in a couple of emulated channels is easier)

TBH I wouldnt bother with any kind of Pro Logic for anything

MikeHunt79 · 15 Oct 2009 at 17:12

11.1 is where it's at, 9.1 is just so last year

PistolPete · 15 Oct 2009 at 17:48

11.2 - sub and super sub bass.

MikeHunt79 · 15 Oct 2009 at 18:43

PistolPete said:
11.2 - sub and super sub bass.

Having 2 sub channels isn't a bad idea, you could have one for 0-30Hz, and another channel for 30Hz-130Hz, but even 1 channel isn't bad as people can always use thier own filters...