Surround Modes (1 Viewer)

[ElectricL3af]

So I right now have a 7.1 multi channel set up. I use a Marantz SR5003 as my AV receiver. My center speaker is a Polk Audio CS10, my front left and right speakers are Polk Audio RTi4, and the SL, SR, SBR, and SBL are Polk Audio RM2350. My subwoofer is the Infinity R12 reference subwoofer. Now, with my receiver, there are many surround modes, and I am curious as to which ones would be best for gaming, music, and movies. The room for my setup is 13.5 feet by 20 feet, with one of the 20 foot sides opened up into a much larger room. I have the speakers all calibrated to the correct distance to the central sitting point, and set them all to the same volume from that point. I want to know what kind of surround modes I should use. I currently am liking M-CH Movie for music, and PlIIx Cinema x NEO:6 Cinema for movies.
In case the picture is hard to read, the surround modes it has are Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD, SRS circle surround, Neural Surround THX technologies, and other things that I don't think are sound modes. Any suggestions?
Also, random question, but my subwoofer says its frequency range is 29-150 hertz. According to a hertz reader I was using, one of my songs hit 24 hertz and was played by the sub. Can it go lower than it says?

 

[JohnRice]

There are two different things with surround sound. One is the original sound format and the other is any kind of post-processing you apply. You have a 7.1 setup, and most soundtracks have 5.1 channels or less, so those soundtracks need post-processing to get 7.1 channels. The basic sound formats are Dolby Surround (2 channel), Dolby Digital and DTS, which can be anywhere from 1 to 5.1 channels, Dolby True HD and DTS HD, which can be anything from 1 to 7.1 channels, and then there's Atmos and DTS:X,which don't have a predefined number of channels, but your receiver isn't capable of playing those.

So, what and how to modify the soundtrack is really up to you and what you prefer. If you have a Dolby Surround (2 channel) soundtrack, you can use PLIIx to matrix it to 7.1, or you can use a DTS (NEO:6) codec, or something else that your receiver might have. Same with the most common 5.1 soundtracks, to matrix them to 7.1. I don't really care to get into the weeds of the whole thing, after years of nitpicking, so I just use the same post-processing as the original soundtrack. IOW, if it's a Dolby soundtrack, I use the Dolby post-processing to get it to 7.1, ditto for DTS. Personally, I never use surround processing for music. I just let the receiver route the low frequencies to the sub, so I get 2.1.

 

[ElectricL3af]

There are two different things with surround sound. One is the original sound format and the other is any kind of post-processing you apply. You have a 7.1 setup, and most soundtracks have 5.1 channels or less, so those soundtracks need post-processing to get 7.1 channels. The basic sound formats are Dolby Surround (2 channel), Dolby Digital and DTS, which can be anywhere from 1 to 5.1 channels, Dolby True HD and DTS HD, which can be anything from 1 to 7.1 channels, and then there's Atmos and DTS:X,which don't have a predefined number of channels, but your receiver isn't capable of playing those.

So, what and how to modify the soundtrack is really up to you and what you prefer. If you have a Dolby Surround (2 channel) soundtrack, you can use PLIIx to matrix it to 7.1, or you can use a DTS (NEO:6) codec, or something else that your receiver might have. Same with the most common 5.1 soundtracks, to matrix them to 7.1. I don't really care to get into the weeds of the whole thing, after years of nitpicking, so I just use the same post-processing as the original soundtrack. IOW, if it's a Dolby soundtrack, I use the Dolby post-processing to get it to 7.1, ditto for DTS. Personally, I never use surround processing for music. I just let the receiver route the low frequencies to the sub, so I get 2.1.

Okay, thanks. I don't need 7.1 for music, but I like it. Do you recommend using PLIIx or NEO:6 with Dolby Surround?

 

[JohnRice]

Do you recommend using PLIIx or NEO:6 with Dolby Surround?

It really doesn't matter. If you like one better than the other, use that. I use PLIIx, which is now updated and just called "Dolby Surround" on processors from the last couple years, simply because that's Dolby.

 

[ElectricL3af]

It really doesn't matter. If you like one better than the other, use that. I use PLIIx, which is now updated and just called "Dolby Surround" on processors from the last couple years, simply because that's Dolby.

And I had another question, but my subwoofer says its frequency range is 29-150 hertz, but my hertz reader said it hit 24 in a song. Can it go lower than it says?

 

[JohnRice]

Yeah, it doesn’t just stop at 29hz. That’s where it starts dropping rapidly.