Convert DTS/DD to Dolby Headphone??

[Stamper]

Well it lacks the music beat in the beginning so I think it's the remix. Will check the Dolby Headphone version though!
Regarding corrections, maybe it's my browser!

[LucasGodzilla]

[Me being the Sonny Jim who's just using VLC's headphone stereo mode for surround mixes]

Jokes aside though, how does that compare then to an actual Dolby headphone track out of curiosity?
Is there a significant enough difference to try and convert tracks to this format?

[deleted user]

In my opinion Dolby Headphone is very well worth it and a huge step up over a simple stereo downmix. I was using it for over a year at one point in time.

[nafroe]

Thanks for all the replies, guys!

Part of my reason for exploring this is just for when I have movies "on the go" on my portable device. This was more of a curiosity to see if this was even possible.... and now i know it is. Thank you!

[nafroe]

I only have a couple of DVDs with an actual Dolby Headphone Track... Terminator 2 and Pearl Harbor. It's been a while since I've listened to them but I remember really enjoying the mixes.

[LucasGodzilla]

So I was doing some experimenting having come across this Reddit post that I'm sure some of you will find rather fascinating.

I couldn't find such a guide anywhere on the internet, so I figured this would be helpful.
[i]You will need:[/i]

• any operating system ffmpeg works on (you don't need Windows!)
  
• ffmpeg
  
• Audacity
  
• the HeSuVi installer (exe)
  
• an archive manager (Linux distros usually have them built-in, I recommend 7-zip for Windows)
  
• a 7.1 test file – this one is OK.
  

1. Open the exe file you downloaded with an archive manager and extract the HeSuVi/hrir/ directory. We won't be needing HeSuVi/hrir/44 for now.
   
2. Open any of these HRIR wav files in Audacity. For more information about them, see hrir/info.csv (it's a spreadsheet readable by Excel). This is where the difficult part begins.
   
3. Edit → Preferences → Import/Export → Use advanced mixing options. This allows us to export multichannel files from Audacity.If the name of your wav file of choice ends with 
   
   
   Code:

   -.wav
   , for example 
   
   
   Code:

   atmos-.wav
   , skip to step 11.Your Audacity window will probably look like this. We've got 14 channels. These are impulse responses that will be applied to every channel of your surround content. There should be two for every one of them. Let's fix that.
   
4. Move the track named – for example – 
   
   
   Code:

   atmos 13
    below 
   
   
   Code:

   atmos 6
   .
   
5. Now click the arrow next to where it says e.g. 
   
   
   Code:

   atmos 6
    and choose the option “Make stereo track”. Repeat this step for every other track.
   
6. Select 
   
   
   Code:

   atmos 6
   . Copy it and paste it at the bottom. Now you should have 16 stereo tracks numbered like this: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 6. Move them into the following order: 1, 7, 6, 6, 4, 11, 2, 9 (this means FL, FR, FC, LFE, BL, BR, SL, SR – the standard 7.1 layout).
   
7. Swap stereo channels in tracks 7, 11 and 9. If you don't do this, you will hear them in the same place as front, side and rear left channels.
   
8. File → Export → Export as WAV → come up with a filename, choose the WAV 32-bit float format and hit Save.
   
9. Now open your terminal (or cmd). Type in the following command (remove unused channels from the end of the command if you're using a different test file): 
   
   
   Code:

   ffmpeg -i <input file> -i <your wav file> -filter_complex "headphone=map=FL|FR|FC|LFE|BL|BR|SL|SR:hrir=multich" <output file>
   
   You'll have to replace the 
   
   
   Code:

   ffmpeg
    part with the path to your ffmpeg.exe on Windows.
   
10. If your output file is too quiet: open it in Audacity, press Ctrl-A, Effects → Amplify → OK. Done!
    
11. [i]No-reverb HRIRs have fewer channels than regular ones.[/i] Here's how to edit them.Duplicate the last track. Click the arrow next to where it says e.g. 
    
    
    Code:

    atmos- 6
     and choose the option “Make stereo track”. Repeat this step for every other track. 12. Now you should have 4 stereo tracks. Rename them to FL, SL, BL and FC. Duplicate all of them. Rename the new ones to FR, SR, BR and LFE. 13. Swap stereo channels in tracks FR, SR and BR. 14. Place them into this order – up to down: FL, FR, FC, LFE, BL, BR, SL, SR. 15. Now back to step 9. Done.
    

Repeat this steps to find your favourite HRIR – mine is 

Code:

waves-.wav

. If everything works fine, you can go ahead to converting some real-life content. Remove unneeded tracks to match its channel layout.
We could write a simple converter for this purpose, it would need a bit of research as ffmpeg is very complicated, but it's definitely possible. Share your thoughts and questions in the comments!

Anyways, this whole thread has got me wondering that although I've asked one or two people what their opinions are on the matter, I do want to openly ask this question as it may be useful for future project releases (whether it'd be me or someone else).

Does anyone here have a particular preference as to what headphone surround emulation to use? I've become partial to Dolby Headphone DH-2 Cinema, but having seen the existence of Dolby Home Theater v4, Dolby Atmos, and DTS Headphone: X, it begs the question of what is the general forum consensus for the superior choice to downmix surround mixes with?