Dolby Surround decoding tests

[junh1024]

Well, if you dislike the subtle phasing in Freesurround when doing 51>20, you'll certainly dislike the very obvious phasing in the DPL1 decoders when doing 51>20.

I thought that you should conclude that the f2k DPL2 wrapper is the best overall one, since:


- similar to DPL1 decoders
- good separation
- low phasing on 51>20 downmix
- convenient to use

It's very hard to create a discrete LFE when matrixing & decoding due to high chance of frequency overlap. As such, any synthesised LFE will likely look nothing like the original, as you can see from the pictures. And getting bass from your sub should be a part of your usual BMS & crossover settings.

[spoRv]

Well, if you dislike the subtle phasing in Freesurround when doing 51>20, you'll certainly dislike the very obvious phasing in the DPL1 decoders  when doing 51>20.

Do you mean downmixing 5.1 to 2.0?
If so, I do prefer Dolby Pro Logic to Freesurround when downmixed to 2.0 - for example on headphones.

By the way, did you download the audio samples and compared them?

I thought that you should conclude that the f2k DPL2 wrapper is the best overall one, since:

- similar to DPL1 decoders
- good separation
- low phasing on 51>20 downmix
- convenient to use

According to my experiment, point 2 and 4 are true; point 1 only when listening to through a surround system, while not when listened to downmixed to stereo, loudspeakers or headphones; point 3 not true.

You can object "what's the point to listen to a FreeSurround decoded track on an headphone?" and I can reply "what's the point to decode a Dolby Surround encoded track with FreeSurround and listen to it through a surround system, where any surround system has a decoder included that works better?"

It's very hard to create a discrete LFE when matrixing & decoding due to high chance of frequency overlap. As such, any synthesised LFE will likely look nothing like  the original, as you can see from the pictures. And getting bass from your sub should be a part of your usual BMS & crossover settings.

Agree.

[junh1024]

Do you mean downmixing 5.1 to 2.0?
If so, I do prefer Dolby Pro Logic to Freesurround when downmixed to 2.0 - for example on headphones.

By the way, did you download the audio samples and compared them?
 

ofc. I had another  listen, I can hear the phasing on freesurround now. But perhaps  DPL1 analogue has more phasing on 51>20

[spoRv]

ofc. I had another  listen, I can hear the phasing on freesurround now. But perhaps  DPL1 analogue has more phasing on 51>20

It's difficult to tell through the speakers, so I made a lot of comparisons using only headphones - cheap ones, I must admit; but this should not add or subtract phasing!

I insisted in particular comparing DPL1 (hardware, analog) Vs FreeSurround, and albeit both are phasey, I still prefer DPL1; maybe it's due to the headphones, my personal tastes, or both - or because the analog is the "real thing" and knows how to the conversion better (read: less worse than the others); that's why would be great to have more "ears" listening to not only those two, but all those clips in general.

[Hydra Spectre]

https://github.com/Dogway/emulation-rand...ualizerAPO
I found some EqualizerAPO filters that can decode Dolby Stereo, Dolby Pro Logic II, and Dolby Pro Logic IIx through software.
It can also decode Dolby Digital EX (which can presumably also be used on DTS-ES Matrix tracks and unflagged 6.1 Matrix tracks).

It only works through PC audio devices, so it probably cannot be used to output 1:1 syncs without some additional mumbo jumbo.