Benefits of a Surround sound system

[nateo200]

Hi guys! Currently I listen to movies in regular 5.1 Dolby or 5.1 DTS at my house. I live on collage campus now and I can't stand not have a dedicated center channel speaker for dialog....dialog ALWAYs seams washed out on my standard PC speakers! So I was thinking...do you think I would be satisfied with getting a medium end affordable decoder with no speakers and use L C R LFE (what my dad has left over from his old Onkyo system) and build up my sides and back surrounds when I am back at home...my "dorm" is really an apartment...lol the layout is PERFECT for a 5.1 set up (well 5.0, I'm starting to rack up noise complaints from the LFE channel in seemingly dead scenes :O :/) but like I said I would I would most likely use L C R to start to prevent a haywire of cords and maybe the LFE (my room mates want the sub more than I do haha). I'm mainly looking for an improved listening experience through better channel separation, a discrete and distinctly audible center dialog channel, and seeing that "DTS MASTER Audio" or "Dolby TRUEHD" light up will give me some satisfaction and some bragging rights! Anyways thanks for taking your time to read this! I look forward to responses please

[nateo200]

No one?

[edDV]

dialog ALWAYs seams washed out on my standard PC speakers!

You need to select a 2 channel mix in your sound card software to hear voices correctly. Most modern sound chipsets allow setting up for 2.0, 2.1 but also have connectors for center and surrounds and 5.1 modes.

[aedipuss]

if you are asking about a audio receiver, then yes as long as it has built in dts-ma and other decoders you won't need a massive one with hundreds of watt per channel in a small dorm style room. maybe look for 7.1 though, so you can "upgrade" after leaving the campus.

[jagabo]

dialog ALWAYs seams washed out on my standard PC speakers!

You need to select a 2 channel mix in your sound card software to hear voices correctly.

I agree. This is usually the problem when people complain that they can't hear the dialog. If the computer is set up to output to a center channel and there's no center channel speaker you can't hear the dialog. You just need to set your audio decoder, media player, or audio card to downmix 5.1 (or other multichannel source) to 2.1 or 2.0, depending on which speaker setup you have.

You also might consider a sound bar (with or without sub) to get L/C/R (sub) and simulated surround. For example:

http://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-VSB200-Universal-Sound-Bar/dp/B002EPF6YO/

[nateo200]

dialog ALWAYs seams washed out on my standard PC speakers!

You need to select a 2 channel mix in your sound card software to hear voices correctly. Most modern sound chipsets allow setting up for 2.0, 2.1 but also have connectors for center and surrounds and 5.1 modes.

I'm using a MacBook Pro with VLC player. I encode all my movies with a 5.1 track and a 2 channel PLII or Dolby Surround track the latter two I use when not using a true surround sound system. I am not sure what you mean "select 2 channel mix" since I have already properly down mixed 5.1 using a Dolby certified encoder...if I am just plugging in a speaker set to my headphone port its not going to be able to even try to output 5.1 audio..

if you are asking about a audio receiver, then yes as long as it has built in dts-ma and other decoders you won't need a massive one with hundreds of watt per channel in a small dorm style room. maybe look for 7.1 though, so you can "upgrade" after leaving the campus.

Yeah I am looking for a receiver which can decode DTS-MA and Dolby-TrueHD so I can "future proof" the purchase but I only plan on using Left, Center, Right and maybe a subwofer (I am not a fan of the LFE channel if the movie really doesn't need it :P). Also no sound bar's...I do not like those at all they seem way to fake.