Logitech Z-5500 Digital Soundroom

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by EarlZ

I have my sub a tad bit left from the center since placing it at the center hits my foot, Im assuming no sound quality difference there.

i have a better quality footrest - gives me a foot massage :P

[EarlZ]

Been playing a lot of HD movies and I noticed that during scenes with explosions or gun fire or anything apart from dialogues the center speaker is not powerful enough to provide audible dialogue volume unless you really jack up the volume on the centers.
The explosions on the other hand are MASSIVE!! w/c also drowns any dialogues, I this is how HD movies or the "home theater" experience works ? I have to enable SVM on my X-Fi to enjoy the movie.

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by EarlZ

Been playing a lot of HD movies and I noticed that during scenes with explosions or gun fire or anything apart from dialogues the center speaker is not powerful enough to provide audible dialogue volume unless you really jack up the volume on the centers.
The explosions on the other hand are MASSIVE!! w/c also drowns any dialogues, I this is how HD movies or the "home theater" experience works ? I have to enable SVM on my X-Fi to enjoy the movie.

sounds like you got something wired up wrong. if your center isnt connected, you get some bleeding at hear bits of it on the front speakers

[EarlZ]

Originally Posted by Mussels

sounds like you got something wired up wrong. if your center isnt connected, you get some bleeding at hear bits of it on the front speakers

I have all the channels connected and wire up correctly, let me explain it in another way. the special effects audio on HD movies really drowns the dialogue simply put HD movies really have a low volume for dialogue in ratio to special effects. For me to counter this i need to boost the center speaker a lot OR use the SVM on the X-Fi or normalization on the media player.

In gaming my center speaker does most of the work, so theres no issue on the wiring.

[Mussels]

hmmm... fair enough.

its hard to compare without having the same movie anyway.

[EarlZ]

The last one I watched is Iron Man

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by EarlZ

The last one I watched is Iron Man

same movie, same software, same settings, same volume in windows, same volume on speakers, same speaker layout, same room acoustics...

my center is mounted on the ceiling, while my fronts are at chest height. it'd make my center clearer/easier to hear than yours, i bet.

[EarlZ]

Originally Posted by Mussels

same movie, same software, same settings, same volume in windows, same volume on speakers, same speaker layout, same room acoustics...

my center is mounted on the ceiling, while my fronts are at chest height. it'd make my center clearer/easier to hear than yours, i bet.

My center is on the same level with my fronts, at around chest height also.

Same movie = check
Same software = not sure if it has to be the same but Im using Klite Megepack 5.7 Default audio settings, max software volume
Same volume in Windows = Highly unlikely that it is required since the volume scales on all channels, if i increase the windows volume it does greatly increase the dialogue volume at the expense of massive SFX volumes
Same speaker layout and room acoustics = not really required.

The issue here is that the SFX volume is extremely louder than dialogue volumes, using volume normalization or SVM on the X-Fi levels the SFX with the dialogue, meaning moderately loud SFX and dialogue, I think this is how HD movies are supposed to be or DTS/DD tracks.

[Mussels]

ah, i wouldnt touch k-lite with a 6 foot pole and 3 condoms on the end.

I use CCCP with AC3filter - it has a lot of options



EG, if you set stereo and its 5.1, you get downmixed. if its 2.0 and you set 5.1, you get upmixed.

if you set as-is, it does what it can.. so 5.1 with stereo speakers is gunna have missind sounds.

[EarlZ]

I dont really see the main difference between Klite and CCCP aside from the UI, they both use the same codecs.

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by EarlZ

I dont really see the main difference between Klite and CCCP aside from the UI, they both use the same codecs.

an artist can use paint and make a pretty picture. a 5 year old can use the same ingredients and end up with a sludge that looks like runny poop.



K-lite has a reputation for utterly screwing lots of things up, codec conflicts, screwing up other players, etc.

[EarlZ]

Tried CCCP now, everything sounds the same.. I guess my preference really just goes to normalized audio i think.

Where can I grab the AC3 filter?

[Mussels]

google it, its the only hit for ac3filter

[TheGuruStud]

K-lite with WMP Classic has been flawless for me for years :shrugs:

I mostly use VLC Player, though.

[Mussels]

VLC + digital audio = massive faaaaaail.

K-lite can work great - its just that whenever i have to fix machines with codec issues, its always one of two things: Nero, or k-lite thats screwed it up. (K-lite used to be #1, neros fighting back hard these days)

[TheGuruStud]

Originally Posted by Mussels

VLC + digital audio = massive faaaaaail.

K-lite can work great - its just that whenever i have to fix machines with codec issues, its always one of two things: Nero, or k-lite thats screwed it up. (K-lite used to be #1, neros fighting back hard these days)

LOL. I just think your hardware hates you. VLC handles 5.1 better than any codec ever has for me.
I don't if it makes a difference to what you're talking about, but everything I watch in HD is DTS, now. Only a couple shows I watch use AC3 in their rips anymore and those aren't even 5.1.

[Mussels]

VLC doesnt do SPDIF passthrough. never has, and the officially stated they cbf fixing it. That is not the same thing as converting it to analogue

[TheGuruStud]

Originally Posted by Mussels

VLC doesnt do SPDIF passthrough. never has, and the officially stated they cbf fixing it. That is not the same thing as converting it to analogue

Never used SPDIF and probably never will :shrugs some more: haha

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by TheGuruStud

Never used SPDIF and probably never will :shrugs some more: haha

you got z55's! dont waste them on analogue-meh-ness!

[EarlZ]

I got the AC3 filter going and it seems to handle the 5.1 a bit better, the voice volume is a bit louder with the filter installed... I guess there are parts on the movie that has a really low dialogue volume.

What internal filters ( Source and Transform Filters ) do I need to tick, CCCP has like 10x more options than the Klite, I would like to get all of my hardware acceleration back.

[TheGuruStud]

Originally Posted by Mussels

you got z55's! dont waste them on analogue-meh-ness!

Maybe I'm confused here (I am blonde ). I've always used analogue *edit: wtf is with my spelling today?* before on my old sound chips. I bought the Xonar D2 and initially used optical, but switched to coaxial b/c I needed to split the signal. Both connections have worked perfectly in every way.

Idk, I don't keep up on anything audio related. I just know that my set up has never let me down.

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by TheGuruStud

Maybe I'm confused here (I am blonde ). I've always used analogue *edit: wtf is with my spelling today?* before on my old sound chips. I bought the Xonar D2 and initially used optical, but switched to coaxial b/c I needed to split the signal. Both connections have worked perfectly in every way.

Idk, I don't keep up on anything audio related. I just know that my set up has never let me down.

optical/coax only do 2.0 channel audio. if you use SPDIF, you can pass the source audio (5.1 dolby digital from a DVD for example) straight to the speakers - bypassing PC and software completely.

If you arent using SPDIF, you're just getting stereo.


Earlz: those are internal filters. leave them alone. You want to add AC3filter to external filters, and set it to prefer



This images shows coreAVC instead of AC3 filter, but you get the idea

[EarlZ]

Ok added AC3 there, so for the hardware video acceleration I dont need to change anything ?

[Mussels]

if you add coreavc like that, yeah... if you mean DXVA, good luck..

[EarlZ]

Originally Posted by Mussels

if you add coreavc like that, yeah... if you mean DXVA, good luck..

IIRC DXVA what Klite is using, never had issues with that since I started Klite years ago. ill Try CoreAVC for a change.

EDIT:

Oh wait, you have to pay for the CoreAVC ?? , nvm found a free one at free-codecs