10.2 digital surround?

pblanc

Has anyone here actually heard 10.1 or 10.2 digital surround? Does anyone think it is going to happen anytime soon?

millerman 3732

denon has a 10.1 receiver but I don't know of any 10.1 content

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-onjMVTvICcX/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=10420&I=033AV5805C

zingo

That is a monster of a receiver!

Systems

Here is a nice little 10.2 system.http://www.smr-home-theatre.org/ces2001/technologies/page_01.shtml

Holydoc

I wonder what kind of complex algorithms are involved for the receiver to divide the sound in such a way to be able to place the action in the correct speakers? I mean, I can understand how you can take 5.1 and split it to 7.1. But the complexities of taking a 5.1 or even 7.1 source and making it 10.1 just baffles me.

Personally I think the amount of miscalculation of what to place in the 10.1 arrangement would cause the system to be... for lack of a better term... disorienting.

Now when they start making source material in 10.1 format, I will then jump all over that system. Woo Hoo!

jm1

In latter years, Tom Holman has recorded material in this format. If you do some further searches, you will find the pages. There was a demonstration near where I live. Unfortuantly, I did not know of this until after the event. It would have been interesting to hear such a setup.

As for the 9.1 format, I wonder if they will be adding the front height channels to the 7.1 format??

edbert

I cannot imagine the room size that you would have to have in order to really be able to enjoy something like this. Let me note first that other than 7.1, I know nothing about surround sound with more channels. With 9.1 you actually have not only the surround speakers, but know you actually vary the heights of the speakers to get even more spatial imaging? Basically meaning that instead of just getting 360 degree horizontal sound, you start to factor in vertical sound giving you more of a spherical or real world sound. Before you know it there will be purposeful speakers in the ceiling(not just asthetics) and speakers in the floor. I can hear Darth Vader plunging to his death now as he falls into oblivion. How cool would that be!?!

pblanc

I can't remember where it was I read up on this. Apparently, 10.2 is being pushed by one of the originators of THX and is described as "twice as good as 5.1". I understand that there is only one DVD encoded in 10.2, basically a demo movie. The speaker array includes the usual L/R mains, front center and side surrounds in addition to 2 high front speakers (like Yamaha's presence channel speakers) and a pair of wide front speakers to broaden the front soundstage. The 10th channel is a rear center surround. Also recommended is using both a pair of dipole side surrounds and a pair of direct radiating side/rear surrounds for a whopping total of 12 full-range speakers. In addition, there are stereo L/R subout channels. I'm pretty sure this would be twice as good at least for the speaker and amp manufacturers.

edbert

I'm sure that speaker manufacturers would love this. Although it sounds as though you would go from Home Theater in a Box, to Home Theater in a Small Box Truck. Have you heard of them ever attempting to do more a real world sound with both horizontal and vertical surround sound? It seems to me that in this day and age with HD and trying to get everything more realistic that not only do you want it to look like you are there, but truly sound like it.

jakelm

$7000 for a reciever?.....I'll pass.

Pepi28

I've heard 10.2 plenty of times in the local movie theatre I think.

heiney9

I'm sure it might be great for medium to large auditoriums, but for typical home use it's big-time overkill. I'm sure special titles/mixes will need to be marketed.

jm1

10.2 surround sound consists of:

Center 0 degrees
L+R +-30 degrees
L+R +-45 degrees horizontal, 45 degrees vertical
L+R +-60 degrees
L+R +-120 degrees
Rear 180 degrees
L+R LFE +-90 degrees

The 45 degree speakers add the vertical dimension to the soundtrack.

Tom Holman (the “TH” of THX) is trying to make this a new standard. He has been creating demo material for some time now. I am not aware of a DVD, but that would be interesting to watch.

Pepi28, I don't think you have heard 10.2 in any theater as there are no soundtracks with this number of channels. You may have heard a 5.1 or 6.1 soundtrack played back in a theater with multiple speakers per channel.

edbert

Thanks jm1. It would definitely be a cool thing to have in theaters if they could pull it off, but I would think that with the degree of rake in today's theaters with the need to make sound coming from below and above would sound pretty bad for the majority of the people in there. I guess with some extremely good planning it would work, but it would seem to be extremely tough,

Porter

millerman 3732 wrote:

denon has a 10.1 receiver but I don't know of any 10.1 content

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-onjMVTvICcX/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=10420&I=033AV5805C

Welll... not exactly.

* 5.1 surround in main room with all channels bi-amplified
* 5.1 surround in main room, 5.1 surround in 2nd room
* 5.1 surround in main room, stereo in 2nd and 3rd rooms, mono in 4th room
* 6.1 surround in main room, stereo in 2nd and 3rd rooms
* 7.1 surround in main room, stereo in 2nd room, mono in 3rd room
* 9.1 surround in main room, mono in 2nd room

Monster Jam

jm1 wrote:

Tom Holman (the “TH” of THX) is trying to make this a new standard. He has been creating demo material for some time now.

At the risk of sounding like a total moron, I thought George Lucas created THX, and named it so after a character from his movie named 'THX 1138'.

Who is Tom Holman?

Holydoc

At the risk of sounding like a total moron, I thought George Lucas created THX, and named it so after a character from his movie named 'THX 1138'.

Who is Tom Holman?

That is what I always heard too. Though wikipedia says:

According to Tomlinson Holman, the inventor of the THX system, the name of the technology was deliberately chosen because it contained both a reference to his name, and to Lucas's early film, THX 1138. The original name was "Tom Holman's Crossover" (Crossover being sometimes referred to as Xover), but was later changed to mean "Tomlinson Holman's eXperiment".

josh_parsons626

jakelm wrote:

$7000 for a reciever?.....I'll pass.

LOL.....Me too