6.1/7.1 doesn't work, does it?

frisbee78

Hi all,

I have installed the 3538i kX drivers for my Audigy 2 ZS hoping to have 7.1 support as some other people reported to have an option to select 7.1 speaker configuration in the Surrounder+ module.

However, I keep having my 6.1/7.1 DVDs playing on only 5.1 speakers if I select direct pass through in Surrounder+. After looking into it, it seems to me that this 7.1 support is only for the Surrounder+ to upmix on… For instance, when I play a Dolby Digital EX (6.1 right?), I only have signal coming out of the ‘ne’, ‘n’, ‘nw’, ‘lfe’, ‘se’ and ‘sw’ pins of the xrouting module… With 7.1, I should be getting something out the ‘e’ and ‘w’ pins as well but there’s nothing to be seen (or heard ). There’s also only 6 channels coming out of the FXBus module as well… Taking a look in the option of that module, under the AC3/3-D node, I see:
- AC-3 Left
- AC-3 Center
- AC-3 Right
- AC-3 Surround Left
- AC-3 Surround Right
- AC-3 Subwoofer
- 3-D Surround center
- 3-D Left
- 3-D Right
- 3-D Top

Based on this I assume that the ‘e’ and ‘w’ pins get signal only when using EAX but left out for AC3 decoding…

Am I right? Is there as known way to get 6.1 DVDs to play natively on 7.1 speakers (what’s the point to downmix the 6.1 to 5.1, and then upmix it to 7.1?)

And yes, before you ask, my DVD player software (PowerDVD), support 6.1 sources (at least it says so on the box).

Looking forward to see what you think.



Seb

Rogacz

As far as I know, AC3 supports 5.1, and 6.1 can be achieved without any problems (I was playing surround games and listening to DVD movies with 3538 and my rear channel was working well on 6.1)

frisbee78

Ok, I played around during the weekend...

I removed everything from the DSP except the 'epilog'. I then added 3 'src' mapped to 'FxBux 4/5', 'FxBux 6/7' and 'FxBux 8/9'. I connected all that to the respective inputs on epilog: front left, front right, rear left, rear right, center and sub.

I then played the THX optimzer from a DVD in WinDVD 7.0. That is supposed to test 6.1 signals on 7.1 systems. But in my case, the side left and side right signals are played on my rear left and rear right speakers (not side left and side right speakers) and the rear left and rear right signal (one channel) is also played on my rear left and rear right speakers.

So in short, that 6.1 signal is played as 5.1 instead of 7.1. But that's normal since I only connected 6 channels from the 'src' modules: 'FxBux 4/5', 'FxBux 6/7' and 'FxBux 8/9'. Problem is that the side left and side right are not to be found in any other 'src' input (FxBus 10/11, FxBus 12/13, etc -> nothing). Besides, I get the side left, side right and rear channels (3 channels then) mixed in the 'FxBus 6/7' (two channels).

I don't know where the downmix from 6.1 to 5.1 happens but I tried this with two different DVD player software that are meant to play 6.1.
So, either:
- the DVD software won't play back 6.1
- the THX optimzer of my DVD is mixed in 5.1 (I'll have to try a movie in 6.1)
- the kX drivers downmixes to 5.1 the 6.1 signal sent by the DVD software
Has anybody got any idea?

Seb

PS: One possible solution would be to use a pro logic filter (I think I saw one somewhere...) on 'FxBus 6/7' to extract the 3 channels (side left, side right, and rear) as a front left, front right & center and map that on my 4 side and rear speakers... but itseems somewhat daft to upmix downmixed channels!!

frisbee78

My rear channels are ok. It's just that my side channels are playing on the rear speakers instead of the side ones.

frisbee78

Right, so I just discovered that the so called 6.1 DVD I was playing is in fact 5.1. The box showed Dolby Digital EX, which the Dolby website portrays as a discrete 6.1. However, it's not: after Googling around, I found out that the sixth channel (center rear) is matrix encoded into the two rear channels of the 5.1.

I'll look for a true 6.1 to do my tests and I'll get back to you as to whether that works.

Seb

shayking

Im haveing same issue. Or does it not up mixe to 7.1

MP3,DVD,MPEG2,.TS plays 5.1 surroung with 5.1 Surrounder+ enabled..

Now when i switch to 7.1 , the 2 side surrounds have no Audio...( but it plays audio through speaker test)...Ive tried all 7.1 presest & custom configs.

When i default my Sound to 10k2 -WAVE HQ...only 2 fronts work..
Ive been reading for 2 days and haven't found what im doing wrong

Can I not upmix to 7.1 audio.....5.1 does upmix[surronder+]?

Ive been reading for two days and cant find any post to 7.1 audio output configs except (Egiens 8 channel is supported - btw [waveHQ])

So does can KX upmix to 7.1 ? or did i just waste 2 days.....lol
And how do i set it up

thanks in advanced.
sk

MCE2005
2ZS- SB0350 10k2 [a800] , v.3538i , 7.1 analog out........

shayking

I FUGURED IT OUT

Open > DSP panel....>
> EPLOG

Disconnect I2S 2 Left & Right outputs .....> then connect to ....>
> SURROUNDER +, sl & sr inputs
Set VrearA: to no more than 0.75......this way it does not over whelm your ears

I guess you could do the same with 6.1, sC SecondCenter Channel (south Channel),...just connect to cent surrounder

Obviously this is not the REAL implementation but it works...actually it's better.. Marvolouse....

frisbee78

I don't know how many speakers you are running but if you have a 7.1 system, doing this will only copy the signals of the surround left and right speakers to your side speakers. So, yes all 8 speakers will function but your rear left & side left speakers get the rear left signal and your rear right and side right speaker get the rear right signal.

I do a similar setup to play stereo sources to my 8 speakers:
- my left signal is sent to my front left, side left and read left speakers
- my right signal is sent to my front right, side right and rear right speakers
- a mono mix of the left and right signals is sent to my center and subwoofer speakers
There you go: 8 speakers playing a 2.0 source