Dolby Surround
is a new tech-
nology featured
on Atmos-enabled
A/V receivers and processorsthat upmixes stereo or 5.1/7.1
multichannel soundtracks for
5.1.2 or higher Atmos speaker
configurations. (Interest-
ingly, while the technologyis new, the name isn’t: Dolby
Surround was the same label
for the original process used
by Dolby to extract a mono-
phonic surround channel from
stereo soundtracks.) Dolby
Surround serves as a replace-
ment for Dolby Pro Logic IIx
and IIz, which were included in
older-generation A/V receivers
and processors to expand
stereo and 5.1 soundtracks for
7.1-channel and 5.1/7.1-channel
plus height speaker configura-
tions, respectively.
DTS Neural:X is a new
DTS processing mode for
surround speaker configura-
tions that include ceiling or
upfiring speakers to convey
overhead effects, and you’re
right that it replaces DTS Neo:X,
which expanded stereo or
multichannel sound mixes for- 1-channel configurations
featuring front-height and
I’d recommend
against installing
in-wall back
surround speakers
in your room since the sound
coming from them would be
easily localizable. A beer
suggestion would be to use sidewidth speakers. Neural:X is
compatible with mono, stereo,
and multichannel soundtrack
sources, and is included on A/V
receivers and processors that
feature DTS:X, an object-based
sound processing format similar
to Dolby Atmos.
For someone looking to
add these new technologies to
their home system, the good
news is that many midrange
A/V receiver models feature
both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X
processing (and come with
Dolby Surround and DTS
Neural:X by default). One
example is Onkyo’s TX-NR787
($700), which was reviewed
in Sound & Vision’s Februar y/
March 2019 issue, and you
can find many other receivers
with the same feature set in
the under-$700 price range
from manufacturers including
Denon, Yamaha, and Sony.surround speakers mounted
above ear-level or in-ceiling
ones firing down at the seating
area. Either option would create
a more spacious surround effect
than having drivers emit sound
just a few inches from the back
or side of a listener’s head.I’m planning on installing a 5.1.2 Atmos speaker setup.
I mostly watch streamed documentaries (the BBC
channel, for example) and nearly all of them have stereo
soundtracks. Here’s my question: Would audio upmixing
solutions like Dolby Surround or Dolby Pro Logic IIz (I don’t know
which is beer or more advanced) be able to convert stereo sound
for a 5.1.2 speaker setup? How about DTS solutions such as DTS
Neural:X or DTS Neo:X (I think Neural has replaced Neo)? Do mid-
range A/V receivers provide these upmixing technologies? Since I
really care about overhead speakers, I need a solution that will upmix
to them. OSAMA ASHOOR / VIA EMAILI’ve got a smallish 10 x 12-foot viewing room. The room’s
size isn’t necessarily a problem, but the seating is a
modular couch set all the way against the back wall.
Can I get any value out of in-wall surrounds right behind
or beside the seating? I’m worried without any distance these will
appear as obvious point sources and worse will not work well across
the width of the couch. Any advice before I start cuing into walls?
ROBERT GREENWALT / VIA EMAILBluetooth headphones with the Apple TV 4K and bypass the
receiver entirely. Just select the Bluetooth option in the Remotes
and Devices submenu of the Apple TV’s setup menu, turn on your
headphones, and choose them as a Connected device. If using a
receiver is important, many new models have a Bluetooth output
for sending audio wirelessly to Bluetooth headphones.
There’s a final option I can suggest—one that combines
Bluetooth’s ease-of-use with virtual surround sound—though it’ll
cost you. Dolby Laboratories recently released its first consumer
product, a $600 set of over-ear Bluetooth headphones. As you’d
expect from a company with a name synonymous with surround
sound, the Dolby Dimension offers surround virtualization
processing along with a host of other upmarket features like head
tracking and active noise-cancellation.If I use an Apple TV 4K with a A/V receiver, is it
possible to route the surround sound to head-
phones? I ask because I’m viewing using a computer
monitor and the only way that I can get sound is
through headphones. H.G. FERNAND / VIA EMAILYes, it is possible to route sound from an Apple TV
4K to headphones via an A/V receiver, but it won’t
necessarily be in surround. The most basic method is
to plug a set of wired headphones into your receiver’s
headphone output, which in most cases will let you hear a down-
mixed stereo version of surround-encoded soundtracks. (Some
receiver models used to provide virtual surround processing
for their headphone output—Yamaha’s Silent Cinema, for
example—but that feature seems to be disappearing.)
Another option, one that will let you hear virtual surround
sound, is to use wireless headphone systems such as
Sennheiser’s RS 175 and Sony’s MDR-DS6500. These feature a
base unit that connects to the analog stereo preamp output on
your receiver and transmits a wireless signal long-range over the
2.4GHz band to the headphones. Both are priced around $250
and provide regular stereo and virtual surround listening modes.
Of course, a far simpler option than the ones described
above—albeit a surround sound-less one—is to connectQ&A
wide
angle
Virtual Surround
BY AL GRIFFINQ
Q
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(^24) [ April May 2019 [soundandvision.com