Stero to 5.1 Upmixing?

[Chilly]

Im trying to pipe my choonz out of all 6 of my speakers instead of just the front two since I now have a very over the top setup

Iv been googling for hours and all I can come up with is various soundcards that do it for me, all I want is a software app that does it on the fly and spits the signal out of my S/PDIF - has anyone heard of such a beast?

Im sure I used to have one, although that may very well be lies - drugs n alcohol tend to erode higher function of the brain.

Chilly

 

[Ardrias]

foobar can do stereo to 4 channels, dunno if thats any good for you tho.

 

[Chilly]

better than nowt i spose, il have a look, cheers.

/edit unless im doing something wrong foobar wont squirt the 4 channel output down my spdif

 

[old.user4556]

If you can encode the signal on the SPDIF to Dolby Digital 5.1, that would work.

You can do this with nVidia's Soundstorm by selecting "5.1" - that will allow you to play mp3s/CDs but over the 5 speakers and sub, but obviously you'll need an nforce2 motherboard to do this.

 

[Ch3tan]

Pretty sure you can only get 2 channel out of the spdif unless you've got Soundstorm.

Can you not use PL2 or DTS:neo6 from your amp? It's probably the next best thing and all you can manage without getting a nvidia mobo.

 

[Chilly]

stupid bloody nvidia

 

[Tom]

Music mixed for 2 channels will not ever sound anything other than crap on quadrophonic or 5.1 systems.

I suggest hunting around for some stuff by The Flaming Lips, or early Floyd stuff if you want that effect There are some more recent recordings around, but they're rare. You could always try finding some binaural stereo recordings and listening to them on headphones, you'll be amazed.

 

[Chilly]

well your wrong there tom im afraid. Before I blew my last amp up I was listening to all my music from 4 speakers positioned around me and it sounded mint, I just connected two speakers to each output (thats why the amp blew up eventually).

It amazes me no one has made a wee program to do this maybe i should write one!

 

[nath]

My amp has a mode that takes a stereo signal and will output it to all the speakers - rear pair are the same as the front pair and the centre is a mix (I think). Are you sure yours doesn't do that?

 

[Danya]

My amp has a mode that takes a stereo signal and will output it to all the speakers - rear pair are the same as the front pair and the centre is a mix (I think). Are you sure yours doesn't do that?

Mine also does this.

 

[Ch3tan]

As I said, he should use PL2 or DTS:neo6 to mix his music into multichannels. But Tom is right, steroe music is intended to be lsitened to in stereo. If you want multi-channel audio get SACD or DVD audio.

 

[~Yuckfou~]

I may be missing something here, but my 5.1 is simply plugged in with the phono type plugs and music appears from all the speakers? I'm not an audiophile but it sounds OK to me *boogie*.

 

[old.user4556]

Yeah, it sounds "ok" if you're wanting background music or just general listening - absolutely nout wrong with that.

However, if a recording has been painstakenly mixed to be reproduced in a two channel environment then it makes sense to reproduce the sound stage the artist/producer wanted you to hear.

Like chets said, if you want 5.1 audio make the jump to SACD - if setup properly with high quality gear it really does sound amazing with a true 3D sound.

Most amps worth their salt will mix a stereo into a pseudo 5.1.

 

[Chilly]

myt amp is pretty good, its a Sony STR-DE875 from back in the day, one of the earlier surround amps, retailed at about £600 in its day i think, possibly a tad less. Theres about 600,000 buttons on it it cna probably do the bloody conga but il be fucked if I know how to tell it to ;P

 

[Tom]

well your wrong there tom im afraid.

Well thats a matter of personal preference, and I'm not going to say that your preference is wrong because that would be silly.

I will however say that stereo recordings should be listened to on a stereo system. Thats why they're called 'stereo'. Listening with more than 2 speakers (yes yes I know that you have more than 2 cones unless its a dual-concentric speaker) will produce many phasing problems, a lack of directionality, and almost total destruction of the intended soundstage.

 

[Chilly]

Fair enough, most of the shit on my computer is hardly high spec recording tho so it hardly makes a diff. I found a mode to upmix a stereo trck to 5.1 on my amp, but it sucks cos it adds some strupid bloody reverb - will try and hack it so it doesnt but i suspect my futile button bashing attempts will fail, nerf sony

 

[Ch3tan]

Press the pro logic button.

 

[Chilly]

but pro logic sucks nads and doesnt use rear speakers!

 

[Ch3tan]

Yes it does. Are you sure your setup is okay?

 

[Chilly]

I can and do regularly watch DVDs on my puter in proper bo 5.1 (i dont have a sub but i mix the LF into my front two speakers....i think) so the setup all works under proper instruction.

 

[Ch3tan]

pro logic mixes a centre channel and outputs the same from both rear channels. If it isn't doing that, then something is clearly not working properly.

 

[Tom]

Pro logic derives a single channel of surround from the way that the original audio signal is mixed. Its quite easy, and involves M&S recording techniques. It only works properly with certain types of audio material, and rarely will it work as intended with an audio cd (unless its concert/live stuff).

The Audi TT audio files I posted a while back are pro-logic compatible, but I've deleted them from my webspace now.

 

[Danya]

Use pro logic 2 music mode if you have it, allegedy much better quality than standard PL (not tried it personally but my amp has it so I might give it a shot).