dante01
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Dolby Pro Logic IIz
Through the addition of another pair of speakers Dolby Pro Logic IIz (PLIIz) is supposed to add a vertical component to the horizontal soundfield of conventional 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound.
Rain in a movie is supposed to sound as though it is falling on the listener's roof and helicopters are supposed to sound as though they are actually flying above you.
Specially encoded material isn't needed, but you do need an AV amp with it built in and another pair of speakers wired up from that amp, on the wall, to the sides of your TV (above your front two speakers).
Yamaha's higher-end receivers have had height, aka "Presence," channels for years. Those extra speakers supplement the sound from the front speakers with ambient effects produced by Yamaha's proprietary Cinema DSP, which provides various multichannel configurations up to 11 channels. Obviously, Dolby's Pro Logic IIz uses different technology, although the end result may be similar?
So, is it worth having anything up to 9 speakers plonked around the walls of your listening room or is this just a lack lustre gimmick developed by divorce lawyers as an aid to drumming up new business?
First listen: Dolby Pro Logic IIz 'height' surround falls flat
by Steve Guttenberg, CNET
More info:
Dolby - Dolby Pro Logic IIz
Through the addition of another pair of speakers Dolby Pro Logic IIz (PLIIz) is supposed to add a vertical component to the horizontal soundfield of conventional 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound.
Rain in a movie is supposed to sound as though it is falling on the listener's roof and helicopters are supposed to sound as though they are actually flying above you.
Specially encoded material isn't needed, but you do need an AV amp with it built in and another pair of speakers wired up from that amp, on the wall, to the sides of your TV (above your front two speakers).
Yamaha's higher-end receivers have had height, aka "Presence," channels for years. Those extra speakers supplement the sound from the front speakers with ambient effects produced by Yamaha's proprietary Cinema DSP, which provides various multichannel configurations up to 11 channels. Obviously, Dolby's Pro Logic IIz uses different technology, although the end result may be similar?
So, is it worth having anything up to 9 speakers plonked around the walls of your listening room or is this just a lack lustre gimmick developed by divorce lawyers as an aid to drumming up new business?
First listen: Dolby Pro Logic IIz 'height' surround falls flat
by Steve Guttenberg, CNET
First listen: Dolby Pro Logic IIz 'height' surround falls flat | The Audiophiliac - CNET NewsThe Dolby Web site is bubbling with excitement about its new processing trick, "With Dolby Pro Logic IIz, rain in a movie now seems to be actually falling on the listener's roof, concert videos bring a more intense sense of being at the performance, and orchestral works deliver more palpable depth, power, and connection." The "z" in Pro Logic IIz signifies the Z axis, otherwise known as height.
Sounds interesting, but when I setup and listened to the first receiver (an Onkyo TX-SR607) with Pro Logic IIz, the height speakers didn't lift my spirits.
Pro Logic IIz can, depending on the receiver's capabilities, either augment a 5.1 or 7.1 channel speaker system with two height channels. In other words, in a 5.1 channel system with Pro Logic IIz you'll have five speakers in the front of the room--left, center, right, left height, and right height--plus a surround speaker to both sides of the main listening position.
The 7.1 system with Pro Logic IIz uses the same speaker array--plus two rear surround speakers.
Once you have a receiver equipped with Pro Logic IIz, and wall mount the height speakers three feet or higher over the main left/right speakers, you're all set. You won't have to buy specially encoded movies or music.
According to Dolby, "Pro Logic IIz identifies and decodes spatial cues that occur naturally in all content--stereo and 5.1 broadcast, music CDs, DVDs, 5.1 and 7.1 Blu-ray discs, and video games. Dolby Pro Logic IIz processes low-level, uncorrelated information--such as ambience and some amorphous effects like rain or wind--and directs it to the front height speakers."
Nice idea, did it actually work?
Well. no. The height speakers didn't make a discernable difference. I couldn't hear them at all, so I increased the height speaker volume by 3 Decibels. Still no difference.
My listening position was about eight feet from the front speakers, but when I stood up and moved much closer to the front speakers I heard the height speakers. At that point my head was closer to the height speakers than the left/right front speakers. Moving back to the couch the height speakers' sound faded away.
We've listened to 7.1 many times before, and know it's a fairly subtle improvement. So unless your room is really large, with space behind your couch, seven channel isn't likely to create a more immersive, wrap-around soundfield than 5.1. In fact, I'd recommend sticking with 5.1, but take the money you would have spent on the height speakers and buy better main, left/right speakers. That's an improvement you won't have to struggle to hear.
More info:
Dolby - Dolby Pro Logic IIz
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