Swept Up in Surround Sound

A Guide to New Audio Formats

By David Dritsas
Jargon is all around you, and it’s impossible to avoid in the world of audio. Numbers, acronyms and new formats seem to emerge faster than you can keep up. Whether it’s higher quality audio stored on DVD or adding a rear channel in home theater sound tracks, remembering what it all means can be a bit of a head spinner.

Most of the terms you will hear are easier to understand than you may think. A basic understanding of home theater and audio formats is not rocket science. But do be somewhat alert. The digital age has brought a bevy of options, and navigating them can be tricky. So here is a short cut—a guide to the basics—so you can arm yourself for your next trip to the a/v store.

Advances in Audio with SACD and DVD-A

When you began renewing your music collection with CD versions of your tapes or vinyl records, did you ever think that you might have to upgrade again? Probably not. But think again. The audio industry is pushing some formats your way; you might want to get to know Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio.

These formats hold a promise of higher quality stereo, compressed at a rate of 24 bits and a frequency sampling rate of 192 kHz for SACD and typically 24 bit/192 kHz or 24 bit/96 kHz for DVD-A. For both formats, there is also the ability to provide high-quality 5.1 surround sound music at a compressed rate of 24 bit/96 kHz. To give you a point of reference, CD music has a lower compression rate of 16 bit/44 kHz. Don’t worry too much. Players for both formats playback CDs too, so your CD collection is not in as much danger as was your tape collection.

Initially, SACD, a high-quality audio format developed and introduced by Sony in 1999, was proposed as a high-resolution, high-priced, two-channel (stereo) format. Last year, it was believed that SACD wasn’t destined for the mass market and would exist as a toy for discerning audiophiles. It was hailed by critics as being some of the best sounding digital audio yet. Today, it remains the upper echelon, but recent developments seem to be steering SACD toward a wider market than previously foreseen.

Sony is now steadily producing SACD players at lower prices. Last fall, it introduced a $1,200, two-channel SACD player, the SCD-C333ES, a five-disc changer with playback capabilities for both CD and SACD. While $1,200 is by no means a mass-market price, it is a significant drop in Sony’s pricing scheme for SACD, which began with $5,000 and $3,500 for the first two models of players, not to mention the high-end components that needed to go with them in order to properly process the high-resolution sound.

Another benefit to SACD is the ability to do surround sound. While Sony is sticking to two-channel SACD for the moment, Philips has decided to capitalize on SACD’s multichannel audio ability. Its SACD1000 is the first SACD player to feature 5.1 surround SACD playback—in other words, discrete channel surround sound. At the time this article was written, no multichannel SACD titles were available, and Philips had not yet released the player. But by the time you read this, both the player and some titles are supposed to be on the market.

As late as last year, there were 160 two-channel SACD titles on the market, averaging in cost at about $24 for a standard album. Currently, titles are being offered from labels such as Sony Classical, Epic, Delos, AudioQuest Music, Columbia Legacy, Telarc Digital, DMP, WaterLily Acoustics and Mobile Fidelity—all of which are labels that cater to the audiophile market and are primarily sold at specialty music stores and online.

But there’s not just one high-quality, multichannel-capable format out there. DVD-A has emerged as a contender from the DVD world. Out of the gate, this new format has been positioned as a higher resolution successor and ultimate replacement for the CD. Just as the VHS tape is yielding to DVD in video, the supporters of DVD-A believe the same will happen for music. DVD-A provides, in a very basic sense, the same thing DVD provides for movies—better quality and 5.1 surround sound.

I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t there already 5.1 music on DVD? It is true. Applying surround sound to music is not necessarily something new. DVD movies give you true Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 surround music, and live performances from artists such as Roy Orbison and Don Henley have already been recorded in 5.1. There is, however, a catch. Normal DVD uses a compression rate that is 24 bit/48 kHz, but the bit rate is not the same as DVD-A. For lack of a better term, it has been dubbed “lossy,” meaning some parts of the original audio track cannot be included or emphasized, mainly because there is not enough room on the disc, which is already mostly filled up with the video information. DVD-A uses a 24-bit “lossless” compression rate.

With DVD-A, artists can remix certain instruments or vocals through each channel to provide a unique listening experience. In stereo, the goal is to obtain a three-dimensional sound reality in which the musicians appear to be in front of you. This is often called the “sound stage.” The better the sound stage, the more life-like it appears (with your eyes closed, anyway). 5.1 audio can enable a different sound-stage effect. Instead of the music being in front of you, instruments and vocalists can be heard from all around you, relaying the impression of being in the middle of it all.

You can find DVD-A players primarily from Panasonic—which has everything from DVD-A microsystems to DVD-A car headunits—as well as Kenwood, Onkyo, JVC, Rotel and others. DVD-A titles are light for now, with less than 50 titles out as of this writing, but offerings have been growing. The average list price is about $24. The 5.1 Entertainment Group is promoting titles released by both Silverline and Immergent Records. Big Phat Band, a swing band, was 5.1 Entertainment’s first DVD-A release. Warner has also been remixing and releasing music in the DVD-A format. Some of the first include Natalie Merchant’s Tiger Lily, Stone Temple Pilots’ Core and Emerson Lake and Palmer, as well some classical music releases and a series of 1950′s cinematic jazz scores. Others have been released since.

It is important to note that some recording labels are marketing what they are calling “DVD music.” Often, this is not DVD-A but rather DVD-Videos with music that uses “lossy” compression. Take care to check for a DVD-Audio label on the album cover. In terms of your hardware, you should also know that in order to get the truest DVD-A or SACD experience, you need components (ie a/v receivers or amplifiers) that optimally process the enhanced sound with competent digital-to-analog processors. You can find these components from most of the major hardware manufacturers, as well as smaller companies like Denon, Onkyo and Integra Research. One thing to consider is that DVD-A players do not have digital audio outputs for DVD-A sound. As a precaution against music pirates, DVD-A players must be mated with receivers that have all 5.1 analog inputs.

Home Theater Channels Galore

As if 5.1 multichannel were not enough, products with the ability to process added channel formats are popping up everywhere.

But before we cover them, we will take a trip back to Pro Logic and let you know about Pro Logic II. Pro Logic II is the successor to Pro Logic, the software that allowed you to listen to movies in surround sound before there was 5.1 and DTS. These days, just about all devices, with the exception of some low-end products, have Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding. Even so, Pro Logic is still an important feature to have, since you can use it to enhance your CD music. Pro Logic II is not a new format but rather a major improvement to Pro Logic that the good people at Dolby Labs attests does a much better job with creating a surround-sound effect for source material not in 5.1. For now, you won’t find Pro Logic II in too many receivers, but by the end of this year, it will probably be a standard feature in a large number of a/v products.

Back to the true multichannel formats, you may have heard some buzz about the successors to 5.1. From Dolby Labs and THX comes Surround EX, a 6.1 format that adds a rear channel to a system in order to create a better 360-degree effect. Currently, software titles with Surround EX, such as Fight Club and End of Days, are light, but more titles have been releasing this year. Several companies offer receivers with EX decoding, including Integra Research’s DTR-7.1, Onkyo’s TX-DS787, B&K’s AVR 307, Pioneer Elite’s VSX-35TX and Marantz’s SR-18EX.

From DTS comes ES Matrix 6.1, which basically provides the same thing, although by technically different methods. DTS-ES Matrix is to Surround EX what Dolby Digital 5.1 is to DTS 5.1. Neither ES Matrix nor EX actually provide a new channel, but rather the sixth channel is extrapolated or “matrixed” from the left and right surround channels. Currently, there are about nine DVD titles available that

feature Surround EX or ES, or in some cases, both. Disney’s Toy Story 2, X-Men and the much-awaited Star Wars: Episode 1—The Phantom Menace have added these extra channel options. Don’t worry, these new formats are no threat to a 5.1 system. Any DVDs that include these new formats are backward compatible with 5.1 systems.

But DTS’ ES Matrix has already taken a back seat to DTS’ improvement on extended surround with DTS-ES Discrete 6.1. This format uses an added level of engineering to create a truer sixth channel. While in highly technical terms it is not a true separate channel, it achieves a separation above 30 dB, which for the listener’s purposes creates an audibly separate channel.

Denon was one of the first companies to offer Discrete 6.1 decoding with its AVR-5800 home theater receiver. You will also find it in Harman/Kardon’s AVR 8000, which is available this spring. For now, there are very few DVD releases that feature Discrete 6.1. Only time and Hollywood will tell if it will take off.

6.1 Surround EX, ES and Discrete 6.1 can be channeled through one or two rear surround speakers. So some companies, such as Onkyo and B&K, offer the ability for users to do so. You will sometimes see companies refer to using two speakers in the rear surround channel as 7.1 sound; it’s not actually a different format.

You may also see an eight-channel spec from Yamaha. This has nothing to do with any kind of soundtrack encoding. Sound is matrixed from the 5.1 or 6.1 soundtrack to two additional “front effect” speakers, which are placed to the outside and slightly above the two left/right front speakers (aka mains). Yamaha believes this feature helps create more depth to the sound, but so far, it has been the only company to use this kind of speaker configuration. Right now, you can find this feature in Yamaha’s RX-V1 and RX-V3000 receivers.

On the Fringe With 10.2

If you thought 6.1 pushes the limits of necessary multichannel, have a seat. On the horizon for cinema soundtracks is 10.2, a new format being developed by Tomlinson Holman, a man whose initials are the TH in THX. Holman’s new spec calls for 14 speakers total to deliver 12 channels of cinema sound: one center channel, six speakers in the front, two more in the front that are mounted in the ceiling, two surrounds, one rear speaker and two subwoofers.

Is 10.2 too much for the public to bear? According to Holman, what makes or breaks the success of a listening format is whether or not it creates a noticeable difference to the listener. Holman’s company, TMH Corp., first demonstrated the technology in 1998 and worked with retailers and consumers to determine market acceptance.

Holman claims that so far the responses have been extremely positive. Although he admits that 10.2 may not make it to mainstream home theater, he believes the movie industry will adopt it, and the high-end enthusiasts will follow.

Still, is that a bit too much? Well, take a look at your living room, den or wherever you watch your movies, and ask yourself if you have the room or the patience for setting up 14 speakers. Most of us will opt out, but there are always people who have all the space in the world and money to burn. More power to them. II

Technics’ DVD-A10, one of the first DVD-Audio players.

Sony’s DVP-S9000ES SACD player.

Onkyo’s DV-S939 offers DVD-Audio playback.

As late as last year, there were 160 two-channel SACD titles on the market, averaging in cost at about $24 for a standard album.