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"This months OXM"

Just bought Issue 7 of OXM, which was released yesterday. Here's a quick summary:

Reviews:

Conflict: Desert Storm - 8.1 Game of the Month
Aggressive Inline - 7.7
Splashdown - 8.1
Pro Tennis WTA Tour - 1.9
Barbarian - 7.4
Antz Extreme Racing - 5.0

This months feature is on Surround Sound setups.

Indepth looks at Racing Evoluzione and Reign of Fire.

On the disc: Playables of Conflict: Desert Storm, Enclave and Street Hoops. Videos of GP4, Project Ego, XIII, Splinter Cell, LEgends of Wrestling, Mike Tyosn Boxing and a couple of non-game videos as well.

I don't want an argument either, basically it's like this: I use digital for things that use it, and pro logic for things that don't have surround sound, so that it does produce it as surround sound a bit anyway. Although actually it's more than a bit, I have a few really old PC games that aren't surround sound compatable and it produes it as good as anything that does.

I don't want to get into an argument here. I'm not like that :-)

But it doesn't actually *decode* any stereo source into pro logic II. It just hazards an educated guess at what should go where. I also have both, and I prefer Dolby Digital.

There's no point decoding stereo into PLII, if it was meant to be in surround sound, it would've been encoded in it. I don't particually want to hear CDs in surround, so I just send the standard stereo signal to the back speakers too. Sounds a lot better.

Pro Logic is probably more advanced, Digital has slightly clearer sound (don't forget I have both and can switch between them, so I've checked) but the fact that Pro Logic will decode any sound into surround sound means the technology is probably a bit more advanced. But does it matter anyway? This all started over Rogue Leader, other Gamecube games will support digital, some might not support either.

I would like dolby digital but never mind

My system is compatible with both. And Dolby digital is clearer, although less convinient. But technically, this makes Dolby Digital better.

So I would appriciate it if you wouldn't write "I think you'll find Pro Logic II is better" if it is based on your own oppinion. And not facts.

Thankyou.

Well I've been thinking of this from the view of my system, which is Dolby Pro logic II, digital 5.1. Not only is it as good as Digital 5.1, but because of the Dolby Pro Logic II it can also give proper surround sound for games and films that don't support it. So for me, the GameCube surround sound is just as good as on an X-box, or cinema, or whatever.

How do you think Dolby Pro Logic II competes against other sound formats including Dolby Digital? What are the advantages of going with Dolby Pro Logic II, as a developer?

Julian: The main advantage is the ease of use. As I said before - for all current MusyX developers it is literally a switch. If they have 3D sound in their work-in-progress game it takes minutes and it will be automatically encoded in five-channel sound. To the listener PLII is extremely similar to Dolby Digital. It has a few advantages and disadvantages compared to Dolby Digital. The advantages are the downwards compatibility - a game using Pro-Logic II can be played on any Stereo or Pro-Logic system and will take full advantage of these without any changes in the game setup. Secondly, there is no delay due to the encoding and finally, the audio is non-compressed, whereas Dolby Digital applies heavy compression.

The disadvantages of PLII are that the channel separation is even better with Dolby Digital and that DPLII doesn't have a specific bass channel.



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They both have their advantages, and they both have their disadvatages. However, the advantages for the PLII seem less important, if I'm going to be honest. Channel separation is more important to me than backwards compatibility, seeing as I already have the DD system. I also don't notice any delay for decoding. Any quality gained from not being compressed will soon be lost by sending it through analogue cables.

Do you see any cinemas using Pro Logic II?

Lots of technical jargon there Tom, ah well.

Dolby Pro Logic is a matrix decoder that decodes the four channels of surround sound that have been encoded onto the stereo soundtracks of Dolby Surround program material such as VHS movies and TV shows. Dolby Surround is a matrix encoding process that in essence “folds” Left, Center, Right, and Surround channels onto stereo soundtracks. A Pro Logic decoder “unfolds” the four channels on playback (without a Pro Logic decoder, the encoded program plays in regular stereo).

Dolby Pro Logic II is an advanced matrix decoder that derives five-channel surround (Left, Center, Right, Left Surround, and Right Surround) from any stereo program material, whether or not it has been specifically Dolby Surround encoded. On encoded material such as movie soundtracks, the sound is more like Dolby Digital 5.1 (see below), while on unencoded stereo material such as music CDs the effect is a wider, more involving soundfield. Among other improvements over Pro Logic, Pro Logic II provides two full-range surround channels, as opposed to Pro Logic’s single, limited-bandwidth surround channel.

Dolby Digital 5.1 is a method of transmitting and storing 5.1-channel soundtracks via newer digital media such as DVD, digital cable, digital broadcast TV (DTV), and satellite transmissions. Unlike the Dolby Surround encode/Pro Logic decode process, which sacrifices channel separation to get surround onto any stereo soundtrack, Dolby Digital 5.1 is a discrete system that keeps the multiple channels fully separated throughout the encoding and decoding processes. In addition to having full-range Left, Center, Right, Left Surround, and Right Surround channels, Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks carry a sixth (“.1”) channel recorded with low-frequency effects (those bass rumbles and booms you feel as well as hear in a well-equipped cinema).


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Found it somewhere. Not my own work.

Whitestripes wrote:
> I think you'll find that Dolby Pro Logic II is better than Dolby 5.1.

No I think you will find that you are wrong again. Pr Logic is Analogue and 5.1 is Digital, 5.1 is the latest from Dolby surround technologies! Where do you get your information from?