Dolby PL II was augmented as IIx (adding a surround back channel, or two of them) and IIz ("upmixing" to height speakers, aka Atmos-like).Ĭenter channels don't degrade movies, they are actually recommended to replicate the setup that movies are mixed to use in theaters ever since 1976 or so. It was then improved with Dolby Pro Logic II with separated Surround channel (Sl and Sr), which had a "movie" mode (discrete center channel) and "music" mode (which could use the sides to augment the center, in an adjustable scale i.e. Having a good center channel speaker was no longer a luxury, you really wanted one to focus dialog and sound fX near the screen. The Dolby Surround decoder was later superseded by Dolby Pro Logic (which actively matrixed center-specific sound and removed it from the side using "steering logic," which Dolby Surround didn't accomplish very well). See that logo below the Hi-Fi Stereo logo? No sub- don't need it, my towers pound it out in my 20 x 25 ft room) No center channel, I've tried it and it degrades movies and music.
(I have a 10 year old Yamaha RXV3800, which I've loved, in a 4.0 channel system with Strauss Main speakers and B+W full range floor standers for surrounds. Still not sure about DSUR with music- my sense is it's about the same as the Neural THX on my older Yamaha AVR, maybe not quite. I'm wondering, does anyone else feel the same? (This is the first time I've started a thread here though I've posted for 15 years- sorry if I've made a mistake in etiquette of some kind.) I was hoping 10 years of progress would give me a much better Dolby product, but I'm finding the opposite.
The difference is mostly subtle, but real. To my surprise, I find I prefer DD+ over DSUR in most cases, with movies. I just bought a Yamaha 3080 AVR, expecting Dolby Surround to add a lot to both music and movies. I'm a big fan of Dolby Digital Plus, I feel in my system it adds a lot to regular DD, though not quite as much as Dolby TrueHD.