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Topic: THX - good or not ? (Read 15428 times) previous topic - next topic
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THX - good or not ?

Hi. Please, explain me (integrated Realtek):

- do I need THX ProStudio if I'm using stereo system ?
- do you really need THX ProSrudio ?
- can THX ProStudio damage original sound quality ?
- other things that you can tell about THX ProStudio

THX - good or not ?

Reply #1
Its a DSP effect.  Probably some combination of range compression, EQ, crossfeed or others.  Try it and see if you like it.

THX - good or not ?

Reply #2
do I need THX ProStudio if I'm using stereo system ?
No, you don’t “need” it in any case. You might want it, but you don’t need it.

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do you really need THX ProSrudio ?
How is this different from the question that immediately preceded it?

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can THX ProStudio damage original sound quality ?
That seems to be entirely its purpose if you define “damage” as change.

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other things that you can tell about THX ProStudio
I have to assume that you got the name wrong multiple times despite feeling the need to embolden it over and over again, but the first result is nonetheless a description of THX TruStudio Pro, which is just a bunch of questionable so-called enhancements through which all output signals are filtered. Personally, I’d disable it at maximal velocity, but I do that with all silly things that companies feel the need to bundle and often enable by default. In any case, the above points still stand.

Just try it on and off and decide for yourself. Failing that, use Google. Neither are difficult.

THX - good or not ?

Reply #3
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Its a DSP effect. Probably some combination of range compression, EQ, crossfeed or others. Try it and see if you like it.

At site they wrote that this can dramatically improve quality and make sound more liver.

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No, you don’t “need” it in any case. You might want it, but you don’t need it.

I don't wan't it if it affects bad for sound.

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How is this different from the question that immediately preceded it?

Because this is more common question.

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That seems to be entirely its purpose if you define “damage” as change.

Change, but some changes can be horrible.

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I have to assume that you got the name wrong multiple times

My bad - but I can't find how to edit that.

P.S.: I only use Crystalizer and Speaker from THX.

THX - good or not ?

Reply #4
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Its a DSP effect. Probably some combination of range compression, EQ, crossfeed or others. Try it and see if you like it.

At site they wrote that this can dramatically improve quality and make sound more liver.


Do you believe them?

THX - good or not ?

Reply #5
If it made the music sound better, the recording engineer would have applied the effect in the studio.

THX - good or not ?

Reply #6
At site they wrote that this can dramatically improve quality and make sound more liver.
People in lots of places write lots of things. That doesn’t mean they’re true. Especially when marketing is involved.

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I don't wan't it if it affects bad for sound.
Its entire purpose is to change the sound. You need to determine for yourself whether that change is good or bad to you. If you want the most accurate reproduction of audio, things like this are probably a bad idea.

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P.S.: I only use Crystalizer and Speaker from THX.
Right, so:

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http://www.creative.com/oem/technology/thx.asp[/url] ]THX TruStudio Pro Crystalizer
Enhance music and movies to make them sound livelier.

THX TruStudio Pro Crystalizer restores the natural dynamic range that is lost when iTunes and MP3 music gets compressed. This makes the music sounds as good as the artist originally intended, and adds an enhanced level of realism for movies and games.
Sounds like nonsense to me. Lossy encoders are capable of storing greater bit-depths than most files that will be fed into them, seeing as they work internally in floating-point. What tends to be lost in lossily encoded streams are high frequencies, but an encoder given a decent bitrate will tend to have a lowpass that cuts only frequencies that the listener would never have heard in the first place. Have THX/Creative really gotten bit-depth and frequency-range mixed up here? Anyway, the whole point of “iTunes and MP3 music”, which I presume is being used here as clumsy shorthand for lossy codecs in general, is to compress the file without introducing any audible differences. So, something that claims to restore quality from nowhere has a lot of proof to give before I’ll give it any credibility.

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THX TruStudio Pro Speaker
Enhance the sound quality and bass of any speaker system for a better listening experience.

THX TruStudio Pro Speaker fills in the missing low frequency tones and gives the extra impact for a better entertainment experience. Consumers no longer have to tolerate lack of bass in speakers built into notebook PCs, 2.0 speakers or headphones, as THX TruStudio Pro Speaker technology dramatically improves the sound experience without a subwoofer.
Yeah, so if your speakers or headphones already have a fine level of bass, this will probably cause that range of frequencies to become excessively amplified, again, altering the sound from what was intended by those who performed, recorded, and released it.

I could go on, but really, the other details can be filled in by testing and reading on your part.

THX - good or not ?

Reply #7
Having a soundblaster recon3d with thx studio pro, let me tell you this. First what was already said, since all encoders work differently there is no one magical algorithm that can "replace" discarded data from encoding...and if the encoder is doing it's job, the changes are inaudible. All crystallizer does is add a bunch of annoying high end sizzle. On decent headphones the surround simulation sounds aweful and artificial with music, not bad with movies tho, can be effective. the only "externalizer" that ever sounded halfway decent to me is dolby headphone...it actually does a fair job of placing music "outside" of the headphones. so in a nutshell, no its not necessary, yes it damages audio by giving it a fake artificial sound.

THX - good or not ?

Reply #8
After looking at the Creative web site, apparently Truestudio Pro was intended as a fix for several problems associated with sound systems designed specifically for PC use.  Which means small colored speakers with tubby-boomy subs. But since it's not calibrated to a specific system, it's generalized for the average, which as we all know, isn't anything anyone here would own, right?  I don't have TsP myself to play with, but if the various features are adjustable you might do some good with it.  Otherwise, a generalized correction is generally going to be wrong.

That's why recording engineers would never consider it.  It's target is only a small segment of their audience. 

Marketing aside, like all DSP effects, if you like it, use it.  But for myself, I've never heard a DSP effect I could live with, with the possible exception of some ambience/surround recovery algorithms. 

THX seems to have lost their way, no doubt because of high financial pressure.  Sad.

THX - good or not ?

Reply #9
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People in lots of places write lots of things. That doesn’t mean they’re true. Especially when marketing is involved.

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I could go on, but really, the other details can be filled in by testing and reading on your part.

I don't fully trust of what they wrote there - just want to find the true about it and how it affects sound, because I can't understand anything usefull from their description and can't find reviews or tests of THX TruStudio.

Mach-X

Thank's for your review

dc2bluelight
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I don't have TsP myself to play with, but if the various features are adjustable you might do some good with it. Otherwise, a generalized correction is generally going to be wrong.

Yes, you can move slider for effects to adjust it and each effect can be disable. Also you can choose the destination sound device for it.
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THX seems to have lost their way, no doubt because of high financial pressure. Sad
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But why this feature is supported by hardware vendors if it is bad ? And it is created by Creative, which is famous and brand name.




THX - good or not ?

Reply #10
Because it’s a gimmick that they can make sound impressive to people who don’t understand the relevant technology. There’s nothing mysterious or unusual about that.

THX - good or not ?

Reply #11
But why this feature is supported by hardware vendors if it is bad ? And it is created by Creative, which is famous and brand name.


Looking at it as "good" or "bad" is a bit like saying all EQ is good or bad.  The right EQ is good, the wrong EQ is bad, but there are lots of in-betweens where some EQ can be an improvement over none.  If it helps make your particular system sound better, it's perfectly fine to use it.  If THX did their homework, it theoretically should help, at least a little.  The thing is, anything made to correct for a problem does best when the correction is match to the exact problem.  For example, if you use one of the automatic EQ systems like Audyssey, it measures your system first, then develops correction filters.  That's not what TsP is doing, it's applying adjustments that are chosen based on an average system, then tuned by your ear to your liking.  If they did it right, TsP should help with the majority of systems, and if you're adept at making decisions based on what you hear, you can tweak it in better.  Those are two big "ifs", and I for one am skeptical about how you can apply an average-based correction effectively.

THX has, until fairly recently, never made products.  They tested things and applied their seal of approval under a license agreement.  THX was to mean higher quality, with the goal: "As the creator intended".  The problem with that model is that it cost a fair bit for manufacturers to run a product through THX approval testing, but consumer understanding of what THX meant was confused, so it didn't help with product sales much.  The confusion of the meaning of THX huge, and not helped at all by THX's own marketing with stuff like "Let's see it in THX".  Is it a format? A sound system? Speakers? Amps?  Theaters?  Drywall?  Performance specs?  And out of those things, the only correct answer is "performance specs", but there are THX approved speakers, amps, movie theaters, and yes, THX approved drywall.  See what I mean?  So it no doubt became clear that licensing wasn't making enough to sustain them, and they came out with processes like THX Loudess Plus that they could license in products, and then stuff for PC speakers, etc.  Then they expand their range of approved products.  There was a THX microphone, even.  And yes, you can buy THX drywall.  The difference between performance testing and licensing a product are huge.  Product licensing can be done on paper at minimal cost.  Performance testing an AVR is a 200 man-hour project, at the end of which the product may not pass. 

THX is expanding their income sources, and companies like Creative always want the slight edge.  Consumers are more confused than ever at what THX means, and now with things like TsP, it's doubtful many will ever understand what THX means.  "Hey, lets see that movie in THX!"  "Oh, you mean you want to hear the sound on my sound card?"