by the way:

I like this TESTING idea even though I never tried an ABX Blind Test or any double blind test yet.

----should this be a seperate thread maybe?----

I'm willing to learn, so maybe we can do a little class: "How to perform a ABX Blind Test for surround sound with mp3" .

Questions:
1. Which software do we need?
2. What about the hardware?
3. Where do we get "clean" samplesfrom?
4. How's the test to be done?


I can provide the following:
Hardware (2.):
- DTS Dolby Digital and DPLII compatible amp (Yamaha RX-V430RDS)
- Computer: AMD Athlon 1800+, 512mb RAM, Mainboard: nvidia nforce 2 epox EP-8RDA+(pdf)
- Soundcard: On-Board, Dolby Digital 5.1 (AC-3) compatible, S/PDIF or 6 ch, analog or digital output
- DVD/CD-Rom combo, Samsung SM-348B
- headphones or speackers (no subwoofer)
Software (1.):
- player: MMJB, Media Player Classic
- ripper: EAC lame-3.90.3
- videosound filter: AC3 Filter .70b

any more important??



More questions:
-Whats the perfect setup for my system?
..use S/PDIF or 6channel analog?
..enable or disable (for DPLII maybe) soundcard settings (very difficult to setup - spent some houre infront of it and it still doesn't work as I want it to)?
[Have to get in to detail of the settings with you first]
..use headphones or speakers?
..what to do next and what did I forget to ask?


JD

This is split from this thread.

thx tigre,

guess it was the best idea to split!

JD

If you have a working hardware setup like this ...

Source audio from CD / DVD movie audio prologic encoded
-> PC playback
-> soundcard digital/line out
-> Amp digital/line in
-> processing to 5.1 surround
-> playback through 5.1 speaker system

... you can simply use ABX software like foobar2000's abx tool or ABC/HR
You need to encode the test samples, e.g. using recommended lame settings/compile (-> sticky thread in mp3 section). Foobar2000 handles decoding/replaygain etc. for ABXing (semi-)automatically; if you want to use ABC/HR or WinABX you need to decode to .wav manually before you can start testing.

If there's a software that can do the same as hardware prologic decoders, even better. I this case we could create test samples that can be used by everyone with a 5.1 speaker setup. Does anyone know/have such a software?


see above

If I understand correctly, prologic II works with every stereo source, but it would be nice to have some prologic encoded source. So - if anyone has a dvd with such an audio stream - provide a sample, please.

With a hardware setup comparable to the one described above, just use the ABX software as usual (details see FAQ).


For soundcard -> amp s/pdif if digital inputs/outputs are available. If I understand correctly, signal sent from soundcard to amp is 2 channel, it becomes 6 channel after prologic decoding by the amp, no?


What soundcard settings are you talking about? - Generally, in my understanding, the signal should reach the amp as pure as possible.


Prologic is designed for use with 5.1 speakers system, so using headphones for testing will be quite pointless IMO.

Sorry - seems my pc is f***ed up: (offtopic) Suffering from performance lock up...dunno what to do. I'm already accusing Foobar. Hope I'm wrong because I would like to help make it a usable player!


JD


ps: as soon as I fixed the problem I'll do the ABXing! If anyone is interested...we could share experiences and results!


edit: was it foobar?