Why would DSU be different for different brands?
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Anthem AVM70 Review (AV Processor)
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ban25
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Do you have Center Spread enabled for DSU?
Very much to be expected, I'm sure the codec's of the two upmixers are very different.
I personally (mostly) prefer the Dolby upmixer, with Auro 3D in second place and DTS in third.
But this is about personal preference, not any right or wrong.
Make sure you have Center Spread enabled in the Dolby settings configuration.
And feel free to try them all with different albums to find the one you like best.
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Different default settings,, Center spread on or off, etc ???
Thinking back to Logic7 on Lexicon DC1/MC1 - there were a LOT of parameters... now with DSU there are almost none.
I expect the parameters are in there and pre-chosen by the AVR manufacturer, and they only expose center spread and nothing else...
That means there is substantial scope for audible differences in the mixer between different manufacturers implementation.
There is also a version of DSU that uses the Front Wides and a version that doesn't.
In the original Dolby doc they wrote:
But apparently, the latest versions of the DSU being implemented in processors/receivers *do* allow front wides to be used in DSU. There may be different "versions" of DSU that aren't exposed to the consumer. Even with Dirac, there are apparently differences in the filter resolution depending on your product.
In the original Dolby doc they wrote:
But apparently, the latest versions of the DSU being implemented in processors/receivers *do* allow front wides to be used in DSU. There may be different "versions" of DSU that aren't exposed to the consumer. Even with Dirac, there are apparently differences in the filter resolution depending on your product.
Somewhat. As GXAlan mentions above there may be a switch or two available to manufacturers, and then there's Center Spread, which I'm not sure if all makers are offering. But I do believe Dolby has attempted to make DS sound fairly consistent across the board "for better or worse". A good example was when they removed CenterSpread and only replaced it after customer complaints.
As a coding designer I'm sure they sometimes find themselves between a rock and a hard place. How can any "reviewer" make any accurate claims on the SQ of their product if there's a hundred different ways to configure it? Personally I laugh at much of the claims about the different top DRC systems when its an impossible task to compare the same results if your follow me.
My Denon X4700H Auro3D has a bunch of config options but are you going to spend hours and hours playing with them for each 2 channel album you wish to upsample before settling? NOT ME. LOL
DRC and Upsampling Codecs really are the best thing since sliced bread for HiFi.
It can also lead you down the path to total insanity.
I tried that, followed instructions but it would not work. Contacted Anthem support and was told:
"if you have a speaker profile and turn the center off and you watch something that has dialog like a movie it will play the center content to the left and right front and create the phantom center."
I seem to recall even for my Denon AVR, the center spread option was only selectable in 2 channel stereo mode, my understanding is that it is a feature used when downmixing so it really doesn't apply when I am still listening in multichannel mode, with the center channel active.
Thank you everyone for the feedback. It looks like I am the only one who prefer DTS Neural: X. I almost couldn't stand DSU, not really bad but just to0 aggressive to my taste, whereas DTS Neural: X sounds more natural; and that seems opposite to what you guys are saying. I did not feel that at all when I had the Denon and Marantz, their DSU upmixer sounded good. Either Anthem's a lot different or I need to investigate further into my settings, may be there is nothing I did wrong.
That's what I though too, but since I was asked, and I have not tried center spread for a long time, so I contacted Anthem first in case I remember wrong.
ban25
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Yes, I would only recommend Center Spread when upmixing 2-channel music. For upmixing multi-channel content, I'll generally stay with the codec, so Dolby -> DSU and DTS -> DTS Neural:X, but these days I usually just run Auro3D unless it's native (Atmos, DTS:X).
Yes that's the way it's supposed to be AFAIK
Does Anthem do that differently?
Center spread is a feature simply designed for the upsampling of 2ch music sources into a multich speaker layout.
When upsampling music sources too much of the information would often get directed to the center channel.
It's use is very preference and source dependent, there's no real right or wrong when upsampling.
I’ve found that phantom center is not working correctly in the AVM70. Or am I missing something? Anyway, if I create a 4.1 speaker profile and input a 5.1 signal, the center channel is send to both left and right front as it should, but the summed level is 3 dB too high. It’s still possible to adjust the center level in the remote app or web GUI, but it does nothing. Seems like a bug to me.
I don't think it is different in principle, but the effects will likely be different due to different implementation. Regardless, that really isn't what I asked initially and I only responded to questions about whether I had center spread on. My question was, and still is, do other Anthem AVR/AVP users, especially the AVM70 users feel the same that I feel, that there is much more pronounced difference in the sound effects between DSU/Atmos and DTS: Neural X up-mixers. Center spread shouldn't apply here because even Denon/Marantz center spread is for listening music in 2 channel stereo mode, not in mch upmixed modes. I do not recall the differences between DSC/Neural X, while obvious was not so huge when I had the Denon AVR, not to the point that I would prefer Neural X so much more. I know it's subjective, but to me, it is a comparison between D+M and Anthem.
Guziak
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Hello, I am new to the forum. I am planning to buy Anthem AVM 70 . I need to know before purchase, that your processor can decode over HDMI DSD natively and DTS 96/24 from dvd. I have gig collection of multichannel sacd and dvd with dts 96/24 (Jethro Tull). I cannot find any information on Anthem and online dealers website. Thanks
Guziak
New Member
Thanks
Why would you want to run DSD natively and forgo crossing over a subwoofer or room correction? You aren't going to hear any difference converting the DSD to PCM, and even if there were some tiny difference, it would be dwarfed by being able to high-pass and employ room correction.
Guziak
New Member
To try and compare. I use Primare universal player and analogue connection.
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