Dolby encoder? what are they?

[theplanb]

Whenever I read something about dolby 5.1 thingy.. ^^;, it says I need dolby encoder or something like this plus speakers.. What is this encoder and why do I need this? 😕 and.. how much do they cost?

 

[Sugadaddy]

decoder maybe???

Most 5.1 speaker kits will have a hardware decoder. If they don't, or you have 4.1 or 2.1 speakers, software DVD players (like PowerDVD or WinDVD) will decode it and downmix it to the number of speakers you have.

 

[MasterHoss]

Yup, you can read a lot of technical stuff about that on different websites such as 3d Sound Surge. Just do a search on your favorite sound card or speakers and they'll mention a blurb on a DD decoder (not encoder).

I'll tell you this much...have a 4.1 speaker set up with PowerDVD 3.0 Pro (6 channel version) and a surround sound-capable sound card (SB Live! family, Santa Cruz, Hercules Game Theater XP, et al) and you'll have your surround sound.

No worries....trust me. I got 4.1 surround sound through a Compaq DVD player (I believe it was Zoran back then) and my first Klipsch speakers (v.2-400s) and the SB Live! value card. It all works.

What I'm trying to say is, if you have the hardware I mentioned above, you don't need a DD Decoder...it actually becomes unnecessary.

 

[Sugadaddy]

I agree with MasterHoss, having a hardware decoder and 5.1 speakers on a PC is unnecessary. A software DVD player and 4.1 speakers is more than enough. The reason is when you're watching a movie in Dolby Digital on your computer, you're sitting so close to the speakers that a center channel is useless. (the 2 front speakers will emulate the center channel) Also, the software decoding is good to the point that I couldn't tell the difference from a hardware decoder.