Dolby Digital Surround EX
Dear Gary: I’ve got a question that has been difficult for me to get answered. I have a 7.1 system that includes four THX®-certified surround speakers (Two on the side walls opposite the seating area and two on the rear wall). The soundfield is very good (Meridian processor). I am considering a purchase of the SMART Devices™ CS-3X, Jr. I’d like to know if ambient sound will fill this last channel, or if it sounds off infrequently like the .1 LFE channel. I am worried about losing envelopment and a holosonic image as a trade off for random rear effects. I have never felt that in a large room (mine is 22 ft x 28 ft - 7500 cubic ft) that two dipoles (or any other speaker type for that matter) can adequately fill the ambient space. This is why I use four surround speakers instead of two. Let me know your feelings about this. Keep up the good work.
Dr. Jeff Mardo
Movie Sound Editor Perry Sun Comments:
After having extensively used the SMART Devices CS-3X, Jr. component in our reference home theatre system, I have found that the unit generally produces subtle back surround imaging, and often at a level high enough to impart an enhanced sense of spatial depth. This has been the case for a wide variety of 5.1-channel film soundtracks with split surrounds. Of course, there are times when the back surround activity will transiently increase, if there is significant activity that is shared by both split surround channels. The CS-3X really shouldn’t take anything away from your experience of digital film sound. If anything, it will only add to it, and most likely in a desirable way, provided that you have properly positioned your surround speakers and balanced the back surround output level with the rest of your system.
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