How does 5.1 playback on a stereo?

vitalforce wrote on 6/19/2006, 10:55 AM
I have a LBFP (low budget film project) on DVD with the mixed track as stereo. If we project it in a small theatre which has a 5/1 setup, I'm tempted to covert the tracks to 5/1 just to see how it sounds. After doing that, what would the DVD's 5.1 sound come out as, on a regular DVD player hooked to a home stereo system (i.e. 2-speaker)?

I think commercial DVD movies have a selection, meaning two distinct tracks as stereo and 5/1, but I imagine the 5/1 setting would still play?

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 6/19/2006, 11:03 AM
5.1 encoded DVDs often mux down fine via the settings provided by the hardware player. But for safety, it's a good idea to create a second mix that the viewer can choose.
vitalforce wrote on 6/19/2006, 12:26 PM
Thanks DSE for taking a moment.
craftech wrote on 6/19/2006, 4:08 PM
I agree completely with Doug regarding two sound tracks.

Recently I worked for FOUR WEEKS experimenting with a sound track for a musical in order to come up with a 5.1 surround track from the stereo recording I shot of the show.
I was able to come up with several GREAT sounding 5.1 surround tracks and finally after four weeks was able to get the stereo downmix to sound acceptable.
I was ready to fill the order for 55 of these when just for the heck of it I rendered the typical AC3 stereo track we all do and compared it to the downmix from the great sounding 5.1 surround track I was ready to use. There was NO comparison. The AC3 stereo track sounded better.
So after all those weeks of work I ended up going with the AC3 stereo track it takes 10 minutes to render. Sheesh!
Moral of story - Two sound tracks if you want 5.1

John
farss wrote on 6/19/2006, 5:17 PM
Be careful running stereo into the Dolby boxes that do 5.1, I've had them do some funky things with sound whizzing all around the cinema unless they're told it is stereo. Assuming the box in the cinema is like the ones I've had to deal with watch the level meters, if you start getting sound coming out the rear channels I think you'll find it's not setup right.

Bob.