Surround sound - setup advice please

philRmonic wrote on 3/14/2009, 10:00 AM

I want to enhance my system to mix surround sound, but I need some advice as to what to get.

At present I have a m-audio card with digital output which "passes through ac3/DTS" according to the spec. Obviously that requires a decoder amp, but I think I would need to render the project before I could take advantage of that. If I was simply balancing the channels in preview I am going to need 6 analog outputs - is that correct?

I'd be interested to hear how anyone else has set up for surround editing?

Thanks!

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 3/14/2009, 10:21 AM

Well, you've certainly done your homework. You are correct on all counts.

Many of us lacking enough discrete outputs (including me) have taken to burning test DVDs on DVD-RW media and testing them in the home entertainment center.

The beauty is that once the MPEG-2 video-only file is rendered, you can replace the AC-3 audio tracks at will until you get the sound you want. It doesn't take that long to render a new audio track and rename it to what you are using in your DVDA Project.

philRmonic wrote on 3/14/2009, 4:52 PM

Now that's a good idea - I hadn't thought of the shorter render time for audio. Thanks!

musicvid10 wrote on 3/14/2009, 9:59 PM

"Now that's a good idea - I hadn't thought of the shorter render time for audio. Thanks!"

We aim to please!