Routing vocals through center channel.
Posted Aug 3, 2022, 4:48 AM UTC · locked
37
Hi. I recently retired an old amp/DSP/sub (Sony SA-WCT150) 3.1 solution and replaced it with a 7.2 AVR (Denon AVR-X1600H). The old solution evolved over the years and the original L/C/R were replaced with a Polk S35 center and a pair of Polk S10's for L/R. Those Polks and a powered sub are now connected to my new AVR in a 3.1.
My new AVR is awesome but I miss how the old DSP routed vocals through the center. 99% of the time it's used to stream music through an optical cable.
Any thoughts on how I can regain this feature?
3
Taking a stereo source and having it upmixed to Multichannel in any way just fucks with the master.
It’s generally not a smart thing to do.
1†
For true stereo signal you can try the up-mix modes but I usually have the best luck with the "Multi Channel Stereo" mode. It definitely is not a true surround sound mode but it usually emphasizes vocals well.
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If playing stereo music, I can’t see any reason you would want to do this, if you have your left and right speakers placed properly for your listening position. Why would you want to mess with a recording, if properly mixed, that already has a great sound-stage thanks to the recording engineer?
Example is a recording with a singer, drums, piano and sax. Sax is heard on left speaker and piano on the right. Drums will be heard from the middle, or possibly, spread from left to right. Vocal is usually from the middle.
That is how stereo works, no fake up-mixing can sound as good. You may need better speakers if you aren’t achieving that sound. Stereo has always sounded like a left, center and right speaker with just two speakers.
1
On your Denon AVR, change the sound mode to either the Dolby Surround upmixer or the DTS Neural upmixer
Here is the page from the manual that explains sound modes
https://manuals.denon.com/AVRX1600H/NA/EN/GFNFSYlqlymuqz.php