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5,1 gaming side vs rear
- Thread starter cj3waker
- Start date
5.1 is intended to use rear speakers for surround. That said there are lots of set ups violating "supposed to be's" in audio.
Try yours how you like, if you are happy, good to go.
There are various standards (THX is one) that define placement.
Changes may or may not alter your listening experience, it will change "sound stage" and some sound perceived direction.
The location and area of the "best" listening location may change. Most people do not notice.
For gaming you are really only concerned for one specific location before your computer, As long as side and behind "ques" are useful the rest is negotiable.
Try yours how you like, if you are happy, good to go.
There are various standards (THX is one) that define placement.
Changes may or may not alter your listening experience, it will change "sound stage" and some sound perceived direction.
The location and area of the "best" listening location may change. Most people do not notice.
For gaming you are really only concerned for one specific location before your computer, As long as side and behind "ques" are useful the rest is negotiable.
IdiotInCharge
NVIDIA SHILL
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2003
- Messages
- 14,669
There is no 'rear' in 5.1; if that's what you mean. In a 5.1 mix, the speakers are essentially at the 105 degree position you mentioned, and are encoded as left and right 'hemispheres' of surround.
For surround encoding in games, you're going to have to look (somewhere), but the SL and SR channels are probably rendered at the 135 degree from front position.
For true 'surround' sound, you need 6.1 or 7.1 which include mono or stereo rear channel(s). HDMI to a receiver is the best way to achieve this.
For gaming your speakers should be configured in a square, at 45 degree angles from 0 and 180 degrees. They are designed differently than movies. The reason is that movies are supposed to have a diffuse surround field, in theatres their surround channel is a whole wall of speakers. Games are designed for point sources, high localization of sound.
So if you have 5.1, you put the surround speakers at 135 and 225 degrees.
You can actually verify this by seeing how Windows works with a 7.1 system. There you put the surround speakers at 90 and 270 degrees, and the surround back speakers at 135 and 225 degrees. However when a game or other program only supports 5.1, Windows uses the surround back speakers, the surround speakers on the sides sit idle.
It does not follow the THX standard. It is closest to the DTS Master Audio standard but is not quite the same.
That said, you can put them anywhere you like, but the rear 45 degree angles give you the most accurate localization in games are are how Windows "expects" it to be.
Also you use monopole speakers at all positions, not di/bipoles.
So if you have 5.1, you put the surround speakers at 135 and 225 degrees.
You can actually verify this by seeing how Windows works with a 7.1 system. There you put the surround speakers at 90 and 270 degrees, and the surround back speakers at 135 and 225 degrees. However when a game or other program only supports 5.1, Windows uses the surround back speakers, the surround speakers on the sides sit idle.
It does not follow the THX standard. It is closest to the DTS Master Audio standard but is not quite the same.
That said, you can put them anywhere you like, but the rear 45 degree angles give you the most accurate localization in games are are how Windows "expects" it to be.
Also you use monopole speakers at all positions, not di/bipoles.
No problem. I've spent far too much time and money messing with computer audio trying to make it sound as good as it can.