Talk:Dolby Headphone

make it longer. help me please. Neo The User (talk) 17:11, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

I've not managed to make it any longer (sorry) but I've corrected a bit - to explain my edits...

What headphones can be used with a Dolby Headphone source:

The page as it stands indicates that only certain headphones can be used to reproduce the 2 channel signal generated from a Dolby Headphone source, ie..."creates a virtual surround sound environment in real-time using two speakers, specifically found in certain headphones. The only current headphones that officially support Dolby Headphone are the Astro Gaming A40 System, Logitech G35, Plantronics Gamecon 777 Headset, Turtle Beach Systems Ear Force X41 Xbox Live Gaming Headset, and the Tritton Technologies AX720 Gaming Headset."... this is a misunderstanding, in Dolby's own documentation (the intro pack PFD, linked below) it states that "Best of all, no special headphones are required. The process works well with everything from inexpensive airline headsets to high-end electrostatic models. Of course, higher-quality headphones give a higher-quality experience, but Dolby Headphone technology brings the listener optimal performance on all types of equipment.". There's a more succinct statement "With Dolby Headphone, you're enveloped in amazing surround sound over any set of headphones." on the main (http://www.dolby.com/consumer/understand/enhancement/dolby-headphone.html) page, which is given as a source in the wiki page.

I think there's been a misunderstanding on behalf of the original author, the headphones given as 'officially supported' are actually examples of headphones that come as a package with decoders that use the Dolby Headphone standard.

I've changed the first paragraph to reflect this. I think that people coming here to research shouldn't be given the impression that they are limited to certain headphones (although they are limited to certain decoder amps)

Noworky (talk) 12:32, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

A correction, hope this helps. The page says that Dolby Headphone does not use HRTFs, I think this is due to a misreading of the official Dolby page where it says that it does not use HRTFs *that require customisation*. From what I can see it does use HRTFs (which AFAIK are any methods to synthetically attenuate and delay sounds to simulate 3d placement). Dolby claim it's HRTFs are different in the way that they simulate the affect a room has on speaker placement - giving additional audio cues.

The only source I have for info on this topic are Dolby's webpages:

Dolby Headphone spec page...http://www.dolby.com/professional/technology/home-theater/dolby-headphone.html…says it "does not require custom head-related transfer function (HRTF) setting" although I think by this it means that it uses HRTF's that don't require any user customisation, this is backed up by the intro pack PDF...

Dolby's own Dolby Headphone intro PDF here...http://www.dolby.com/professional/IntroPack/IntroPack_DH_Impl.pdf…describes what HRTF's are and then goes on to state that "Dolby Headphone differs radically from other virtual headphone solutions. It’s the only one that accurately re-creates the HRTFs of a 5.1-channel speaker system in a real listening room. By reproducing all of these complex sonic signatures in their entirety, from initial impulse to final decay, Dolby Headphone provides a palpable and convincing illusion of multiple speakers around the listener."

...I've not made any edits to the page to correct this, not currently sure how to approach it, Neo? Noworky (talk) 12:51, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

I've removed the benefits section for now as the info on HRTF is misleading, it's latency is difficult to quantify and the fact that it decodes in real time is self evident. The section about how it makes it seem as though you are really there seems like it belongs more in the marketing literature.... so the whole section is gone..

I've changed the Technology section thus..

added a section it's use of HRTFs as it does use some variant of them, I can't say for sure what is unique or different about it's HRTFs so I've not expanded on that

making the FIR filter info more fact based (using the info in the FIR filter faq http://www.dspguru.com/dsp/faqs/fir which I've also put in the references)

removed the part about it possibly being used to drive other headphones (it certainly can, and that's been mentioned at the start of the article)

removed the part about it not being able to drive headphones with more than one speaker per earpiece, it's clear from the section at the start of the article that it generates a 2 channel output, that output can be used to drive two channels of any headphone that will accept a two channel input. Some headphones which have multiple drivers in each earpiece can accept 5.1 or 2 channel signals (eg the Turtle Beach HPX, described in this http://www.overclock.net/sound-cards-computer-audio/601982-astro-a40-vs-sennheiser-pc-350-a.html review to run pretty well off the two channel output of the Dolby Headphone Astro A40 'Mixamp'). That said though.. does it need to be made explicit that Dolby Headphone output is not designed to run more than two channels of any headphone and that it's not the same as other surround sound headphone amps that output a 5.1 channel signal ?? 213.104.211.6 (talk) 15:47, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

sorry for the incorrect info. Digging through marketing terms and trying to turn in it all into a technically specific article isn't easy for me. I've also been gone a lot pwning people online with my Logitech G35. Neo The User 04:40, 12 February 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Neo The User (talk • contribs)