On an NAD T763 when I listen to a CD with let's say a bass drum or other punchy sound and flip back and forth between EARS and Prologic II Music the EARS seems to lose the bass sound. The Prologic II Music or DTS Neo Music sounds much more dynamic and has a lot more presence.
The bass sound is there in the EARS mode but is noticably subdued.
I'm wondering if the fact that I don't have a subwoofer installed, even though my fronts are set to large, is causing the problem.
The other thing is if the center speaker is set to "off" EARS is not available, contrary to the documentation.
Could the two be related and it be a software issue or am I not hearing things?
I think EARS delivers only 5.1, so it is not a receiver fault. It is probably good that it does not even try when there is no center speaker or powered sub!
I personally like EARS, it is much better than the original Prologic. I do not have the newer surround formats to compare.
I have a problem with my T753. If I select Main/Zone DSP: 5.1/2.0, the Neo:6 formats are not optional while the DPL 2 formats still are. I thought both were 5.1 formats? This was never a problem in my old T752? Can anyone exlplain?
In my old T752 The EARS format delivered a much more powerful base in my front channels. In my new T753 this seems to have changed (I don't use any sub but I have a small center)
Steve! I think I have an answer to our problem with EARS. Even though the sub is set to off in speaker settings the crossover setting have an influence. Set the crossover to 200 hz and you will get more bass.
Yes CCL! That did it! Setting crossover to 200 hz with no sub sends all the base to my front towers.
Who would have thought? I had set it to 40 hz thinking that anything above that would go to the towers. So it looks like a quirk with EARS that should be changed or documented along with the required center channel.
I enjoyed EARS last night. Definitely sounds good with live and accoustic music. According to the documentation NEO:6 sends the fronts the unaltered signal while adding the center. So basically the center just reinforces the fronts. I like EARS better since it extracts different sounds for all the speakers and definitely brings out some unique characteristics of the recording.
I think EARS is great. Watched Mission Impossible on a VHS Tape yesterday. Don't know how EARS extracts such vivid surround sound from two channels. It is not smeared out, either; you can pin-point the sources in front, and behind you. I heard from a technical guy NAD simply made it themselves because they knew they could easily improve on Prologic. Other makers did the same, I believe, including Outlaw. NAD introduced Prologic 2 not because it was any better than EARS, but because market feedback proved that customers recognised and asked for the name.
I would be interested to hear NEO:6. It really should not add a center to unchanged fronts, Steve, though I don't doubt that is what they claim. I think that is the wrong approach, personally. You get a virtual center, anyway, if the Left and right channels are delivering real stereo. You would not wish to duplicate that center in surround sound.