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Topic: SRS premium sound (Read 8289 times) previous topic - next topic
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SRS premium sound

Hello there,
I'm new to the forum but have been lurking for a while. I'm a poor student who recently (3 months) got interested in music listening (audiophilia, if you can call it).

I'm currently using my Laptop as a source, connected to an old Stereo (30 years old! Built by my uncle). Perhaps not optimal but excellent for me. Well, the jump in sound quality is big. Never used anything past computer speakers or cheapo headphones/buds.

Yesterday I was messing with the soundcard setings and found this "SRS premium sound" thing, it seems to be included in Windows 7:
http://www.srslabs.com/premiumsound/downlo..._spec_sheet.pdf
I think it's similar to SRS WOW.

I was trying to differentiate how it affected sound. I found it exaggerates the soundstage and instrument separation. Deactivating it feels like music sounds more muffled but it loses brightness and the bass is much more natural. Problem is that, it seems to add gain and listening with my cheapo headphones sounds way flat.

I ask, is this somekind of EQ algorithm? I turned it off and the boomy bass went away with the metallic bright sound. Does anyone else here use it?
Well, I'd try to keep the sound as pure as I can. Probably it's used to compensate the low quality of most headphones and speakers people use.

SRS premium sound

Reply #1 –
Quote from: Prest on
I ask, is this somekind of EQ algorithm?
From that very document:
Quote
SRS Premium Sound creates amazing 3D audio from mono and stereo material and delivers immersive surround sound from multi channel content.
This probably explains your perception of expanded soundstage.

Quote
I turned it off and the boomy bass went away with the metallic bright sound. Does anyone else here use it?
Well, I'd try to keep the sound as pure as I can. Probably it's used to compensate the low quality of most headphones and speakers people use.
Again:
Quote
Additionally, it brings out subtle nuances and rich sounds in recorded or multimedia content in a way that is superior to stereo or conventional surround sound and works across any speaker configuration, including notebook speakers, desktop speakers and headphones.…The resulting entertainment experience features deep bass, high-frequency definition, crystal clear dialog, and, specifically for notebook speakers, an overall boosting of sound volume.
So perhaps it does incorporate equalisation as part of this supposedly transformative process, and this quote isn’t far-removed from your suggestion that it’s at least partially aimed at less advanced hardware.

These might be sufficient to explain the sounds you heard, if the treatment is large enough in magnitude, but don’t be surprised if someone mentions ToS#8!

SRS premium sound

Reply #2 –
Quote
Well, I'd try to keep the sound as pure as I can.
You are not getting "purity", by using some mysterious SRS processing.    And, it's important for SRS to keep the details somewhat mysterious so that other companies can't easily copy it.   

If you like the effect more than the pure-original sound, or if you like to really crank-up the bass, that's OK!  But, don't confuse that with the audiophile* ideal reporducing the music exactly as it was intended.  Personally, I like to use Pro Logic processing to get surround sound  from CDs (i.e. rear channel reverb).   

Quote
I'm currently using my Laptop as a source, connected to an old Stereo (30 years old! Built by my uncle).
There's not necessarily any thing wrong with 30-year old equipment on the "analog side".    A system that had top-notch sound 30 years ago, is still top-notch today (assuming nothing's broken).    The only thing that would make the system obsolete is if you want to play 5.1 surround sound.

The main difference is that electronics have become super-cheap.  Today it doesn't cost any more to build good-sounding electronics than it costs to build poor-sounding electronics.  (This isn't true for speakers...  Speakers are like everything else and have gone up in price.)

* FIY - Although most of us here are audiophiles (audio lovers), the term "audiohpile" has almost become a dirty word, or a joke...    The audophile comunity has been completely "taken-over by the inmates", and it's full of people who think expensive cables (even expensive power cables) sound better than cheap cables, and that vinyl records & tubes sound better than CDs & solid-state amplifers, etc.    HydrogenAudio is one of the few places you can find logical-scientific discussions about audio.

SRS premium sound

Reply #3 –
Quote from: DVDdoug on
Quote
I'm currently using my Laptop as a source, connected to an old Stereo (30 years old! Built by my uncle).
There's not necessarily any thing wrong with 30-year old equipment on the "analog side".    A system that had top-notch sound 30 years ago, is still top-notch today (assuming nothing's broken). 


There are some materials that deteriorate over time, like paper (maybe in the speaker  cones) and foam rubber (speaker surrounds)  I'd say mostly don't worry about that unless there's a visible tear.

Switches and volume controls can get scratchy.  Again, don't fret about subtle effects. If it's wrong, it will be painfully obvious.

SRS premium sound

Reply #5 –
Think of it like an amateur photographer cranking up the contrast, saturation and sharpness sliders in Photoshop.

The SRS algorithms behave similarly in that they enhance (exaggerate) those aspects most people find pleasing at an instinctual level.  This is done, obviously, at the expense of accuracy, realism, and most importantly the intentions of the artist.

Using SRS features as "correction" for imperfect hardware is silly as you are just as likely to multiply the issues as you are to cancel them out. 

It's nothing more than fast-food.  Designed to stimulate your senses to the maximum possible level while providing nothing of substantive value.* 




*That said it's damn tasty at times!
Creature of habit.