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Topic: Windows 'Spatial Sound' settings (Read 3177 times) previous topic - next topic
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Windows 'Spatial Sound' settings

I've recently updated to the latest Windows 10 update and noticed the new 'Spatial Sound' tab.

I'm using headphones and set the following settings:
Spatial sound format: Windows Sonic for Headphones
'Turn on 7.1 virtual surround sound' is ticked.

If I play a 5.1 AAC file in Foobar2000 with the virtual surround sound ticked then some channels are completely muted.
If I play a 5.1 AAC file in Foobar2000 with the virtual surround sound un-ticked then everything is down-mixed correctly.

Is this a bug with Windows or a bug with Foobar2000?
I have no DSP effects enabled and my output is set to 'DS: Primary Sound Driver'

As far as I know the virtual surround option was added so that games that aren't using the new spatial audio APIs can still use some sort of spatial audio on headphones if they support normal 5.1 or 7.1 output.
I haven't tried any games because this laptop is a bit old for games.

Re: Windows 'Spatial Sound' settings

Reply #1 –
I have also not gotten any significant results with that, or with Dolby Atmos for headphones. I'm wondering how it works, if you need a media foundation player, or something else. Although, Dolby Atmos doesn't even work with their demos in their app. I was expecting something like Dolby Headphone, and Atmos for headphones sounds great in theory, but I've yet to hear anything even close to Dolby Headphone.

Re: Windows 'Spatial Sound' settings

Reply #2 –
I'm not sure if it's a bug or not...   It doesn't seem right to me, I wouldn't expect any channels to be thrown-away (except the LFE is usually thrown-away in a stereo downmix).

Are you listening to a test file that checks the 6 channels separately?   Maybe it's muting the non-dominate channels moment-to-moment (sort-of like what Pro Logic does)?

But but like a lot of these effects, they don't seem to detail exactly what it's doing or what it's supposed to do.    It's doing something mysterious to the sound that's supposed to give you an enhanced spatial experience or illusion. 

Directional information in headphones is hit-and-miss.    I don't have Spatial Sound, but Dolby Headphone it totally "misses" with my ears/brain and although I can hear it doing something to the sound I never hear sounds coming from behind.     

Re: Windows 'Spatial Sound' settings

Reply #3 –
Quote from: DVDdoug on
Are you listening to a test file that checks the 6 channels separately?   Maybe it's muting the non-dominate channels moment-to-moment (sort-of like what Pro Logic does)?
It was a test signal being played for a short duration on each channel separately.