# Sirius music in surround sound???



## dbdsac (Nov 17, 2003)

I listen to channel 6016, The Vault, a lot and every so often the DJ announces that certain songs are played in "surround sound", though my Denon A/V receiver, which will detect multi-channel and automatically switch to Dolby Digital when it is detected never indicates detecting anything above Pro Logic II. What am I missing here???  

I assumed I would be able to pick-up the surround signal through my optical digital cable just like a 5.1 movie, but.... :nono2: 

Maybe the actual Sirius receivers are setup with multi-channel anolog outs like an SACD/DVD-A player and that is the only way to receive the surround signal???

Is anyone out there up to speed on this?


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## dbdsac (Nov 17, 2003)

Anybody???


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## toomuchtv (May 17, 2002)

I, too, have seen that but, like you, do not receive it in DD5.1 from E*. It certainly would be nice but really doubt it will ever happen.


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## BFG (Jan 23, 2004)

If he mentioned surround, it's probably just your standard stereo matrix Dolby Surround, cause all the send out is Stereo, so it would'nt be DD5.1


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## dfergie (Feb 28, 2003)

I've seen that on my Jvc pnp also, alas I'm in my truck when I do...


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## RoadRunner (Jun 17, 2004)

Sorry, I had meant to repond to this post, then got distracted by work and life.  Here's a link to the PR release from Sirius announcing this in January on SiriusBackStage Here's the most pertinant part, that seems to address your question:


> SIRIUS has chosen to adopt the Dolby Pro Logic II as the standard for encoding. The surround sound feature is compatible with virtually all surround sound audio systems already on the market for both the home and the car, including such names as Logic 7(TM), Circle Surround(TM), Dolby Pro Logic I & II(TM), DTS(TM) and more.


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## dbdsac (Nov 17, 2003)

Thanks for the replies. I was beginning to think that I was the only person that noticed this issue! 

Frankly, I was pretty excited to think that maybe Sirius figured out a way to broadcast music in a true multi-channel format. I was impressed! I wondered about the legality of broadcasting in true multi-channel since SACD/DVD-A players cannot legally use digital output cables for multi-channel for fear of consumers recording the signals.

When I heard the DJ say, "...surround sound..." I assumed he was playing a multi-channel SACD or multi-channel DVD/A, either of which would give me five discreet channels of sound. It is my opinion that telling the listeners they are about to hear a song in "surround sound" is a little misleading if all we are going to get is Pro-Logic. We, the listeners, can utilize Pro-Logic II to decode standard two-channel stereo music to achieve simulated surround sound any time we want. What's the difference?

I still like my Sirius, but I am a little disappointed...


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## toomuchtv (May 17, 2002)

Certainly still has better sound quality than the MUZAK channels.


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## dbdsac (Nov 17, 2003)

It sounds wonderful, please don't misunderstand me. I was just expecting to hear true discreet multi-channel music (5.1) when I heard the DJ say, "surround sound." It was just a let-down when all I got was Pro-Logic. I can hear that any ol' time I want.


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## RoadRunner (Jun 17, 2004)

Here's the press release in it's entirety. I've highlighted a few things in reponse to dbdsac's comments.


> New Feature Won't Require Any Additional Hardware for Consumers
> 
> LAS VEGAS and NEW YORK, Jan. 7 -- CES -- SIRIUS Satellite Radio, known for delivering the very best in commercial-free music and premium sports programming to cars and homes across the country, today demonstrated the first surround sound capabilities for satellite radio with a matrix surround signal over one of SIRIUS' music streams.
> 
> ...


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## dbdsac (Nov 17, 2003)

RoadRunner-
Thanks for the info. I can understand their line-of-thinking; not wanting to leave people out that have not yet invested in true multi-channel receivers (backwards compatible). Some of the older A/V receivers are capable of Pro-Logic decoding, but nothing more.

It does sound, however, like they do have plans to introduce true multi-channel broadcasts in the near future. This is wise on their part as it will put them on the cutting edge of broadcast technology and many of us will be able to enjoy it. I wonder if there will be any legal issues they have to deal with? 

I will be looking forward to this.


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