Nintendo Further Angers Technophiles: Dolby Digital Out

I do hope you guys realise that Dolby Pro Logic II (which Wii supports) is also surround sound, just not as good quality.
I had a full 5.1 surround sound system for all 3 consoles; there wasn't much difference between Pro Logic II on Rogue Leader and Digital 5.1 on Halo 2, to be honest.

Spong, i'd suggest you do some research before posting bullshit statements like these. It's not helping the -not exactly positive- image most people have of you.

Years ago -when GCN launched- i asked a sound engineer what the exact difference was between pro logic II and 5.1 digital, because i was worried it didn't support surround. Basically, the main difference is that it's not digital and uses a matrix to output surround sound through stereo cables. The result: most people don't notice the difference. Especially not through the crappy surround systems most have hooked up.

So, it may not be as good as DD 5.1, but it certainly can output great surround. I guess you guys never played Rogue Squadron II.

I can see their confusion though, back in the day Pro Logic was a joke because it had no rear channel separation. The same audio was sent to right-rear and left-rear.

That changed with PL 2.0. Perhaps Spong never got the memo?

FWIW the Gamecube uses PL 2.0 and the vast majority of PS2 games do as well. It would be nice to have DD or DTS, but I don't see how it's a requirement.

This is stupid, most people will hook the Wii up to their TV and play it. very few people care about DD in a videogame, ost people play in their room, i know i do. Why waste the big tv with the DD on a videogame. Its much better for movies.

I too find that the lack of true surround DD is a complete shame for this system, especially with the cool things you could do with the wiimote speaker.

By the way, dpl2 does simulated surround sound but does not have discrete surround sound. This means that it cheats the system by using audio tricks to mulitplex the audio from 2 sources to 5.1 sources. The problem is that the resulting audio is not as surround specific as using 5.1 discrete audio channels to deliver the sound.

It really is a smoke and mirrors type of audio trick that produces audio out of the rear speakers, but there really are no real rear channels. If hearing something behind you was completely crucial to gameplay (like in an fps) it would be much harder to perceive the sound in dlp2 in comparison to 5.1 or higher DD.

I know they cannot make rear sound completely crucial because not everybody has surround setups, but with all the cool things you could do with the wiimote's speaker and true DD i feel as though they are cutting their potential short by lacking this very important feature. I mean it is 5 years after ps2 and xbox came out and thy both had it.

What parts of it were bullshit? I read it, and after reading your comment, I re-read it. And I can't see any bullshit. It merely says that Wii won't have 5.1 surround. Which is true. It also says that that is a shame. And it is!

Only bullshit I can see is your rampant Nintendo fanboyism.

The article doesn't even mention Pro Logic II. But if you can't hear the difference between Pro Logic II and true 5.1, you need to get your ears (or your head) examined.

And if Wii does support ProLogic, it only does so in the way any other stereo sound source (CD, audio tape, vinyl) can "support" it. The Pro Logic signal is matrix encoded in the stereo signal. It requires an external amplifier with a Pro Logic II decoder to use it.

...

Good thing spong does their homework.

And you can't really make DD 5.1 a requirement, many people don't really care if they have sound coming from the back. And if you start forcing people to buy surround systems because the games require it, you will lose customers.

The damn Wiimote has a speaker, I'm not really concerned if I'm getting "true" surround sound. I've got a hefty 7.1 system, and really, the side and back speakers provide ambience, all the "important" sound is coming from the front.

If you want immaculate sound and insane visuals, I suggest building a PC. I really doubt a "technofile" is going to be buying a Wii for its superior tech any way.

Sometimes people have too much to complain about, go preorder a PS3 already, can have all the hi def, and 23543.1 surround sound you want.



I'm pretty sure that if you're going to have a 5.1 system, you're going to have an amp any way...

from the newsfeed that brought me here (note the descirption) :-


see teh

That's our description. And in reality it's true. Wii only supports stereo. Though, of course, this enables developers to USE Dolby Pro Logic II. But that requires users to have a Pro Logic II decoder in their amplifier, not all 5.1 speaker systems, particulalry those favoured by gamers, have this...

Regardless if many people have it or not, the description overshadows the truth of the matter. It does offer a form of surround sound, just it's not extremely accessible. It's not that the system itself doesnt offer it rather it is upon the consumer to have the right equipment, therefore I can't agree with the description.

No, it doesn't. The Wii does not have surround sound.



In the same way that the 8-Track cartridge in my brothers 1973 Ford Cotrina did, or that two perfect pitch singers inn close harmony might.



No, for a system to "offer" surround, it MUST have a surround decoder built in, and offer 4/5/7 channels of discreet output. ANY stereo device can carry a Dolby Pro Logic II signal, but that signal cannot be heard without decoding circuits, even if you have a 5.1 speaker system.

The Wii does not have those circuits.

Following your logic, it would be correct to say that any car is capable of going into earth orbit, as long as the user has a space shuttle in order to access the functionality. That is logically analogous to the assertion that the Wii "offers" surround capability.

Right.

now for actual fact and truth on the subject; instead of the complete idiot who post this bs above me ^(doctordee)<for the idiots.

dolby prologic II and dolby prologic IIx are both recieved and transmitted along standard rca audio cables and can be found in every A/V reciever out that is a current line supported model, and in some cases there are even some HTIB(home theater in a box) units that dont support a PLII capable unit.Let me just say PLII decoding in a unit is affordable.

ok now to FACTOR 5 oh and I expect you people at spong to know this one, for it is your mistake you see factor five worked in close cohorts with nintendo while they developed their gamecube infact the gamecube does have some type of hardwaRE surround sound processing chip in which factor 5 developed the ability to encode true independent yet compressed 5.1 surround along two rca cables, the trick is factor had time to study how PLII decodes and so they figured a way compress 5.1 along 2 RCA and thats awesome and it works great in game such as Rouge leader, eternal darkness, mario sunshine, and ofcourse the metroid prime games as well.

point being gamecube does use hardware when outputting surround and that if i am not mistaken i read or got initially linked to spong back in the day too an article spong its self wrote but for the detailed info i did go to some outside link sry don't remember if spong has it it would be good to bust out yourselves for your not necessarily lying just leaving some facts out but thats controversial news ya and thats how ya get popular.

Erm, Dude. That's just a picture of some logos. Without any context, or a reference to its source, it's meaningless.

Fanboy!