Dolby Pro Logic on Modern Receivers

[@RetroRGB]

Please post here and let us know if your receiver works and with which format - Just include the brand, model and if a specific mode needs to be selected for surround to be enabled.

[@theonewhowrotethis5681]

@@mrfujisawa Can confirm this is the same with the Denon AVR-X3400H (besides maybe the Surround Parameters setting as I haven't used that to disable stuff). I use this whenever I play Dolby Digital Surround games like Majora's Mask and Super Mario Sunshine after they're upscaled through the Retrotink 5x Pro.

[@Serpens6]

Was not expecting this work on my PC setup as I am watching it through a browser! I don't remember this working before with other tests, but I am using a Vizio S4251w-B4 set to Dolby Audio through a Sound Blaster Z, got a few more I can test later. All tests produced the expected results.

[@TarsusIV]

All test patterns work on my Yamaha RX-V385, a fairly recent low-end 5.1 receiver, with mode set to "Sur.Decode" and decoder set to "DPL Game" (there's also a "DPL Movie" and "DPL Music"). I've played Gamecube games via a GCHD-mkII this way. Other enhanced modes provide surround but "Straight" does not (as expected). The manual also advertises support for DTS Neo:6.

[@VinnyCThatWhoIBe]

@@mrfujisawa was going to test my X3700H but I'll just assume you saved me the trouble

[@myretronation]

I am using a Yamaha Aventage RX-A3050 No problems decoding Dolby Surround games on SNES and Dolby Pro-Logic games on GameCube and Wii so long as I remember to manually enable one of the various DPL IIx modes This is a damn good reason to play Samurai Shodown on SNES :) My receiver supports DTS Neo as well, but I never bothered experimenting with it And of course discrete 5.1 and 7.1 and Atmos work without any issues whatsoever

[@delacosta78]

Hello, a little correction here, Dolby Stereo is also surround encoded, what happens is, Dolby Stereo is the commercial name that was used for theaters setups while Dolby Surround was the commercial name used for home theater setups, after that, the Original Dolby Surround was enhanced to support a center channel named Dolby Pro Logic, later came Dolby Pro logic II which sports a stereo surround channel, then Dolby Pro Logic IIx arrived with an stereo surround back channel for 7.1 setups, Dolby Pro Logic IIz was later introduced to sport a front high channels speakers and finally, the latest Dolby Surround upmixer released in 2014 along with Dolby Atmos to take advantage of the front high or top speakers. I've been building two Dolby Surround playlists here on KZbin with some original encoded Dolby Surround videos and also games encoded in Dolby Surround and Dolby Pro Logic II, take a look!: Dolby Surround and Pro Logic II games: kzbin.info/aero/PLz7DJWigAF9cRbiUAciEtA7APHTv88Zsl Dolby Surround Mix: kzbin.info/aero/PLz7DJWigAF9cesBKSad3L9-KiP54yT8Lj

[@peterbaugh51]

The Fred clip was a good one 😄

[@delacosta78]

@@peterbaugh51 Yeah!

[@TheK1ngFiasco]

Wow, I knew this was going to be useful for my retro stuff but I didn't anticipate how useful it is for my current headphones on my PC! By messing with my settings, I can clearly hear how my headphones process "surround sound" and can dial things in to make it all sound better. Thanks!

[@retrosean199]

Can confirm, the test patterns worked perfectly streamed over KZbin, through my TV, sending through eARC, to an audio extractor, to Toslink, into Logitech 5.1 speakers in Dolby Pro Logic II movie mode 😃

[@gillestebaldi7811]

Just to add more details, Dolby prologic is producing only 4 channels (L, R, C and mono surround). Further Prologic 2 was released and it produce 5 channels with more precision

[@mjy]

I still have my first AV receiver that I bought back in the early '90s (Pioneer VSX-9900S) which provided my first Dolby Pro Logic surround experience at home. I've purchased many others since then (and still have those as well), but there was just something special about that one. Loads of analog inputs, too, and has been my go-to for phono listening as well as my Laserdisc player to this day.

[@VinnyCThatWhoIBe]

I've notice that when it comes to retro hardware, almost nobody prioritizes a good speaker setup to go with their fancy CRTs / PVMs / whatever. I realize maybe NES and what not aren't really going to take advantage but then you have games like Ocarina of Time that deserve at least a 5.1 surround system.

[@uliseshumbertosaucedacordo874]

Ocarina of time had sorround sound

[@JayTheComputerGuy]

@@uliseshumbertosaucedacordo874yeah… that’s why he said it should have a 5.1 system

[@SumeaBizarro]

Even some SNES games had apparently dolby surround sound. Some used it without naming dolby to avoid paying licenses as many of these stereo encoding surround/quad formats are very similar. You can for example listen to old (style) quad LP's with Dolby Pro Logic decoding. I myself love myself good speakers, and could output my CRT TV with RCA cables to my amp. Only bummer is that my CRT TV is off center as my main flat screen is there but I can always switch around the TV's own speakers. A Sizeable Sony crt from 2000's is not a slouch in sound, qt least if modern flat screen speakers are the competition.

[@Saturn2888]

I used this stuff as a kid and enabled upmixing (Dolby Surround) on 2-channel content just in case an older movie is Dolby Surround, but the disc didn't have a 5.1 track available.

[@peterbaugh51]

Even my old DOS Terminal Velocity game has surround mode. Still a blast to play (pun intended). Using DOSBOX to run old games in Windows... The PC and TV go into my stereo. 😄

[@_BELMONT_]

been loving this audio series lately! after doing all my rgb mods it's time to move on to sound!

[@JeremyHumberson]

i do like seeing audio focused videos like this. always feels like it always takes a back seat to just graphics and sharper and sharper pixels.

[@ChristopherJDeo]

This audio series is excellent! Pro logic was always a mystery to me in the old days. Terrible branding for an analog surround solution😂. Great work on this. Loved it

[@brantisonfire]

I have an old Onkyo receiver with Pro Logic decoding. It's amazing how well it sounds even when watching a VHS. The opening scene of Saving Private Ryan with Pro Logic surround activated, it is fairly immersive.

[@HydraSpectre1138]

There are also some Dolby Stereo audio tracks on Blu-ray releases, mostly of older films. I know many Criterion releases with DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks recommend turning on Pro Logic. Shout! Factory also has a lot of DTS-HD MA 2.0 tracks with Dolby Stereo (particularly Escape from New York, Halloween II, Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Feature Film, and most of Studio Ghibli’s films from 1986 to 1994). Some Arrow releases also have Dolby Stereo. Many Fox/MGM releases have an alternate Dolby Stereo audio track alongside the 5.1 remix. Some releases such as The Secret of NIMH are Dolby Stereo-only. Lastly, many Bandai Namco Blu-ray releases explicitly state Dolby Surround. As mentioned, many Studio Ghibli Blu-rays also have Dolby Stereo tracks on the Blu-rays. They are guaranteed for the Dolby Stereo films in Japan, and more hit-or-miss in other releases.

[@audie-cashstack-uk4881]

there's stereo only titles on netflic prime etc that state stereo indicating no surround but there sound tracsk all from the original source have Dolby in them be it multi -channel stereo , quad Dolby 3d stereo pro logic and your receiver soundbar etc will detect that and reproduce it sonos does all this AUTO MATIC you do not pre choose a output mode if using a receiver choose pro logic 2 or atmos upmix and ENJOY

[@celebrategout1008]

thanks for the heads-up. I was wondering which movies snuck pro logic ii in modern releases/releases

[@roboconker]

Conkers Bad Fur Day N64 has dolby prologic and it sounds freaking amazing, the same with Metroid Prime 3, truly amazing stuff what a stereo encoded signal can do.

[@lulkLogan]

All 3 Metroid Primes have it. The hornets buzzing around you in MP1 is a memory that stands out

[@codezero7981]

Conker has Dolby Surround whereas all three Metroid Prime games have Dolby Prologic II regardless they all sound amazing.

[@crcomments8509]

Centre Spread was primarily for use by people that didn’t actually have a centre speaker. Back then most TV’s were CRT so a centre speaker had to be specifically magnetically shielded as it was placed so close to the TV, otherwise the picture would suffer with colour distortion. Many people did not bother buying a specific speaker for this. The left and right hand speaker could usually be placed further away, so didn’t necessarily require shielding.

[@VideogameBucko]

Denon X4500H here, works perfectly with the tests in Dolby Surround mode. Confirmed using KZbin app on the LG Oled with eARC and on Windows desktop. On Windows you will need to select stereo output as your speaker configuration, choosing any of the surround modes breaks compatibility. I'm not aware of any PC titles that ever supported pro logic as the PC always had its own surround sound formats so this isn't something you're likely to encounter while PC retro gaming.

[@uliseshumbertosaucedacordo874]

If you play a Dolby surround game like ocarina of time, majora mask or conker's bad fur day on Mupen64 or project64 Or final fantasy 9 on whatever emulator... Would it work?

[@andywise8825]

This is some good content, I don't think that everyone knows these details. This even applies to modern consoles like the series X and allowing pass through for blurays for example and letting your receiver decide the proper audio formats.

[@rentoptional1524]

Denon 760H Dolby Surround. Worked with both a Wii and SNES Jr. through a RetroTink 5x over component and a Super NT over HDMI. Its nice to know that the Analogue console processes sound identically as a real SNES.

[@asimmatin3507]

Okay, so I tried the test videos on my 5.2.4 Atmos setup. And it worked correctly. Both Using Atmos Dsur and DTS Neural:X. It ignored all four ceiling speakers. In both tests, it correctly isolated, Left, Right, Center, and playing in both surround speakers. The Tie Fighter Sound properly circled all five speakers. It did not artificially try to pipe the left, right or surround signals into the ceiling speakers. I also tested it in the 7.1 setup in my bedroom which has an older receiver. The first test came out okay. The Surround channel came out of all four rear speakers equally. But the second test was a bit wonky when I played it using straight Pro Logic. I seemed to get at least a little sound out of each speaker at all times. This applied for all the speakers. When it was that speaker's "turn" it did play the white noise the loudest. The surround "turn" played from all four speakers equally. But then I switched to Pro Logic II and it stopped doing that. Each channel was discreet and it ignored the surround back speakers completely. The Tie Fighter circling seemed to play correctly. I could hear no sound from the rear speakers when the sound was in the front and vice versa. Because of the placement, I could not tell if it was the same sound in the side surround and rear surround speakers or it was traveling from one to the other. When I just listened to it from my bed, I could hear the circling. But it was not as obvious as in my living room. Both tests were run using HDMI and ARC.

[@RetroRGB]

Thank you for posting your results! Pretty interesting the PLII test didn't work as well!

[@NERD-FROM-THE-SOUTH]

Im a year late bob but I just picked up a pioneer sx-316 and hooked it up to my crt. Its been really good for a system that's over 20 years old. Many swear by it. And for $20 at a local thrift store it was a no brainer to pick up. Appreciate this helpful video.

[@NERD-FROM-THE-SOUTH]

I must say,you truly do appreciate your fans and love this hobby. You responding to a comment on a video you made a year ago is extremely rare for creators to do. I'm grateful for your hard work and dedication. Hope to meet you one day.

[@videoj4281]

I bought the same model for my retro room and the results were amazing with HiFi Dolby Surround VHS.

[@NERD-FROM-THE-SOUTH]

@videoj4281 yes sir! I enjoy it! Thanks for sharing 👍

[@KeyToTime]

I have an old but very high quality Sony STR-DB930 AV receiver. It has the original ProLogic but not ProLogic II. The first two tests work exactly as you expect with 4 channels very clearly. As you might expect, the ProLogic II test at the end works in only 4 channels with the sound for the rear speakers just coming through as a single mono sound played through both speakers.

[@itchyisvegeta]

Really enjoying these sound videos being put out now. Not enough vids on good video game stereo stuff, since most people focus on head sets this day and age.

[@MizoxNG]

be aware that in 2014, Dolby released a new matrix decoder under the "Dolby Surround" brand, which is similar to but not exactly the same as the previous Dolby pro logic ii decoder, and as such, sound systems made after this date (primarily ones with Atmos capability) which simply mention "dolby surround" and do not carry the pro logic or pro logic II branding may produce output inconsistent with the original intentions of the mix.

[@RetroRGB]

Which is why I made a video that included test patterns, so people can verify their own setups ;p

[@celebrategout1008]

passive aggressive ;p@@RetroRGB

[@ZacabebOTG]

The method of decoding is very different (and more robust) but the Dolby Surround Upmixer looks for the same level and phase relationships as Dolby Pro Logic II. The difference is that some of the diffuse sound is reproduced by the height channels if present, but that is done also by Dolby Pro Logic IIz. DSU was in fact developed specifically for decoding of Dolby Surround (MP matrix) and Dolby Pro Logic II encoded content, as a replacement for Dolby Pro Logic II's Movie mode. Dolby felt it didn't need any modifications for upmixing non-encoded content like stereo music other than a center spread mode, which is why it doesn't have separate Movie and Music modes. It does however also leave out the legacy options of Dolby Pro Logic II, like the mono surround (Pro Logic emulation) mode. That can be an issue. Dolby Pro Logic II in turn was originally developed by Jim Fosgate for upmixing stereo music and then given a bespoke movie mode on top of its original mode when Dolby acquired it. While DSU sounds quite different because of much higher channel separation and inclusion of height channels to spread out diffuse sounds, it isn't a completely incorrect rendition of the encode, but more unforgiving. 🙂

[@computerkid1416]

Dolby Pro Logic is awesome. I love playing GameCube and Wii games in a way I've never done before. On the movie side of things, I love playing around with listening to movies in their original "Dolby Stereo" tracks from the pre-digital days. For example, Star Wars' stereo track as opposed to the dedicated 5.1 one. It's also nice for watching KZbin videos with a dedicated center channel for dialog.

[@audie-cashstack-uk4881]

BINGO MANY GC AND WII GAMES HAVE AMAZING 5.1 7.1 SUROUND MANY TIMES WAY BETTER THAN PS2 due to the stereo being hi res and added dolby codx instead of heavy compression dd 5.1 also the gamecubes ans wiis sound chip was best in clas for reproducing in game sounds vs xbox and ps2 they may have supportd more OUTPUT LICENCES but gc and wii supported BETTER PROCESSING of sound IN GAME eternal darkness to this day is a surround in game fav of mine. and cod wii had amazing 5.1 even online. i had a orignal dvd of the crow Brandon lee...it had a pro logic 2 mix i swear was better than any dd5.1 dvd i had heard at the time wondaful sounding mix..there are people in audiophile forums online still spreading the myth pro logic wasnt a codec for surround and only upmisxed stereo and pro logic mixing doesnt exist AND THERE CLAIMING AUDIOPHILE STATUS WHIST SAYING IT lol there are yt ers still mixing there yt videos in it to this day. i detest liars

[@GR-xc1hq]

They all work on sonos beam with one sl’s through eARC on C9 Oled. This was the most channel accurate video on youtube. Plenty of others play rear as front and sometimes no sub tone. Idk what u did but it worked 100% flawlessly for proper channels

[@ElricSowrd]

It's been a longtime. I remember that some movies back in the VHS days support Dolby Surround. There are a couple of games for Super Famicom and a handful of games for the original Playstation that I know support Dolby Sound: Tales Of Phantasia, Seiken Densetsu 3, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX.

[@r3tr0r0x7]

as someone with a Classic Pro Logic Receiver this was a pretty cool Call Back and was actually the only way i figured out to clump the 2 Back Speakers together for that proper Listening Position of old N64 Games can't wait to see more also this does work with Rare Replays Jet Force Gemini and Conkers Bad Fur Day as both of those games utilized Dolby Surround so thats extremely cool to see

[@pokepress]

Also worth noting that some receivers will mix a surround signal into Dolby Headphones when using the headphones jack. It gives a pretty good simulation of surround sound when using headphones.

[@EsaKarjalainen]

Hearing true surround from my 2 channel stereo when played through my old-ish amp was pretty wild. I thought I wouldn't get to experience surround yet, even though I just recently set up some test speakers.

[@peterbaugh51]

Surround is in the mix. I hear all the effects in the tests with only two speakers and a class D amp with tube preamp. My speakers are cross streamed and tilted up 7 degrees. The TV and speakers are at a 30 degree angle out from the back wall, and the seating area is parallel to the sound stage. This makes full 360 surround sound with Elac DBR62 speakers. AV receivers just separate the effects and send each to a separate amp, then to a single speaker for each part of the mix. Then you can adjust the volume of each speaker to get the surround mix you want. With two speakers, you only hear surround when facing the sound stage. With 5.1 and multiple speakers you hear surround always, if surround is in the mix. A sub is not needed if your speakers and amp can play low and loud enough. Mine go 30 to 30khz, so full enough range. Great for movies and music. Sound even comes from other rooms sometimes... My room is on the small side. Larger rooms will benefit from more speakers. Thanks for the test. They really worked even on my two channel system!

[@kristopheralonge2813]

wow I've been looking for good info on this for years! Thanks Bob!

[@alextirrellRI]

Looking forward to trying this tomorrow on my setup. I only hope KZbin's audio compression doesn't compromise the test patterns! EDIT: Actually, just listening to them in 2 channel on laptop speakers is impressive, so I'm pretty sure it's good!

[@jennifersmith5216]

I've been waiting for a video about this! Thank you, Bob!

[@Edward135i]

2:55 Center Spread is really for listening to music in Surround sound, because typically the decoder will collapse the stereo signal of music all to the center speaker and you'll lose your stereo imaging, strange that that was enabled by default in your AVR.

[@RetroRGB]

Thanks!

[@dtbjason]

While collecting my crt horde past couple of years I couldn't help but pick up some receivers/vhs ect... usually found at same dump spots. Will definitely look into this and report back my findings.

[@AxelsVirtue]

I've wanted to know about thiis for some time but the mot I could find were some tech forum posts saying that pro logic encoded sources should theoretically work correctly in modern Pro Logic, Neural X and Auro 3D modes. It's really nice to have a way to actually test it. Now we need something similar for DTS Interactive that a handful of old games support. (such as some of the SSX games)

[@StiffPeak]

I tried this via my Yamaha rx-v681 and it decoded the audio nicely but I believe its only a pseudo surround sound as I think pro logic (II & x) has been dropped on most modern amps, I also tested it on my M1 MacBook Pro and amazingly it gives a great virtualisation of having surround speakers, the speaker setup in this Mac constantly shocks me! Incidentally on my old amp I used to use that surround test from Rogue Leader to impress my friends back in the day 😆

[@RetroRGB]

If the audio comes out of only the intended speaker (or two rear for original Surround/Pro Logic), thebn it's real, not pseudo.

[@tylerspin2417]

On my Insignia HC-040917 all the test patterns worked as intended. I had the amp set to Pro Logic II Cinema Mode but it also worked perfectly on DTS Neo: 6.

[@tylerspin2417]

As a side note these test patterns also work well on my JVC RX-5022v amp set on Pro Logic II Movie mode.

[@chrisfratz]

I recently got a surround sound set up and I have it hooked up directly to my PCs motherboard audio, and one thing I realized was that asrock had a partnership with creative so you can use their sound blaster connect software on certain models of asrock motherboards, mine was supported and it had a surround sound virtualizer feature and so I decided to try that with the prologic tests. It passed all of them. I am super excited at that fact, I can't believe it passed them all. In case you're curious what I did was I set the sound mode to movie mode and turned off all of the enhancements except for the surround sound and bass which I couldn't change.

[@chrisfratz]

It should be noted that I have a PC surround sound setup so I have it hooked up to my PC with three analog 3.5 mm cables, I don't know if it would work if you were going digital out of it through optical.

[@Auspice75]

Hey Bob, DTS Neural X is an upmixer so it make sense you'd get surround from Dolby content there too. I'm a huge fan of using it in my home theater to get sound from my front wides (in 9.2.4) from things like Dolby Atmos content that's usually locked to a 7 channel bed layer. In retro gaming, I find that it really helps with immersion since it does a fantastic job with some of these older surround formats too.

[@RetroRGB]

I've tried toggling it in different scenarios and sometimes like it, sometimes don't. I love stuff like this though - It's 100% subjective, so there's no wrong answer. And with these test patterns, you can at least confirm the decoding :)

[@Auspice75]

@@RetroRGB Totally agree and thanks for the reminder, I need to update your pinned comment with my test results!

[@mattskins5323]

Its funny you mention that "Center Spread Feature" about Pro Logic, on Pro Logic II Music mode for a lot of recievers it seems to USE that function automatically with Music mode, and NOT for Movie Mode which is interesting.

[@alexsmith1948]

Even if you have only two speakers, you can still use Dolby Surround/Pro Logic in games and other media; it'll just cause sounds behind you to sound like they're in your head. It works great for headphones, and is maybe just passable for two speakers. Of course, I will eventually have more speakers and an amp someday! 🙂

[@kricku]

I noticed the effect on my freaking tablet 😂

[@sonigokuu]

Even if it can't do true surround sound, it still sounds better than TV speakers (which is fine by me.) Speaking of which, I ran this test on my 43" LG 4K TV with a Yamaha ATS-1050 soundbar hooked via Toslink. The surround effects aren't too bad.

[@railerswim]

Rogue Squadron II and III are good for testing dolby pro logic as they have tie fighter surround sound tests in the extras menu

[@RetroRGB]

You mean like the exact test I showed in this video? :)

[@railerswim]

@RetroRGB you totally did, I didn't get all the way through before I comented Bob, my bad haha

[@RetroRGB]

All good! :)

[@battokizu]

My Yamaha rx-385 works phenomenally, however make sure to select the one for either game/music/movie for whatever your listening to. Also in windows 10-11, you need to set the configuration to actually setting 5.1/7.1/atmos/dts-x as it might not be available initially.

[@Krycek7o2]

TIL I learned my JBL Bar 9.1 Soundbar can properly decode Dolby Surround. I gotta bring back my Pioneer CLD-D704 back into my entertainment center in my office. Having a fully set up 7.1 home theater and the Bar 9.1 for atmos in my home office has paid off.

[@satsun]

I have a Denon AVR-3806 with 7.1 speakers connected to my PC via HDMI through the GPU. For your video, I set the Windows speaker config to stereo, then set the AVR to ProLogic IIx. Your segment transitions appear hit the surround speakers and the surround test worked properly in all speakers. The requirements for decoding ProLogic are simple: 1. The content must have been mastered for ProLogic, 2. The output (from game console, computer, video player, etc.) must be 2-channel/stereo, 3. The audio playback device must be able to decode the ProLogic. I've not tested GC/Wii emulation, but ProLogic from SNES emulation works. Set Windows to output stereo, enable ProLogic in the game, set AVR to use a ProLogic mode. Fatal Fury Special on SNES is a good demo. I played Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4 in ProLogic on GC and Wii consoles years ago, worked very well.

[@waterheart95]

Pro Logic should work on Dolphin since it has support for its decoding in the options.

[@angaj]

What about digital content like movies and music? Any clue where to find PLIIx content?

[@kcg795]

Worked perfectly with my Sound Blaster Z SE in DTS:Neo mode hooked up to my LG 5.1 sound bar.

[@albertpintor3522]

Just about 4 years ago I had our 1996 Kenwood pro logic system in our living and it was still pretty immersive even though Im so used to my modern setup with new dolby surround and atmos

[@trexslapfight]

Bob, you rule. Happy Holidays.

[@RetroRGB]

No Eric, YOU rule :)

[@lulkLogan]

Thanks for the video, I was wondering how well modern receivers handle this legacy stuff.

[@TheEricsnet1]

Thanks for these vids. I still have my old Onkyo which supports both digital and analog surround modes in 6.1. I know my new Yamaha TSR 700 doesn't support any of the old surround pro logic formats. Dolby surround test works great in neo6 cinema mode as does pro logic test. Pro logic II test sounds freaky but in a good way!

[@ZacabebOTG]

When it comes to content, Dolby Surround is the same whether it was made before or after the introduction of Dolby Pro Logic. Early Dolby Stereo movies used a greatly modified version of the Sansui QS matrix for encoding, but this was soon refined into the MP (Motion Picture) matrix. Games could use a variety of methods to encode Dolby Surround, ranging from simple polarity inversion to steer sound into the surround channel to full realtime, by-the-book MP matrix encoding. It all came down to what was technically feasible for the hardware. Content marked Dolby Pro Logic II is encoded to take full advantage of Dolby Pro Logic II's ability to decode stereo surround and skips the 7 kHz lowpass filter and Dolby B-type noise reduction that were used on the surround channel in the MP matrix. It still decodes fairly well with the original Dolby Pro Logic. When it comes to decoding, things get more interesting. In their cinema processors, when Dolby Stereo was introduced in 1975, it initially used a primitive method for decoding a center channel by playing the sum of left and right over the center speaker. To improve perceived separation, the left and right outputs were delayed a few milliseconds and the gain of the left, center, and right outputs adjusted by a few decibels based on the difference in level and phase between left and right, a process called gain-riding. When surround was added in 1976, the surround channel was decoded separately by a modified Sansui Vario-Matrix decoder, working in tandem with the gain-riding center channel logic. In 1979, Dolby licensed the Tate Directional Enhancement System, or DES for short, for use in the cinema processors. It was a sophisticated logic system that could theoretically enhance channel separation with any of the quadraphonic matrices and was adapted to decode all four channels of the Dolby MP matrix far better than the previous method used. When the Dolby MP matrix entered the consumer market in 1981/1982, Dolby couldn't sublicense the Tate DES to manufacturers, so Dolby Surround products used a passive decoder without any steering logic and without a center channel. (Shure developed their own steering logic called Acra Vector which was paired with Dolby Surround given Dolby's blessing, and which had a center channel output.) Meanwhile, Dolby needed a better and cheaper steering logic than the Tate DES in their cinema processors, so they developed a replacement. Not long after they introduced it in their cinema processors, starting in 1987 they licensed it to the consumer market as Dolby Surround Pro Logic, providing full steering logic and a center channel output. Dolby Pro Logic was also marketed without a surround channel as Dolby 3 Stereo, to add further confusion.

[@MrWolfTickets]

Great video, thank you so much for putting this together

[@timmygebhard]

This is an excellent resource.

[@LouisBee]

I am a big fan of Pro Logic. I know if you ever want to compress video captures using Handbrake, and happen to have ac3 5.1 as audio, it will often default to re-encoding the output for Pro Logic since it plays much nicer with most devices and web streaming sites. I did a video playthrough of Resistance: Fall of Man this way and was really happy with the results.

[@Andystuff800]

Dolby Pro Logic has been largely abandoned by the industry and very little modern hardware supports it, meanwhile youtube has added actual surround sound support (it re-encodes everything to Dolby Digital), so there is no reason to encode to DLP anymore.

[@max06250184]

Bang Olufsen AV 9000 : Pro Logic Mode (5 Speakers) : Sourround Test OK, Pro Logic Test OK, Pro Logic II so-so (as this is a branded Pro Logic receiver and not II it may be normal !)

[@anthonyyu2722]

Used the Pro Logic II Movie setting on my Logitech z5500 for the rear effects to come through with the last three tests, otherwise left/right fronts and center work through sound card just fine on a separate computer(Audigy2 ZS had DD/DTS decoding, so it could have explained why I heard a center channel and not the rears). DD PL II Movie audio came through a different computer connected to an HDMI switch, which then got filtered through LG C7 ARC via optical to the speakers with decoding. Enjoyed the Pro Logic II stuff at the end and it reminded me of the PS2 days. OG Xbox had Dolby Digital encoding and it was nice; seemed ahead of its time because no one else was doing it. I remember hearing QSound in arcade games and it's just enhanced stereo, that was enjoyable. These days, I'm fine with good old DD/DTS on the 360/One/One X/Series X so I don't think I'll be splurging on Atmos next. The Switch has some weird surround option that I think only works if you have a receiver that works with PCM surround or whatever it is. That Logitech Z5500 is a beast and still works, since buying it around ~2005(?). Before that it was a Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 and purchased the decoder separately. I love this surround sound stuff.

[@NGEvangeliman]

lol, I am using a jvc receiver from the 90s or early 2000s and it does Pro Logic native. interestingly a lot of newer surround formats seem to work pretty well too in sound tests...

[@cemsengul16]

Wow I was listening to the test patterns on my pc with my G560 speakers and I could hear surround sound.

[@GauravSingh-px8rh]

yes I played surround sound by my cassette walkman too, dolby surrond pro logic 4.1 or pro logic2 5.1 or pro logic2x 6.1, 7.1 or pro logic2z 9.1 or DTS NEO6 6.1 needed and surround recording of the audio also needed.

[@5speedfatty]

Thankfully my TV / Surround sound does all this switching automatically. the TV passes it right through to the surround and the surround has no trouble detecting it. its wild to play things like DOnkeyKnong N64 in surround sound, o r Starfox Adventures Dinosaur Planet. there's so many good retro games that have surround baked in.

[@Batman89959]

Thanks this definitely helped with both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask on My N64.

[@Kumimono]

I thought YT didn't support surround sound. :O But lo, and, indeed, behold, or, equivalent for hearing, that Tie fighter was circling rather menacingly. I have a self refurbished Yamaha RX-V595RDS, not exactly modern, about 2002 vintage, but works well with those patterns.

[@pkkingcrimsonrequiem1332]

More people should use Pro Logic on YT vids to get surround that way.

[@Arrozconchopsticks]

Works just fine on my old Pioneer VSX-60.

[@TheWax70]

My favorite surround test was always the Halo 2 Limited Edition DVD test. Always got a good laugh out of it. 🤣

[@sj7624]

I've heard that the EARS mode on your NAD surround receiver is on of the best surround modes that are better than Dolby Pro Logic and Pro Logic II. The same for Lexicon and Harmon Kardon's Logic 7 Surround mode. On the newest receivers that had Dolby Atmos, they have the new Dolby Surround mode which is a upmixer so you can use all of your Dolby Atmos speakers.

[@RetroRGB]

Oh really? I should try it more often. With digital signals, I usually use "direct" and pass the original audio through.

[@kemy6775]

So I have a Vizio M512 sound bar and it turns out I have to use either the EQ Movie or EQ Game mode. Normally I would use EQ direct for modern 5.1 and Atmos. I can still hear some sound coming off the front speakers faintly for rear channel. Don’t remember if it was always like this using my older Pro Logic systems.

[@ryoandr]

My PC is connected to an HDMI receiver, and to get it to enable (and decode properly) Prologic decoding modes, I had to set windows ouput to stereo ; if set to 5.1 the surround decode button did nothing. Yamaha HTR-2067

[@nattila7713]

worked with my denon 3810 as expected. I actually prefer dts neo:6 to "decode" dpl(2) sound :) back channel is a bit more separated in my opinion.

[@TremiRodomi]

Fyi, Dolby Stereo IS Dolby Surround/Pro Logic, it was just what it was called when it was first a thing in theaters. Otherwise great video!

[@RetroRGB]

I've found conflicting information about that. I decided that since I own a LaserDisc that says "Dolby Surround" and another that says "Dolby Pro Logic", that I'd treat them as two separate things, even if they're the same. Basically, I'd rather repeat a test then miss one.

[@pokepress]

Assuming it was properly transferred to Laserdisc/VHS, a Dolby Stereo film soundtrack should sound pretty good on a surround system.

[@izimsi]

An old tablet working as a youtube player -> hdmi -> tv -> spdif -> old onkyo receiver -> 4.1 speakers setup Works fine in PLII music and movie modes. it's sad it's not used in every movie or series that comes with "stereo" sound by default, but with the PLII it sometimes just works pretty by an accident, or tat least the surround speakers are not just muted. Or maybe stuff like movie trailers could be uploaded to KZbin using PLII or a similar encoding.

[@Manco654]

Just FYI, todays Soundbars don't seem to be able to decode Dolby Surround or Pro Logic II (even with dedicated rear speakers), the decoders are probably AVR exclusive.

[@PerfectDarkFore]

art of fighting 1 for the snes has this "stereo exp" and its veeeery good! in a 2 chanel setup, kind of works like q sound, but in 5.1 its amazing

[@stereodark]

I remember my first surround was a creative 5.1 kit from 1994 or so and I drove it with a sound blaster using 2 RCAs as it was all we got (more or less)

[@michaelbeckerman7532]

Where is this Wiki that he is referring to? I would love to read though that and find out more details on all of the various surround sound formats, if possible. Great video!

[@RetroRGB]

consolemods.org/wiki/Comparison_of_game_consoles_by_sound_capabilities I can't believe I forgot to put that in the description! Thanks very much for the reminder.

[@r4zi3lgintoro65]

my onkyo have wierd bug with dolby surround and atmos that makes it really long time to kick in (to detect dolby signal) so I use dts neo 6 for stereo and it works like prologic :)

[@GoTiKYT]

Thanjs Bob!. 😁👍

[@Saturn2888]

I'm wondering if you have any Dolby Stereo and Dolby Surround tests. I thought those were the format and Dolby Pro Logic was the decoder. Also, I'm curious about Pro Logic IIz with its height channels. We're those magic'd in or part of the mix with weird phase adjustments?

[@IvyANguyen]

I'll return once i have a real receiver again but right now I'm using a 'Hafler' setup with 3 speakers (front left, right, and 1 rear, w/ that rear speaker connected to the left & right positive terminals) and I get sound out the rear one with this setup.

[@MrBlank0]

I've been struggling with surround lately. I figured out how to get my amp working with retro stuff and Dolby surround. The PS3 just wouldn't work with a Ratchet and Clank game. No matter what I did, surround sound wouldn't work. Only the rear channels would output. I had to disable all the surround formats in the PS3 settings except for the base Dolby one and then it worked.

[@madmartigan9931]

Does your receiver accept lossless Multichannel PCM via HDMI? That is the best way to get surround sound on PS3. If you are using optical/toslink you are limited to 2 channel PCM or compressed 5.1 Dolby digital and DTS. If you are using optical uncheck the PCM audio options and you will get 5.1 if the game supports Dolby digital.

[@cactoidpinata]

Wow, EuroTrip on VHS?? That movie is from 2004. I completely forgot how long VHS went on for. Great video and topic though. I've always wanted a surround sound setup, but I feel like it dominates the space you want to use. It sure would be cool to go back to GameCube games like Metroid Prime and hear it in surround sound. Back then, I didn't really understand Dolby Pro Logic back then. I thought surround sound had to come from optical or digital coax rca, so I thought it was just a way to widen stereo to simulate surround sound. I think I enabled it in my games and assumed it was fine because I could still hear the game.

[@solarstrike33]

All the way until early 2006 in the US!

[@cactoidpinata]

@@solarstrike33 It blows my mind that DVDs still outsell Blu-rays! I'd completely forgotten that VHS went on for that long.

[@RWL2012]

@@solarstrike33 and still 2004ish in the UK

[@Crlarl]

NEO:6 is basically DTS' version of Pro Logic II.

[@jordanmillraney5481]

Just out of curiosity, does the Pro Logic II/Surround (2014) technology when fed a stereo signal steer any dialogue (if called for) to the center when upmixing to however many channels setup (as most movies that are natively in 5.1/Atmos are) or do they leave the stereo sound (optional with dialogue) unaffected with other sound channels coming to play and having the dialogue be on the fronts (Left, Center, Right)?

[@RetroRGB]

It’s all in how it was programmed. I’d assume the rears are for effects only though.

[@anthonydeloreto3881]

So I have a Vizio M51ax-J6 and I’ve used game mode for PS2 & GameCube games. Does it work out in the same matter as Dolby Pro Logic II? I ask because when I click on info, it reads as LPCM. When I go to my TV settings & set the audio output as pass through, when I click on info on my Vizio remote, it says nothing. If it’s saying nothing, is that actually Dolby Pro Logic II or not?

[@Zero1Zero1]

Just wondering if (for convenience sake) these Pro Logic test sounds could be burned as an audio CD and played back through a PS1? My amp (Sony STR DN-1080) has two main modes "2CH/multi" which has stereo/direct/multi stereo modes and "movie" which has the surround modes such as Dolby Surround and Neural X Regarding Dolby Surround, it is a mode that will take stereo or whatever and upmix it to make fake surround sound, however the manual also says this: "This upmixer is a new and enhanced replacement for the Dolby Pro Logic II technology." I'm not clear if it will decode Pro Logic as it should do, or if it will just take the stereo channels and do it's upmix/fake surround thing to it

[@RetroRGB]

Yes, 100% - Check the main post to download FLAC's: www.retrorgb.com/dolby-pro-logic-on-modern-receivers.html ...and these tests will confirm if your receiver is decoding properly, or adding fake surround.

[@Zero1Zero1]

@@RetroRGB Fantastic, thank you very much

[@h1ghju1ce]

Whoa played this video on my phone (galaxy S10) And it seems to decode the prologic tests correctly, it somehow creates virtual speaker sounds around it Even more impressive (to me) than playing a 4k/HDR+Atmos file 😆

[@Im-om1nq]

yea cause the when you have Dolby Atmos on and it detects Stereo it uses dolby pro logic 2

[@JohnTwo1]

Center spread is a super awesome setting amd should be used when upmixing stereo music to surround. Dolby surround works with denon and yamaha receivers. One thing to note is that the old dolby surround only had 2 front and 1 back channel and the back channel only supports sound in a very limited frequency range. Pro logic support 5 channels and pro logic 2z 7 channels. Current upmixers will try to extrapolate more channels then this, even height channels but results will very.

[@Saturn2888]

Dolby Stereo is Dolby Surround, but the theatrical name. Why did you say not to use that?

[@MrRetrostage]

Testing Resident Evil 2 on N64 which uses Dolby Surround and it works really good. It's awesome to test old games with those capabilities. 🙂

[@MrRetrostage]

Tested it on a Logitech Z906. With "3D mode" or 4.1 option it kinda works but officially, neither Dolby Surround or ProLogic is supported (only DD and DTS). But I can hear everything as it should be.

[@joestepien1264]

I have a JBL 9.1, I converted the analogue signal to digital and connected it through a toslink cable, I saw that its optical input supports Dolby Digital, does that include Pro Logic II? There are no internal menus for me to check this, when I tested a game that I knew used Dolby Digital it appeared on the soundbar's display, while testing something Pro Logic II had nothing appearing on the display.

[@RetroRGB]

Converting between digital and analog shouldn't change anything. But you can use this video to test!

[@Fahrenheit38]

Finally got around to testing this, have a Denon X6300H, using a PC connected to my TV via HDMI, arc out to my AVR (My AVR does not do eARC). As long as your in "Game Mode Dolby Surround" it's flawless. Think i'm gonna grab the Denon AVR S760H from Costco for my game room setup and hope it works the same. The X6300 is my main home theater unit that's in use with my OLED.

[@Formal_Andy]

So, dumb question time. Does your AV receiver have to support Pro Logic II in it's spec information? I'm guessing yes.

[@RetroRGB]

Yes and not all modern ones do. That’s why I put the test sounds at the end - I hoped it would be an easy way for people to tests

[@Formal_Andy]

Thank you so much for replying. It means a ton, your expertise is great. I'm still trying to process all of it because it is complex. From the looks of it, I guess I'm going to have to compromise sound sound on retro consoles since the majority of all modern AV receivers don't support it. @@RetroRGB

[@RetroRGB]

No problem! And you might be able to find an older amp that does Dolby Surround decoding, with RCA, line-level outputs. You can connect that to a newer amp that has 5.1 RCA inputs. Kind of a pain, but doable on a budget.

[@Formal_Andy]

@@RetroRGB Do you know what results would come from a retro console with an HDMI mod?

[@madmartigan9931]

Hey Bob great video. Just some thoughts/suggestions on the topic . I don't know if I would call Pro Logic decoders true surround. There are limitations with pro logic signals so the extra channels besides left and right can sound very thin and there is a ton of bleed over from the left and right. The LFE track is crap with matrixed audio compared to a true discrete surround sound. You should do a follow up video talking about discrete surround sound in games starting with Dolby digital on the Original Xbox ( PS2 had DTS 5.1 in cutscenes of some games) then maybe talk about Multichannel PCM on PS3 and modern consoles.

[@pokepress]

Some of that depends on how the sound was stored/produced/transmitted. A digitally mixed uncompressed 2.0 signal over HDMI can produce very precise results. It’s also worth noting that the original Dolby Surround/Pro Logic specifications cut off the rear channels above 10 kHz or so.

[@jl4557]

Thank you

[@waterheart95]

Dang, the Galaxy S20 FE pass the surround test on its built-in speakers. Didn't expect that result.

[@clemsonbloke]

Well first of all, if you are going to do Dolby Pro Logic Surround you need an analog AVR. Dolby Pro Logic Surround is an analog system so you would not be using Dolby Digital. That newer "pro logic" stuff is digital, like pro logic IIx, etc. As I said, regular old Dolby Pro Logic Surround is an analog format.

[@RetroRGB]

That's not at all true. Please watch the video for proof that Pro Logic can be transferred over digital. And maybe consider watching the video before commenting?

[@clemsonbloke]

@@RetroRGB Son I'm older than you and Dolby Pro Logic Surround is an analog medium. That is why the sound comes out of the RCA jacks, digital stuff doesn't come through RCA jacks, analog does. You're thinking of these newer Dolby Pro Logic mediums that came way beyond original Dolby Pro Logic. Regular old Dolby Pro Logic Surround is analog. If you don't know that, go read up on it. Original Pro Logic is matrixed, it is NOT a discrete system. The rear surrounds in a Dolby Pro Logic Surround system are in mono, they're not discrete. This is why Regular old Dolby Pro Logic works, the surround is matrixed over the two channel Stereo Left and Right.

[@celebrategout1008]

Exactly@@clemsonbloke

[@celebrategout1008]

mad cuz wrong lmao@@RetroRGB

[@Saturn2888]

Do you have these clips available for Dolby Pro Logic with video?

[@RetroRGB]

No, but the video itself can be used as the test, even streaming on KZbin.

[@gabs180-w3j]

useing dolhpin (gamecube/wii) emulator dolby pro logic 1 and 2 wrok amazing even on newer hardware im useing a 5.1 atmos system and love it

[@retropulse03]

What I am struggling with is getting Surround Sound out of RetroArch.

[@l3rvn0]

I have a JBL 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos compatible Sound bar, it doesn't have any surround configurable options aside from a basic Bass volume and calibration mode. My PS2 is connected to a Retrotink 2X Pro, can I get any Pro Logic 2 surround out of it?

[@RetroRGB]

My guess is the soundbar won’t support it, cause you’d need rear speakers. 100% a guess though.

[@l3rvn0]

@@RetroRGB Mine is the JBL Bar 800, it has two detachable rear speakers So I can have either 5 speakers at front or 3 at the front and 2 behind

[@RetroRGB]

Ahhh...well, give it a try with the test patterns at the end. If the sound travels around you, it can decode it.

[@l3rvn0]

@@RetroRGB It worked!! All I had to do was change some configurations on the TV, change the TV HDMI input to PCM and the output to Pass Through