I'm Surrounded! 6.1 and 7.1

You have no doubt by now have a decent understanding in some surround sound formats, and you've had 5.1 really drilled into your head. Now we get into the latest technologies, 6.1 and 7.1 sound!

6.1 has 6 speakers plus a sub. Three front, (left, right and center), and two side, (left and right), and one back.

Dolby Digital EX is the surround sound format that will give you 6.1 or 7.1 sound. You will find this format in abundance on DVDs and will allow home theater enthusiasts to listen to movies with increased realism thanks to the extra speaker. A note though, if you're using Dolby Digital EX for 7.1 sound, the two back surround speakers will be mono in relation to each other. That is to say, they will output the exact same sound as each other. DTS also has a 6.1 format called DTS-ES 6.1 Discrete.

DTS Neo:6 is similar to Pro Logic II and IIx. It will take audio recorded in stereo and convert it to a 6.1 surround sound format.

7.1 means, (and you guessed it), 7 speakers plus 1 sub. Those seven speakers are three in the front, (left, right and center), two surround, (left and right), and two surround back, (left and right). With so many speakers, sound really has a chance to eat you on up resulting in a very immersive experience.

Dolby Pro Logic IIx can take any pre-existing stereo or 5.1 audio source and make it ready for a 6.1 or 7.1 channel playback. 7.1!? As you just read, that's really immersive sound.

So why should you care about any of this?
Delivering sound is the primary function of a receiver and should be one of your most important concern.

Now that you understand surround sound formats, you can analyze your needs based on how many speakers you are going to have in your setup. And finally you can determine how immersive you would like your home theater experience to be!

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