No the AC3-to-SPDIF converter should work as a Toslink out in Dolby 5.1. Form there it's in a Toslink Switcher, and from there my other Toslink output are placed in inputs. The sound goes from the LD to the AC3 demodulator to the Toslink switcher to the Turtle Beach. An alternate path from a different media source is from the Xbox One Toslink port (which starts as SPDIF, not as AC3, so it DOESN'T need a converter) to the toslink switcher to the Turtle Beach.

At first I thought it was a faulty toslink cable, because the repairman said it worked. If the $10 analysis did anything, it rules out stuff I couldn't control (or at least don't know HOW to control).

Then the Xbox One went on the fritz. I changed the toslink cable and it still didn't work. if the Xbox One stoped working, in the exact same way as the AC3 demodulator, then I played with the mechanical toslnk switcher and that fixed the problem.

So i figured, wait for the first of the month and buy a electronic Toslink switcher, and test out my AC3 when I get both the AC3 AND the electronic Toslink switcher. If everything goes well, thank you fate for throwing another problem in my face where I was able to come up with the solution to both it and another problem. What do you attribute fate to? That's up to religion to answer. Is it a sentient God? Or is it blindness to things you don't understand? That's an interesting topic, but one I will not try to answer on LDDB.com, and if you want to stay on topic, you shouldn't either.

Once I eliminate that variable, I'll check and see if the Sony SDP-E800 translates AC3 RF into S-PDIF and outputs it via Toslink. It it DOES work, thank you sjoerg for the recommendation and the patience. These forums show diagnostic progress and could be used for future people to avoid the same pitfalls.

"Yes Virginia. There is a Santa Claus" and the only digital audio output for the SDP-E800 is Toslink. Digital one audio input can be eitherToslink or Coaxial. Digital two audio input is Toslink only.

AC-3 to s-pdif converter aka RF Demodulator.

Just to clarify few minor things; “AC-3” is basically “Dolby Digital”.

When “Dolby Surround AC-3” was first released for the home in ‘95, that was the name that Dolby gave it. And thus, most equipment released were marked with “AC-3 / PCM” for the standard S/PDIF jacks and “AC-3 RF” for jacks used exclusively for the LaserDisc format.

Now, after maybe about a year or so, Ray Dolby was supposedly getting a bit perturbed that everyone was just calling his new child as simply “AC-3” and not including his name in it. So after awhile, we start getting name changes on the jacks for the equipment to put the Dolby name back in the spotlight. Thus, that is why everything AC3 related is now simply called “Dolby Digital”. The back panels of S/PDIF jacks are mostly getting labeled “DD / PCM / DTS” and there was even a change on the last generation AC-3 RF capabable receivers sporting “Dolby Digital RF (AC-3)” as the labeling for the RF jack.

Sorry if I was also going off topic but I felt it was getting confusing about how the terminology of “AC-3” was being tossed around since just about everything made today will do AC-3

I assume even though AC3 is technically the name for all Dolby Digital 5.1, on the Laser Disc forum, it's usually used for AC3RF. Especially when people drive home the point that you need this separate AC3RF adapter ("demodulator") for 5.1 sound to come out of the Laser Disc. Now within a wek I'll see if AC3RF converts to SPDIF and my Turtle Beaches sound nice.

By the way I'm not suggesting everyone SHOULD get one. I'm saying if you already have one for gaming the 3D sound effects, for movies, they also sound nice ... as long as you either match Dolby movie to Dolby headphones, DTS headphones to DTS movies, or use a modern game player as your DVD/BD/3D/4K disc movie player to convert between Dolby and DTS, a stand-alone movie disc player will not do that.

How many AC3 discs do you own??
According to your lddb profile you don't have any discs in your collection, still at 0

I have them. I just didn't list them in my personal collection publicly diplayed here.

The ones I have that specifically say AC3 are Amadeus, Congo, and Toy Story. I'll check the other ones in a week. But even if they aren't the ones that don't have good Dolby Surround in "ring surround" according to my headphones.

I think Pro logic is just a compressed encoded version of Dolby Surround, but made to fit on 2 tracks of VHS or Laser disc in digital form. Dolby Pro Logic is 2-track compatible, but Laser Discs have a natural Dolby Surround on older moves on the digital track via Toslink. For the best sound on those discs, I DON'T put the headphones in Pro Logic Mode.

I guess my Turtle Beach can read Dolby "ring" Surround.in a digital format.

Found this video.



While I understand the video may or may not be you.

Why not just connect into the front headphone IN that is there already, why go to all this trouble for something that is "ring surround" whatever that is.

Dolby Surround Pro-Logic and Dolby Surround are not different encoding schemes.

Dolby Surround Pro-Logic was an offshoot of Dolby Surround to improve steering logic (suppress or emphasize front to rear separation) and add a center channel (anchor the dialog right at the viewing screen). Both schemes are based on matrix encoding to derive the surround track from two channels of audio. The basic formula for this matrix encoding is that the sum of the left and right speakers (L+R) will create the center channel (for Pro-Logic) and the difference of the left and right speakers (L-R) will create the mono surround channel

Also, there is nothing remotely digital on VHS but VHS HiFi (as well as Beta HiFi) are incredibly awesome in respect to delivering high quality two channel audio for an analog format.

Ha Ha. It doesn't accurately portray my point, but that is a good parody of me. .) It's even got a CRT TV in the background for Laser Disc Movies and Old School Video games. But if you want to wow people with headphone sound, take the X41 3.5 mm output and record that directly on a 2 track recorder and sync it up to the movie. But remember, for the effect to work, it must be listened to within headphones. No communal speakers.

If I can get Dolby AC3RF to SPDIF converter to work, and according to this previous conversation it should in about a week when I get my electronic Toslink switcher, I can show that surround sound can accurately be captured on 2 tracks.

There are plenty of Youtube videos captured in Headphone-optimized 2 track audio. In the old days, that was the ONLY way you can have surround sound on Youtube. Headphone optimized 2-track.

By the way, "ring surround" is a visually descriptive way of saying it has front and rear, left and right, but no high and low. Which is what the Dolby Surround track/ Pro Logic track is.

Here's an example of QSound. It's the audio set up instructions for Sonic CD for the Sega CD, showing a virtual surround sound coming from 2 speakers and optimized for communal listening.

There is actually 6 discrete RCA outputs too. MAYBE the AC3RF converter ONLY sends out to the discrete RCAs, and MAYBE not the Toslink as a SPDIF Dolby Digital 5.1. Maybe it just passes through existing SPDIF on DVD players. But I think I found the problem with the mechanical toslink switcher not being aligned right. I will switch to electronic within a week.

It’s not a MAYBE but a FACT as I have stated in my post with the pictures of my equipment that the E-800 will pass Dolby Digital from the AC-3 RF input via the Toslink output.

I don’t know why you just don’t bypass your mechanical switch for now just to test it the way I had set it up. Once you bypass your switch, you’ll have all the extra Toslink cables you need to verify that it works or not.

I love the "Ring Surround" LOL

I had no idea what this “Ring Surround” was about. Then I decided to do a search on Google and all I got was information on wedding rings and bands.

That’s another thing; need to stick with terminology that is not made up. That’s what makes this whole post so convoluted.




So let’s keep it simple; that’s just surround sound in a nutshell.

There is no high and low surround effect even in Dolby Digital and DTS. If there is any elevation effect, then we’re talking about Dolby Atmos and DTS X (and I really don’t want to talk about that especially in this post. )

Yes but you really can't make this up
Or I guess some people can

This is probably uniquely a headphone thing, but I swear I can hear high and low in the headphones.

I guess I could explain it by saying the sound is staged as the geographical center is within your head and it might me both my imagination and the fact that it's synched to a picture which suggests high and low.

But if that were the case, how come I can hear birds in the air and arrows flying by my head without seeing them behind me? Maybe it's the pre-conceived notion that birds generally don't fly low to the ground, and earthquakes don't hake the sky).

If that's the case, how come I can track a twinkle of a Moon in Super Mario Odyssey, not knowing where it is but accurately tracking high and low?

Seriously in terms of high and low, how much can real height differences be heard on either a typical communal (non Atmos/DTS X) surround sound system vs personal headphone surround system, meaning if there was no "real world indicator" of where a sound was coming from high or low (like birds naturally flying high and earthquakes being limited to the ground), and was just a 1000 Hz tone. A totally fake but obvious single sound. No high or low naturally associated with he noise. but "is supposed to be staged" either high or low. And you have no visual indicator. (Think Radio). Can you accurately convey that with a static perspective (meaning you don't move or rotate your stage fishing for "Warmer/Colder cues", like one would in a video game,) high and low as intended? Do you need Atmos/X,? Will 5.1 do? And does Headphones naturally do a better, more efficient job at it with only 2 tracks and assumptions about your soundstage being headphones?

This is getting more curious. This makes an interesting philosophical/scientific discussion in surround sound. Am I actually hearing high and low better with 2 track headphone-optimized tracks that you guys are with 2 dimensional "ring surround"? Or is it suggestive psychology? I want to make sure it's not just me. I would like to head an objective voice with no pony in the race. I will tend to think it's a pshchological effect unless others hear the exact same thing.

But in the Star Wars Laser Disc, which is Dolby Surround before 5.1, I don't hear high and low. I hear "ring surround" but 5.1 seems to add height with just headphones.

I'll have some of what you are having.

Happy Memorial to all and enjoy this day, its starting to get nice here and I'm off to encounter the world now

An update on my SDP-E800 status.

Apparently I took it to the repairman, he said nothing was wrong with it. I got it baqck and noticed there was no ref light coming out of my tolsink out. So he said it ws workng, so I tried 2 of the RCA outputs, and hooked them up to my headphone.

I got sound. It wasn't pretty but it told me 2 things.

One the AC3RF converter part was working. How do I know, with 2 sound channels isolated I got a weak, imbalanced, incomplete soundtrack, which does put out sound, but is different than the standard 2 track or the Dolby Surround 4 channel within 2 track settings. it's 1/3 of a whole.

Two was the optical portion sounded complete. Which means I can listen to LPCM now and DTS once I find, a) a DTS laser Disc, and b) a DTS 5.1 Surround Sound Headphone.

So the culprit is the Toslink output. I'm going to the repair man, Pro Tec Repairs in Cuyahoga Falls Ohio, see what his price is. I got $10 in creit towards the service and parts.

Anyone know any other local places within an hour drive of Cleveland, Akron, Medina, or Wooster, al cities in Ohio near where I am, where they can fix toslink tranmitters. (I guess that's what you call the blinking red light that sends out to another device)? I'm just calling around comparing prices guarantees.