Topic: Cd Audio Quality Is Terrible (Read 122 times)

slcsnkman · « **on:** February 12, 2006, 01:21:00 PM »

Buy a home stereo system

.i.n.s.u.l.t.s · « **Reply #1 on:** February 12, 2006, 01:28:00 PM »

QUOTE(slcsnkman @ Feb 12 2006, 03:28 PM)

Buy a home stereo system

Exactly.

Reign2425 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 12, 2006, 01:46:00 PM »

^^^ what they said

Joergen · « **Reply #3 on:** February 12, 2006, 02:28:00 PM »

Sorry I cant help directly but I remember discussion about this at hdtvarcade.com forums. Try the search in there.

lowendfrequency · « **Reply #4 on:** February 12, 2006, 05:18:00 PM »

CD's sound excellent in my 360. Are you trying to play them through your TV speakers?

CattyKid · « **Reply #5 on:** February 12, 2006, 05:24:00 PM »

QUOTE(lowendfrequency @ Feb 12 2006, 07:25 PM)

CD's sound excellent in my 360. Are you trying to play them through your TV speakers?

I agree, at least mine are (even Stan, from Curtain Call with Eminem and Elton John playing the paino sounds clear).

Are you ripping from a CD that is low quality to begin with?
Have you tried cleaing the CD or the lens in the Xbox 360?
These two may provide for better audio.

You also may want to check that your cables are connected snugly, but that's not likely as you hear sound in-game fine.

If you play a CD in the drive BEFORE ripping, does it sound okay or still crappy? We should narrow this down, as it may be a problem with the ripper (software) or for some reason the 360 itself (hardware).

Lizard King · « **Reply #6 on:** February 12, 2006, 09:53:00 PM »

I found the same thing...no bass response. I can put two identical discs in the 360 and my CD player or DVD player and DEFINITLY hear a difference.

It's a shame, but really, the only thing the 360 does well is play 360 games. The DVD player is lousy with artifacting (I thought the Chroma bug was a thing of the past?), the Media Player has issues.... Lets hope these things can be fixed in updates. I want the 360 to be a central part of a system, not a niche device.

twistedsymphony · « **Reply #7 on:** February 13, 2006, 07:03:00 AM »

The problem isn't that the 360 plays CDs incorrectly, it's that every other device in the world does (including the Xbox 1).

CDs and MP3s are encoded in 2 channel audio. So when the 360 plays them back through surround sound speakers you hear exactly what's in the recording.... 2 channel audio, meaning NO BASS. Most CD players and other devices will strip out the low end frequencies from the 2 channel audio and create a .1 bass channel, some even go as far as to create fake channels for the center and surround speakers.

Technically this shouldn't be done as it's not the intent of the original encoding. But just about every device on the planet does it except for the 360. If your Left and Right loudspeakers are full range then it's not a problem, it's actually better the way it works, but if you're got a home theater in a box with tin-cans for satellites then music without the bass stripped out and sent to the sub sounds very flat and just bad overall.

Ideally MS should add an option in there to "embellish" the audio. So those that want it played CORRECTLY (like it does now) can keep it that way and those who want to compensate for a lacking audio system can have their cake too.

but I wouldn't hold my breath.

spinr34 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 13, 2006, 03:03:00 PM »

2 channel audio has bass, just because there isn't a sub channel doesn't mean bass doesn't exist. if there wasn't any bass in 2 channel audio my ears would be bleeding from all the damn highs. finally, i only listen to music in 2 channels. i press that stereo button at the bottom of my remote every time i'm listening to music which means no subs, no center or rears. i don't use my receiver to emulate channels that don't exist. i know what my speakers sound like and what they're capable of, i know what frequencies are supposed to be in the songs and when i play them on the 360 they just aren't there. however in game audio is superb with the 360

Lizard King · « **Reply #9 on:** February 13, 2006, 05:03:00 PM »

ummm, I would have to differ with you here Twisted Symphony...My setup is pretty straightforward. Two B&W XT speakers just for Music, 7 Paradigm Speakers and a sub for Home Theater. When I listen to music, It's mainly on the B&W's, unless I have a multichannel DVDA or SACD (..ewww). BASS does not refer specifically to subwoofers. A good set of speakers do not need subs (for music).

HOWEVER, when listening to 2 discs (the only one I have two of is Nine Inch Nail's "With Teeth", one CD, one Dualdisc) I pop one into my CD unit and one into the 360 (Dualdisc set in Audio CD mode); the 360 is set to two channel. Set Speakers to B&W, play discs and switch sources.....less Bass response on 360; flatness - noticable, but only if you are listening closely. Switch to CD player and the god-awful DVD player (Pioneer 563-A). No discernable difference. Switch around the discs - same results. Wife is not as sensative, but she could hear a difference form the CD to 360 and the DVD to 360, none from CD to DVD.

So I would have to say the 360 needs an update, not my speakers.

Lizard King · « **Reply #10 on:** February 13, 2006, 07:16:00 PM »

Hmm..interesting, however, if I run the cable with the Red and White leads only (the way my NAD CD player is connected....pre Digital audio outputs) to receiver, the 360 still is flat in comparrison to the CD player. The 360 is set to 2 channel mode (as should any device for stereo music). This test should just have 2 channel info, and the receiver reports this is correct.

I was thinking it is preprocessing the information for 5.1 and strippping the bass off as you suggested, so I just did another quick test. I hooked it up via 5.1 optical and played it through my Paradigm speakers (Home theater) with just the left and right front channels plugged in (no sub, center, sides or backs) and alternated between the DVD player's audio with the Dualdisc in CD mode and the 360 with the CD. It sounded a lot closer to being identical than it was before - meaing that the 360 is probably stripping the bass off in preprocessing (on purpose) or the sound is just off (accidental).

I agree...this does need to get fixed, I truely hope it does.

twistedsymphony · « **Reply #11 on:** February 14, 2006, 03:21:00 PM »

Hmm I also have the Width Teeth Dual Disc and non-dual disc. I'll have to give this a go when I get home.

Though I think part of the reason it sends 5.1 though the spdif port as opposed to 2.0 is because the sound engine is the same for CD playback as it is for custom soundtracks... meaning that the 360 supports 5.1 for game sounds/music so the custom sound tracks (MP3s that are only 2 channel) have to get mixed in with the full 5.1 channel game audio... It's can't send both a 5.1 and a 2.0 stream through the digital port at the same time (obviously)... it probably just always outputs in 5.1 if that's what you have set in the dashboard.

I have a friend that works for Bose I'll see if I can borrow some equipment over the coming weeks to get some accurate readings out of this thing.

spinr34 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 15, 2006, 04:41:00 PM »

that'd be awesome if your homie at bose can hook it up. i'll be patiently waiting

johnodd · « **Reply #13 on:** March 13, 2006, 12:02:00 AM »

im sorry to say this but you need a 5.1 surround sound system or just deal with s****Y sound

Lizard King · « **Reply #14 on:** March 13, 2006, 07:21:00 AM »

QUOTE(johnodd @ Mar 13 2006, 02:09 AM)

im sorry to say this but you need a 5.1 surround sound system or just deal with s****Y sound

Music recorded in 2 channel (ie CD's and albums) are not meant to be listened to in 5 channel. Period.

2 speakers. No subwoofer. End of story.

Author Topic: Cd Audio Quality Is Terrible (Read 122 times)