Some people might not know the difference between Dolby or stereo or what THX actually means. I was one of those people and therefore was never really into sound because I wasn't much of a movie or music fanatics therefore never really cared about the movie theater experience that some people does. To me, the sound coming out of the 2 front speakers of my television set was enough. However, I must admit that I was thrilled with the experience of hearing surround sound on my television set for the very first time. It was a new VCD system that I had just purchased and one of it feature is a virtual sound mode that make you believe that the sound was coming from not only the television set, but from all around me. It was great, however I was only limited to watching VCD movies and therefore watching TV or DVD it would not work. A few years later my dad purchase a some small speakers. They were usually used for outdoors events and sound very metallic because they look more like sirens rather then speakers. I went to my local Walmart and purchase some speaker wires with plugs so that I can connect them to my Video audio output jacks. The sound wasn't all that bad, but it was far from being great. As you can see, I don't spend much time on this and therefore would not even think twice for spending more money just to get that great sound. During that period in my life I still had no clue as to what Dolby sound was. Each time that I rented a movie I was thrilled to see the THX logo because to me that meant great sound. I knew the THX was develop by George Lucas, the same guy that made Star Wars and therefore THX means the technology for the sound in that movie was the same used for Star Wars. It wasn't until a few years later that by accident I did some research on the internet that I find out what THX really means.For those of you who don't know what THX is, it is simply a seal of approval that the movie passed all guidelines of what THX consider to be movie-like.

I already knew what mono and stereo was and I guess most of you as well. For those who don't know, it simply means it sounds better in stereo. I do not know the technological fact behind it either, but I only know that it sounds better. I don't know much about Dolby, but I do know that it is better than Stereo. I noticed that I also had Dolby in car's stereo and if I remember correctly it has something to od with noise reduction. Anyway it was when I discovered DVD's that I see that there are many different Dolby technologies. Whenever I watch a movie I could select Dolby 2 or Dolby digital, however the sound seems louder when I select Dolby 2. I also noticed that whenever I select Dolby DTS I get silence. It was not until a read an article in a magazine that I've decided to get myself a small home theater system. I didn't want to spend much since I am not a fanatic and I simply wanted to take advantage of what DVD's had to offer as well as when I play with my Playstation 2. I've learned that many of the home theater sets are really simply a DVD player with a few sets of speakers. They do offer all the benefit of good sound however they are limited to watching DVD's only. Now I know why people that love this will spend thousands of dollars just for a receiver and a good set of speakers. At first I was determine to get myself a cheap set since I don't see the point in spending so much just of a few minutes of enjoyment whenever I watch movies and opted for one for $200 which offer Dolby 5.1. Luckily for me, the store ran out of systems and therefore I had a choice of not getting it or buying another set, which I didn't made any research on! I've decided to forget about it so I went home. I few weeks later I did more research and decided to op for a more expensive set which gives me all the benefit of a real good Movie theater system, while not costing me an arm and a leg. It was the Logitech Z680 for $600! It was expensive, but I figured that since I don't want to spend money in the future for a sound system another why not do it right the first time. Buying this was certainly not the best choice that fanatics would make, however for the budget conscience it was the best equipment to have. Unlike other similar sets or cheaper sets the system I had chosen offered more. The power output was high and if offer everything from Dolby DTS to Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic 2. It was also THX certifies so I was happy that I brought it. The system also had multitude of input so that I can connect several devices to it at the same time.

Let me tell you what the different mode of Dolby are now that I have a little experience. Basically Dolby 2.0 is like Stereo, but offer a better sound and therefore when you watch a movie or play games you hear different sound coming from different speakers. This setting is meant for 2 speakers setups. Dolby 5.1 is what most people have. It consist of 2 speakers in the front and 2 speakers in the back and 1 more in the center. In fact, there are 5 different channels so that when you watch a movie and see a plane flying towards you from the left side you hear that plane on your front/left speaker. As you can imagine, it really change the way you watch a movie since now you can hear sound all around you as if you are suck in to the movie environment. Now some of you may ask why is it called 5.1 and not 5!!! Well the .1 is actually another smaller channel dedicated for the loud noises like explosions and are often called the sub woofer. Yes, that is the same sub woofer that people like to install in their cars to make that loud rumbling sound when they listen to music. However you must be careful cause unlike normal speakers the bass that the sub woofer produce is quite strong so it can be dangerous for your hearing even if the sound is not very loud. This is why I urge people to be careful with the sound level cause your hearing is very precious and you would want to have any complication in the future. Ok now lets get back to the Dolby Jargon. In my book, Dolby Digital is actually for Dolby 5.1 so its really the best sound you can have, however what about Dolby DTS? If I am correct Dolby DTS is the same as Digital however with less compression so that often DTS seems to sound clearer and crisper, while Digital is not as loud and not as lively. This is the reason why when you buy a DVD with DTS there are less bonus features since DTS alone takes up a lot of the space on the disc already. I mainly connect my Playstation 2 via optical cable to my home theater system. As the name emply, optical cable is a cable made with fiber optics so it is the best connection you can get since data travels thru with minimal interference.

Playing games and watching movies with Dolby really change the experience. The Playstation 2 offers great sound for movies and games however there are limitations. To produce all these great sound it needs a processor and therefore like any other computer component it needs power and memory, which is why not the entire game will be in Dolby DTS of Dolby Digital. The reason is simply because like I state earlier, it would need a lot of processing power and memory to produce the sound so graphics and game play would be affected. This is why Dolby Pro Logic 2 was created. You may think of it as a virtual Dolby DTS mode without really optimizing the usage of all 5.1 channels. The sound is still great and only real fanatics will really hear the difference. There are some games out there that are fully DTS and those games usually don't need to have superb graphics since the processor is free to use it for sound. Watching movies and playing games are different since watching a movie, the system only need it processor to un compress the images and therefore watching a DVD in dull DTS is possible since it needs little to no processing power at all unlike a game when the graphic must be drawn in real time so many calculations must be done constantly. Now comes my conclusion on all this. You may ask if all this was necessary and if I could live without it. I would have to say that yes it was all worth it and no it was not a necessity therefore yes I could've live without it. I would not recommend anyone to get it because people must have it. I think that most of us can live without it and to have it is simply just another luxury. My best example would be with televisions. Must my TV be in color? No it does not!!! If I want I can continue using my black and white TV until it dies on me, however to get a color television is a luxury for me since I can enjoy my watching experience much more. While you are reading this, Dolby 6.1 or even 7.1 is already on its way out so really there is no end to it so perhaprs maybe 5.1 would be standard and those fanatics out there are already using Dolby 360.1. My final point and recommendation to you is if you are happy with what you have its what counts therefore if you think you don't need it then its fine since I don't think it is something that we must have and I as well can live without it. However I only got it because I enjoy life therefore I want to live the fullest and experience things that I have the chance to experience and not to mention that I am a gadget freak too.

To learn more about Dolby and its technology I recommend you to visit them on their site!