About 9 months ago I got a pretty nice home theatre system, including all the sound system requirements for a 7.1 setup. However I have yet to find any movies recorded in 7.1 surround, only 5.1. Does anyone know if there are any movies made in 7.1 yet, and if so any recommendations? I’m really curious to hear the system “in all it’s glory” so to speak
There really aren’t that many, and most of those aren’t “true” 7.1. That means that there weren’t sources for those two extra channels, but rather the sound for those were matrixed from the other 5 channels. You’re going to find more 7.1 sources available on bluray - because there’s so much room on those discs, the studios decided to add them in more often. So - DVD or bluray? Toy Story 3 has “true” 7.1 sound on bluray - I’m not sure about DVD.
Now - that’s not to say a 7.1 setup isn’t a good thing. It’s going to be more enveloping. And depending on your receiver, you could be matrixing those extra two channels even if the source material is 5.1. Check your manual to see if you can do that.
Also - there are a lot of uses on a 7.1 receiver that disable those last two channels. On my Onkyo 606, if I wanted to set up a Zone 2, I wouldn’t be able to do 7.1. That’s pretty common, actually.
The 7.1 matrix from my Sunfire Theater Grand sounds awesome with some 5.1 movies. You need a good-sized room for much more than just a sweet spot effect, tho.
I think Pan’s Labyrinth is 7.1, but AVSForums has a list of this kind of info somewhere. I’ve seen it before.
Thanks for the advice folks. My HK receiver definitely matrixes the 5.1 to the other two speakers, I just wanted to get a feel for the real deal. I could have set them up as a zone 2, but didn’t see the need, not yet anyway. The room is about 800 sq feet right now however I may end up walling off the theatre area in the future. I’ve seen Pans Labrynth, but not on this system, so I guess I’ll have to watch it again. And I’ll borrow my 3 year old sons’ blueray copy of Toy Story 3 and actually pay attention this time!
**3:10 to Yuma **on bluray has 7.1, but I’m not sure if it’s matrixed or not (I think it is). There’s a shootout scene that’s fantastic, and the arrival of the train pretty much feels like a locomotion is going to crash through your wall at any moment.