Pandora 5.1 Audio

**ChrysZ** · March 20th, 2010, 12:14 PM

Don't know whether this is a Pandora or Boxee issue...my audio is stereo instead of Dolby surround sound. Questions:

1. Is Pandora audio 5.1 in their non-subscription service? Is it only available in Pandora One (subscription service)?
2. Assuming 5.1 is available are people able to get 5.1 audio as a SPDIF passthrough via an HDMI 1.3 cable?

I have a Samsung TV connected to the AV receiver with HDMI cable and my PC (where Boxee resides) is connected to the AV receiver via an HDMI cable. My PC is a Dell XPS 1530M laptop where 5.1 audio is routed as a passthrough on the HDMI cable. I can play HD video on this laptop using a VLC player and get 5.1 audio out of my external speakers.

Thanks

**ChrysZ** · March 24th, 2010, 07:03 PM

....anyone? Can anyone hear Pandora in 5.1 audio via boxee? If so, what's your platform? Thanks

**NomadDNA** · March 24th, 2010, 08:18 PM

I'm not confident that pandora offers 5.1 in its regular service
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c...=&oq=&gs_rfai=

**tony12** · April 8th, 2010, 11:48 PM

I love Pandora ( pandora.com) and so it really annoys the hell out of me that I can't get it to play 5.1 audio correctly. Pandora plays audio with a Flash audio player. Currently, Pandora will only output correctly to one of my speakers. I use the audio from my motherboard: MSI K9N Neo-F Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 550 MCP ATX AMD (link to NewEgg's listing) which supports up to 7.1 audio. I use RealTek HD for audio output. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

BTW - Somebody suggested adjusting my Environment settings to "General" instead of "none". This actually did cause Pandora.com to play using all 5 speakers but at the same time it created a terrible "echo" effect.

**omghahalol** · April 11th, 2010, 04:49 PM

Pandora is only 2 channel. I even have Pandora One and it's still only 2.

**skippydog** · April 16th, 2010, 05:20 PM

5.1 would require that the original source was recorded in 5.1. Good luck finding many production recordings in 5.1. You can get some live concert recordings in dvd and blueray in surround. That is about it.

Music is generally recorded in stereo(to give you the feeling that your looking at a stage at a concert). Most of the time you dont want to be stuck somewhere infront of the drummer and behind the singer. That is how 5.1 would sound in a studio.

Unless you buy a live concert(hear the crowd in the surround speakers) you not going to find much 5.1 music. There are currently no streaming audio sites supporting 5.1 and no plans that Im aware of. The only thing you can really hope for is that when netflix upgrades to 5.1 they will have some live video concert.

Until then enjoy your music in stereo the way it was designed to be listened to. On a stage and in stereo.

**lupismaximus** · November 29th, 2010, 02:44 PM

As a few have mentioned, Pandora, Slacker, LastFM, etc are all providing a 2 Channel Audio Stream, regardless if you are paying for the service or not.

Realize, music in general is designed to be listened out of two speakers, and these are usually your front firing speakers.

If you want 5.1 surround sound, so you can get your Subwoofer into the action, then I would suggest for you to put your audio card (Realtek on board or something like Soundblaster) on 48, 96, or 192 HZ PCM stream, and set your receiver to Dolby Digital Prologic IIx Music or DTS Neo6 Music setting. This will take a 2 Channel audio stream and make it a Multi-Channel Stream. The higher the HZ output number is, the better quality music.

Unfortunately, most of these services only deliver a 48 Hz stream, which is said to be as good as CD quality. Realize, at this time, there is nothing as good as CD quality in regards these companies streaming, unless they encode it in a lossless codec (FLAC) and stream it to you in that codec. For them it costs too much money, so we are stuck with what we got! Good Luck.

Originally Posted by ChrysZ

....anyone? Can anyone hear Pandora in 5.1 audio via boxee? If so, what's your platform? Thanks

**Prospero424** · November 29th, 2010, 08:02 PM

Yeah, if you're somehow getting 5.1 audio from Pandora, it's being upmixed by either your playback software or your sound card's software.

Some people find the effect this creates pleasing, but it is NOT how the music was originally recorded, not how the artists and producers intended it to be heard, and can introduce unwanted alterations in positional panning and overall sound quality.

Personally, I would avoid it altogether unless it was originally recorded in surround sound. Other than a handful of quadraphonic albums recorded mostly in the 60's and 70's, most albums in surround sound are released exclusively on the DVD-A and SACD formats and are not available for streaming.

Additionally, online music streaming services generally don't have the necessary bandwidth to stream 5.1 audio. Pandora One offers "high quality" audio (192Kb/s) with their premium service, but it's still in stereo.