Headphones, LFE etc...

[LeChuck]

Hello folks,

I had posted a question about LFE quite a while ago but the subject went nowhere. Just wondering if there would be new tricks now.

Here's the issue: I want to use VLC with my good quality headphones to watch movies. At this moment mostly HD files but this is the same for DVDs.

I have discovered that VLC does not downmix the LFE channel from 5.1 sources when listening in stereo mode. Actually Apple DVD Player doesn't do it either.

I had read other people asking about this but I'm surprised the option still does not exist in VLC. As a result, a few days ago I tried to setup a Windows XP environment (on my iMac) just so I could use a video player that does downmix the LFE. It was pain to get one working that does that and plays x264 mkvs as well, but it's all working fine now.

I then played some more with VLC and discovered that when choosing the headphones spatialization feature, the LFE magically reappears. While I do not dislike the more spacial effect that it brings, it is not a perfect solution. for example, the sound from what would be the center channel is too recessed compared to the front channels and the rest. I have not decided yet if I prefer to listen to it this way or bother rebooting into XP from MacOS to have the full sound.

So...if LFE can be downmixed and is present while using the headphones filter, would it be that difficult to make it available as a regular option, just as programs like WinDVD or PowerDVD do? Are there any tricks to get that to work (I spent quite a bit of time going through the long list of settings in advance mode)? And also, is there a way to modify the headphones effect and set the volume of the center channel mix only to a level that is more in line with the other channels (I confirmed this issue not just with movies but AC3 test tones as well)? I set the distance ("characteristic" thingy) to a lower number but it did not help that particular issue.

Thanks!