Is DSP Trickery at Play Here?
Okay, this one is perhaps a tad nutty but bare with me a second. I came across a Reddit post where they claim with streaming music in ‘Ambient’ mode (Surrounds), they hear different program material perceived on the rears but not happening on the front ‘stage’. Replies were - they are clearly nuts or yes, DSP is tweaking the surround image. I assumed Ambient was simply rolled off a bit where Full meant the rear volume was hotter. Both being mirrors of L/R channels. In ‘Full’ that’s exactly what it sounds like. But… in Ambient, things seem to change. Standing in the center of the room, I caught what he’s talking about. I hear seemingly panned rear reverb trails and isolated bits like stick taps on the high hat from the rears only. Sometimes backup vocals are heard rear, not present or are weaker in the front. At first I thought it may be different size enclosures, different tweeter responses, reflections or placement. But in Full or when TV audio plays in PCM 2.0, it sounds mirrored as
