3DO ZONE Forums

I'm wondering how many of us take advantage of the 3DO's ability to output Surround sound. This ability can add a new dimension to games which support surround sound but which have previously only been played in stereo.

For instance, The Need for Speed enjoys even more realism with Dolby Surround. Depth is added in your ability to hear which way X-Man or the patrol officer is trying to pass you up, and from how far behind. This is a great tool to use when you don't want to look up at the rear-view mirror. Gameplay of other 3DO titles is also more enjoyable while utilizing the surround sound option. Shockwave is another game that has great surround sound.

For those wondering how you can get 4 distinct channels of audio from two physical interconnects, Dolby Surround matrix encodes the 4 channels onto the left and right stereo pair. In this way an end user can connect the stereo pair to a stereo amplifier and get stereo sound, or he can connect the stereo pair to a Dolby Surround decode circuit and then amplify the four resulting signals yielding surround sound.

I use it when it's available, I'm not one for sports games but you have to love it when a whole stadium is cheering you on.

I run mine this way with my current receiver (a dual amp HDMI panasonic).
Back in the day though I had it cranking through a Kenwood Dolby receiver and six Yamaha natural sound speakers (also had a NEC hifi VCR and 68cm CRT connected)- for 1995 it rocked!