Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Baseball and Axiom....

Vette,

You might want to reserve judgement until you see a game in high definition. HD sporting events are broadcast in 5.1 which should convert to 7.1 nicely. Play the game on your TV speakers and listen to how the crowd noise sounds. If it is not prominent there, your receiver is going to have a hard time making a decent 7.1 production out of it. I saw a rebroadcast of a Monday Night Football game on ESNPHD a couple of days after I got my speakers. The crowd noise was there on that one. The NCAA basketball tournament didn't have anywhere near the crowd noise, but it was broadcast in stereo and converted to 5.0 (no sub yet) in my receiver using Dolby Pro Logic. Crowd noise is generally NOT considered "part of the program" in your average run of the mill sporting event. The announcers are.

Ray is right (as usual). I think the deficiency you are hearing is really a disconnect between your expectations (a live baseball game) and reality (a broadcast baseball game). It is a matter of broadcast content; the TV station is bringing you their interpretation of the game, not trying to immerse you in the ballpark experience. Personally, I'd like to have the option of a second audio program that DID include the ambient (crowd and ballpark announcer) noise rather than the broadcast commentators.

You should try out some other sources, especially like the concert DVD's in some of the other threads. That kind of thing might give you the live/immersive experience you seem to be seeking.

I guess my bottom line is, as much as I love baseball, I don't think the content provided on baseball telecasts is conducive to evaluating or enjoying the potential of home theatre. Pity.

In reply to:

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I'd like to have the option of a second audio program that DID include the ambient (crowd and ballpark announcer) noise rather than the broadcast commentators.

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That's funny you mention that Tom. I believe it was 2 years ago towards the end of the NHL regular season (and into the playoffs) that the French CBC announcers went on strike. Now this is the French CBC, so they broadcast only Canadiens games (my personal favorite). It was a really cool experience to receive only miked game sounds and not the announcers (not that my french is good enough to understand what they say most of the time anyways). The crowd noise/ambiance came through clearer and louder than normal and you could hear a lot more from the ice - shots, posts, players yelling, etc. It was awesome and I was pretty dissapointed when they came back to work!

A number of years ago (don't ask me how many - certainly more than 10), the NFL, as an experiment, broadcast a game with no announcers at all. They would scroll information, like down and yardage, at the bottom of the screen, but the only audio was the game itself and the crowd. I think I was the only person in the United States that liked the absence of the announcers incessant, and often off topic, blathering.