Maybe I’m simple but all the concerts or shows I go to watch the sound comes from in front of me.
We put on many concerts and it all goes through a two channel Mackie PA system.
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Right, but that’s point with surround music formats. Movies, for example, have helicopters flying overhead and people speaking off to the side of from behind the listener’s position.
For music, it’s about capturing the sound ambience of the venue and replicating that, to some degree, in your home. When done well, it makes your home theater system sound like it’s in a much bigger or deeper room. I don’t think you need anything too sophisticated, like Dolby ATMOS - even low-end home AVRs can up-matrix 2-channel audio to replicate the effects, using previously measured response to tailor the sound to your room.
I personally like it, but it’s not what I listen to all of the time. As always, YMMV.
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I understand that but my 12in tannoy drive units create a decent immersive sound when needed. I’m not that interested in movies and anything that goes over my head in most concerts I go to is best avoided!
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I had Trifield in my previous Meridian system and it was great giving subtle surround ambiance for any two Chanel source. The Center channel locked in the Center image for sure.
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Yes another reason why Roon plus Nvidia SHIELD makes so much sense (if it were properly supported) as SHIELD supports Dolby Atmos audio (and just about every other audio spec) over HDMI. Seems perfect…
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…to you rather than me.
Thanks, @John_Winterberg! That is the best explanation I have heard yet.
Sounds like bitstream support is what would be needed for Atmos to work properly, but that would reduce Roon’s role to bit-transport only, which may not suit them.
With Atmos for music picking up steam, this is exactly the area where I’d like to see Roon shine.
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It is sad about 3D TV (people judged this on poor hardware and poor setups) and it would be sad about multichannel if it happens…which it won’t. Music mixed in surround is best heard in surround. You are ignoring the center channel, which is - in fact - in front of the listener. Any mix engineer will tell you that mixing in surround, or with a center channel gives much more space to in the mix for different instruments. While there is no “flaw” in 2 channel music, it is also unfortunate to dismiss multichannel music.
Another instance is your argument about acoustic space being reproduced by the listener’s room. It won’t be the same at all - which is where surround systems can help reproduce that space, if intended by the artist/producer/mix engineer. Ideal scenario is to have no room effect on the listener’s end and have all the room sound reproduced by speakers…again if intended as part of the production.
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Actually when you go to a concert the sound originates in front of you but is heard from all around you based on the physical structure you are in.
Let me point out something else to those dismissive of multi-channel audio. People said the same thing about stereo versus mono. Also, lots of musical productions are not reproducing “musicians playing on a stage in front of you”. Lots of music is creating a sonic space that envelopes the listener. Many effects, reverbs, delays, panning, etc are used to create something extraordinary that goes beyond the real or acoustic space. This is why multi-channel music exists and why artists like Steven Wilson are so interested in it. Listen to the same album in stereo and then listen to it properly mixed in multichannel and tell me it’s not more engrossing and easier to pick out various elements of the mix.
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Atmos? Meh.
How about 23.1? I’ll just leave this here…
That’s the difference between listening to the band vs being in the band.
Yes in the same way as stereo speakers and walls distribute sound.
Listened to Steven Wilson’s 5.1 mix of The Yes Album. A total immersive experience and superior in every way to the 2 channel (which is wonderful).
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The discrepancy here though is that there is a big difference in the room sound of an average living room and the space a record producer or mix engineer may be trying to create.
Your post was regarding going to a concert not a recording. If you are talking about someone’s manipulation of what happened then in my opinion it is not a true representation.
My posts on the topic have been about listening to recorded music in general, nothing specific to a live concert. Point being, many, if not the majority, of recorded musical production are not meant to reproduce a live band playing. Listen to any Pink Floyd or Beatles record not to mention anything contemporary. The album is produced with amy different ambient spaces in mind…many in the same song. There is zero correlation to the listener’s space. Therefore multichannel music can more effectively create that space, not to mention the center channel carving space for vocals.
When you start to talk about recordings where a reproduction of a live setting (even in studio) is the goal, the fact remains that your listening space is hardly likely to be anything like the space it was recorded in. As you may well be aware, when recordings are done in this way there are often room mics that pick up all of that ambiance. If you were actually there, that ambiance would hit your ears from all around you. In your listening space, this ambiance would be quite small by comparison and is technically interfering with the ambiance intended by the artist/producer/mix engineer.
My point isn’t that 2 channel is somehow particularly deficient, or that there is something wrong with stereo music. My point is that multi-channel music should not be dismissed - and when done correctly can arguably be more immersive and captivating. It gives artists more creative options, mix engineers more space for instruments, and the listener a more accurate representation of the intended space.
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If you liked the Yes Album you must listen to Close to the Edge. A favorite album that sounds amazing
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I agree. I have all Steven’s 5.1 of Yes. I think with more people cocooning and getting 5.1 sound systems for their TV’s or theatres the interest will grow. It would be nice if the streaming services did 5.1 in any discrete form. I am not a fan of the faked up “Atmos” in the 2 channel headphone space. There a well done 2 channel mix is preferred. ie Steven Wilson.
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