Will 5.1 channel sound abolish 2-channel sound ?

[reddream]

I feel surround is the way to go. What you here in live is not 2 channel. The sound played on stage goes to a lot of reflection based on the concert hall.

That is why concert halls are famous for their signature and changes the way music is perceived when played live.

If you want to bring the same concert feel to the live recording, then the reflections need to arrive at that particular time, which our living rooms cannot do, since it is too small.

These problems are solved in surround.

Also, from a personal experience, when I listen to a audio CD in my onkyo received with 5.1 music mode, the sound stage is just so wide.

Guys try reading this book, Sound Reproduction loudspeakers and Room - Floyd E. Toole. he explains about how stereo came and problems people had to adopt to it from Mono, and how people still have a problem to move to surround. Stereophile: Book Review: <I>Sound Reproduction: Loudspeakers and Rooms</I>

 

[square_wave]

I feel surround is the way to go. What you here in live is not 2 channel. The sound played on stage goes to a lot of reflection based on the concert hall.

That is why concert halls are famous for their signature and changes the way music is perceived when played live.

If you want to bring the same concert feel to the live recording, then the reflections need to arrive at that particular time, which our living rooms cannot do, since it is too small.

These problems are solved in surround.

Also, from a personal experience, when I listen to a audio CD in my onkyo received with 5.1 music mode, the sound stage is just so wide.

Guys try reading this book, Sound Reproduction loudspeakers and Room - Floyd E. Toole. he explains about how stereo came and problems people had to adopt to it from Mono, and how people still have a problem to move to surround. Stereophile: Book Review: <I>Sound Reproduction: Loudspeakers and Rooms</I>

All live music comes to your ears from the front. Agreed there are reflections in the concert hall. These too are captured by the microphones. You hear this information in a two channel system.

Are you talking about specialized recordings done with separate microphones for reflections and ambient information? Theoretically such a system would be great ! The following criteria have to be met for something like this to work.

1. Recording has to be for designed for multichannel music. Music plus all ambient sounds and reflections has to accurately captured with specialized microphones.

2. Then all this information has to be downmixed accurately for multichannels.

3. To play such a recording accurately considering how finicky audiophiles are, you will need five full range loudspeakers of the same quality. Audiophiles are already complaining about the skyrocketing prices of two loudspeakers, how many can afford five of them ?

4. You will need five amplification channels. The same story as above. Very expensive proposition. Audiophiles do not use AVRs.

All this for what ? Slightly better ambient sound information ?

Recording costs, pre/post production costs, cost of sound reproduction gear etc.will not make something like this a viable proposition. Theoretically multichannel is good if done right. But there are dozens of problems related to quality and cost which is preventing music from going multichannel ! Two channel is more practical and evolved.

 

[thevortex]

I dont see how one impinges on the other. 5.1 is 5.1 and 2.0 is 2.0.

However there is a reason the 2.0 will always have an advantage. One can always enjoy movies on a 2.0 or even 2.1 system without losing too much in the process. However music on a 5.1 (without specialized recordings and what not) will be a let down.

 

[GeorgeO]

Actually 2.1 is probably what you referred to, not 2 channel, right?

 

[corElement]

This is SOUND we're talking about. Sound is a variable.

Imagine a live stage recording and imagine a movie.
Imagine the variables in a movie and variables at a concert.

There is no good or bad, one is not better than the other, its a preference, its a choice, its an option.

I'll give you another example..

Take a 2ch sacd, if I play an sacd on my 5.1, it sounds like garbage compared to a 5.1 ac3 encoded recording being played on a 5.1.

the ac3 will be 1/10th the bitrate and quality and still sound better on a 5.1 than a stereo system while an sacd will rip apart the 5.1 ac3 audio track in terms of transparency.

One provides experience, the other content. The application and market is different.

People's PREFERENCE and value for money requirements are different.

Theres so many variables its ridiculous to even consider.

Recording quality
medium quality
interface quality
material quality
electrical quality

The answer to the question is like Thad E Ginathom said : comparing tea to coffee.

Lets take a perfect world scenario, tea and coffee are both beverages.
However many people have tea in the morning to "wake up" while others take coffee to "stay up"

Theres only a fine line separating the two yet they are entirely different entities by themselves.

 

[rijuc]

Wonder if they had a similar discussion when we moved from mono to stereo music.. I guess it is more about adaptability and availability.. If today our favourite music was available in 5.1 or 9.2 at an affordable price we would defiantly be gunning for it.. Who knows maybe a 100 years from now music might be recorded in maybe like 20.4 channel sound and that will be the basis standard like stereo is today!

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Being almost old enough (I don't think I date back to the invention of stereo, but most of us had mono stuff when I was a kid) and I can say that we thought it was just a good idea!

 

[suri]

Will 5.1 channel audio replace 2 channel sound completely ?

Ever since dts and Dolby multi channel technology evolved, all DVDs have been coming with 5.1 channel surround sound output. HD-Set Top Boxes are also coming with 5.1 channel audio-out now. 5.1 channel HTs are becoming inexpensive too. So the question is : just the way Mono Sound was replaced by the Stereo (2 channel) Sound, will Stereo Sound be replaced by 5.1 channel surround sound ?

sure - it will!

everyone wants to be -

surrounded by love-

surrounded by appreciation -

surrounded by touch-

surrounded by smells-

surrounded by the all-encompassing love of god-

surrounded by the womb from which they were cruelly ejected into this unforgiving world.

yeah - everyone wants comfort -

BUT - for the strong ones -

2 channel stereo - with a superlative subwoofer supporting the cast.

all else is zilch

 

[panditji]

What is wrong in recording music in 5.1 format? If engineers are able to give me 5.1 music recordings, I would love it....I think the feeling of being engulfed in music would be great ....From mono to stereo to 5.1 I think it is a natural progression...I would love to try and experience it before commenting....

 

[suri]

What is wrong in recording music in 5.1 format? If engineers are able to give me 5.1 music recordings, I would love it....I think the feeling of being engulfed in music would be great ....From mono to stereo to 5.1 I think it is a natural progression...I would love to try and experience it before commenting....

just do it!

http://www.51musicinc.com/