emergingsoul OP wrote:
Thought everybody knew that
If I had been following the thread (and not just jumping in at random to see the latest post), I would have realized that. OTOH, apparently it bears repeating. 😉
Why don't they record in ‘surround stereo’?
Surround sound can sound wonderful on your home theater system if the recording is done well. Unfortunately, a quality home theater movie soundtrack recording streamed at home is not so good due to bandwidth problems and not a top priority from movie creators unfortunately
And maybe for stereo listening connoisseurs, via records or streaming, it may be nice to hear Music delivered to rear speakers in the room rather than just from the two main speakers. And yes main speakers can do an excellent job spreading pressure amplitudes evenly throughout the room with good amplification and room acoustics but maybe it could get better.
Possibly might it be more interesting if current stereo recordings could be recorded in surround stereo. Not sure how taboo or how awful this would be if done well. Stereo is a relic of the past it may be worth upgrading a bit, and maybe rethinking how music is recorded and delivered in current Times might be worth exploring.
If I had been following the thread (and not just jumping in at random to see the latest post), I would have realized that. OTOH, apparently it bears repeating. 😉 |
While there are a lot of multi channel recordings out there such as the suggested Eric Clapton Crossroads, any decent AVR or surround sound processor can already simulate full surround on any standard stereo recording. For music, you are not sitting on stage among the instruments, so back we go to the surround on the multi channel recordings just filling in the ambience of the venue. When we play simulated surround with regular stereo music there seems to be more content from the simulation and the channels are carrying more actual music on the surround channels than an actual recording done in surround. Both are good IMHO. If you want music from all channels your only limitation is your system. If you want to feel like you are sitting in the middle of an arena, the actual surround recordings would matter more. In any case I doubt studio recordings done in multi channel would be much better than the computer inside the AVR would create. I'm playing more and more stereo music through the surround sound processor these days, and it's pretty good. I would say this is also dependent on your system having full range capabilities for all channels or close enough.
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Definitely requires an AVR that offers a "pure direct" or similar option, and does not in any way apply to the cheap low end units out there. There is no reason that a high quality AVR or processor when properly built for the purpose cannot also deliver top-class 2-channel audio. I know for example that mine shuts off all other circuits that are not needed and deliver a direct signal from source to amp. Even the display is disabled so not to interfere. Definitely requires specific hardware built for the purpose, and some will still argue. Then again some here talk about "breaking in" copper wire, so we will leave that right there. :-)
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