Immersive Audio and How to Achieve It

@jonwolfpell

A really good, two channel home system can .reproduce a large, deep, detailed soundstage w/ great dynamics & sound better than most live venues.

I don’t disagree, but I don’t think I would ever confuse a recorded playback on any system for a live performance of am orchestra.

More speakers & electronics etc is just more, not necessarily better.

Yep, more speakers also means more ways to screw it up, but you can screw up a stereo too. I found that although the Dolby specs for speaker setup are meticulous they were still not right for my room. Their diagram has the MLP toward the back of the room, equidistant between front and back walls worked better for me. Here are dolby’s specs:

This model where the MLP is equidistant was night and day better for my room:

Floyd Toole uses an equidistant MLP as well, our systems are almost identical, we both chose book shelf speakers mounted high on the wall as height channels, we both use wide channels, center channels above and below the screen and VOG channel.

https://www.thescreeningroomav.com/single-post/2019/03/06/The-Ultimate-Real-World-Home-Theater-and-Listening-Room

@mahgister 

Immersive audio is NOT the same as immersive acoustic...

True dat, most receivers and processors use some type of DSP to help with the acoustics.

Immersiveness in PHYSICAL acoustic is created by passive material treatment and active mechanical control of the room...

Yep, I agree 100%.

In digital audio of home theater for music theater the main point is NOT PRESERVING the physical recorded experience of a specific non amplified musical instrument , which reflect the trade-off choices of the recording engineer IN A CLOSED ACOUSTIC SPACE , the main point with home theater music experience in is rrecreating the general atmosphere of AMPLIFIED instruments ...

This is where the room acoustics come into play. There is a blueray concert by Kraftwerk recorded in Atmos and 3D video. It is the most lifelike recording I have ever heard in my room when played at reference levels. I think because the amplified instruments are easier to reproduce (mainly synthesizers).

When I play back solo piano I like minimal use of height channels, more use of wide channels and room acoustics help recreate the sound of the hall or studio the piano was recorded in.

@kota1 

Thank you, Kota, for the nice words regarding my system.  Yes, the walls.  They are due for treatment next.  You don’t see it in the pics,  but there is a nice thick area rug just in front, and a very large over-stuffed corduroy sectional 9’  from the system which absorbs a lot of the reflections. Sounds good in there most of the time (unless the music or movie  is bad!).

 I realize some artists have wide-ranging ideas on how to present their music, but keep in mind most musicians care little about what we audiophiles (yes, I called myself that—yikes!), care about in sound reproduction.  They just want to make music.  It’s not unusual to hear stories of brilliant classical musicians, for instance,  who play music at home on boom boxes. They are not always the best choice to ask how to setup sound in a room or hall.  For me, immersion is an  emotional, psychological, if you will, experience of musical art being carried by sound waves.  Not the other way around.  The art comes first, and it can come in 2 or 3 or a thousand dimensions.  As long as its good (to me). But right-on to you for seeking the best sound you can.

For movies / home theater, I get multiple channels immersing you in sound. I saw the new Mission Impossible last night.  Pretty good overall as usual w/ bullets flying all around, car chases, moving trains etc sound on many channels all over the place is fun & makes sense. None of that is true for watching live music. The stage & performers don’t move & neither does the audience.