Surround Sound Confusion

M

mikemoritz

New member
This may seem like a really broad question, but when it comes to mixing surround sound, how do you do it, and what kind of equipment do you need? Is it a software issue? hardware? I've just been poking around the internet and it seems like you need a surround decoder/encoder, but damned if I know how it would all go together. So, let's say you have a chain consisting of the following: Thing being recorded-->console-->DAW. How would you translate like 5 tracks of drums into surround? What kind of equipment is needed, and what is considered the industry standard surround equipment?

I know it's a lot of questions, but I'm really interested, and hopefully you can help me out.

Destined to take the place of the mudshark in your mythology,
Mike
 
I currently use Steinberg's Nuendo software to do my surround sound mixes.
The encoder/decoder is internal to the program. In addittion, I used their Surround Sound Edition set of plug-ins.

Because surround sound gives you an exceptionally broad pallet, it is imperitive to plan your compositions with the idea of surround in mind before youe even begin tracking. That makes it a lot easire to translate your mixes to the 6 speakers of 5.1 surround. Proper placement and panning of the monitors is crucial as well. There are "indusrty standards" for this as well. Don't think of mixing in surround as 6 speaker stereo, mixes wont really translate well if you do. But rather think of it as placing the listener inside of a complex aural field. The thing too with surround, its almost like an effect, and it can get over used in a hurry, sending the listeners head spinning and reeling.

IS there a stand alone encoder/decoder? Perhaps, but you may have better luck looking for a plug-in for your DAW. You'll also need proper AD/DA conversion, and of course at least 6 monitor outputs. And a way of "bussing" to those outputs.

Once you've finished your Surround Sound mix, the trick is getting someone to hear it. I mean, I can bring someone into the studio, sit them down, and say "Listen to this!" But without proper DVD creation software and hardware, it's hard to take surround further than that. Currently, I'm experimenting with VHS as a final mix-down for Surround Sound compositions.

I'm not sure I answered a single one of your questions, but at least that gives you a little more information.

If you're really interested in Surround Sound production though, here's a great place to start:
http://www.surroundassociates.com/fqmain.html
 
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Michael Jones said:
Once you've finished your Surround Sound mix, the trick is getting someone to hear it. I mean, I can bring someone into the studio, sit them down, and say "Listen to this!" But without proper DVD creation software and hardware, it's hard to take surround further than that. Currently, I'm experimenting with VHS as a final mix-down for Surround Sound compositions.
Click to expand...

Michael, Can't you encode those to a stereo track on cd? I'm not all that up on 5.1 as opposed to the older Dolby. What is the point of mixing surround on a DAW if you can't master it? Does it give you 6 discreet .wav files that still need to be mastered for final encoding?
 
TexRoadkill said:


Michael, Can't you encode those to a stereo track on cd? I'm not all that up on 5.1 as opposed to the older Dolby. What is the point of mixing surround on a DAW if you can't master it? Does it give you 6 discreet .wav files that still need to be mastered for final encoding?
Click to expand...
You most certianly can encode and mix to stereo, but then you have stereo and not 5.1 surround. There's an option in "Nuendo" called "mix8to2" (one of several options) and it does a pretty good job at encoding the surround for CD, but when it's all said and done, it's still stereo. DVD audio is the way to go to preserve the surround mix. Right now though, it's fairly expensive. Prices have dropped in the last couple of years though, as you'd expect. And there's still industry indecisions as to the best format.
 
Are there any high quality surround sound plugins for VST? I was looking around, and it seems like there weren't many at all (let alone high-quality ones). There seemed to be some for pro-tools format, but I don't plan to use either nuendo or pro-tools. So, other than like Pro-tools and Nuendo, what is there?

And, if possible, I'm still looking for some answers on outboard encoders/decoders.

Still pretty confused,
Mike
 
You can burn CDs with 5.1 sound in both AC3 or DTS formats. All you need to play it back is a CD or DVD player with it's digital out jack connected to a 5.1 deocder / reciever.
 
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