shall we all get started with Dolby 5.1?

[Giganova]

damn -- if I see what's coming out on DVD these days and read the music magazines, it seems like everything will be in Dolby 5.1 pretty soon. Shall we all get started mixing/mastering in 5.1 to be prepared for the future???

 

[sonusman]

Hmmmmmmmmmm....I will play the wait and see role here. I don't think stereo mixing is going out the door anytime soon, and I am not sure that the buying public is going to embrace surround mixing. In a practical sense, until DVD's totally replace the CD, it isn't practical. People still listen to a lot of music on portable and car audio systems, and those environments are suitable for surround mixing. The reason I say DVD will have to TOTALLY replace the CD is that DVD is the only portable medium that can hold enough data to offer on the same disk a stereo AND surround version of the same mix.

Anywho....

Ed

 

[dobro]

Is it still true with DVD that you've got a choice of 5.1 DVD audio at lower resolution or DVD video with stereo tracks of higher resolution? I'd go for the second one if I could find a cameraperson to work with. The performance segments might be a bit boring, though - me singing to prerecorded tracks that I was listening to through the cans. Riveting stuff.

 

[Tnglwd_Stu]

Just out of interest - I own a couple of SACD's which play in a normal CD player in stereo or in surround when you put them in a SACD player -

This is what it says on the CD: Hybrid disc - tracks can be played in5.1 surround or stereo.

Is this a multi layer thing or what?

Stu

 

[69ShadesofRed]

Yes, Stu. The SACD standard allows for two layers. One is for SACD (DSD) and the deeper layer is for regular Red Book compatible Audio CD. In this regard SACD is actually much more flexible than DVD, and some argue that DSD (Direct Stream Digital) sounds better than PCM which both CDs and DVDs use. Of course almost all of the digital audio equipment uses PCM so the actual advantage of DSD, sound quality-wise, is somewhat theoretical.

Cheers.

 

[Track Rat]

I have absolutely no interest in 5.1 at all. Most recordings don't even do stereo all that well let alone surround.

 

[TexRoadkill]

I was curious about getting a SACD player to listen to the new Dark Side of the Moon surround mix. Then I searched on some players and the cheapest I could find was $3k... ouch.

 

[christiaan]

Wouldn't 5.1 look silly walking down suburban street enjoying the music on your discman...

 

[BlueSky]

Wouldn't 5.1 look silly walking down suburban street enjoying the music on your discman...

http://www.dolby.com/dolbyheadphone/

 

[BlueSky]

I was curious about getting a SACD player to listen to the new Dark Side of the Moon surround mix. Then I searched on some players and the cheapest I could find was $3k... ouch.

DV-563A

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pe/product/detail/0,,2076_4139_2046370,00.html

Street price appx. US$179.00

"This is a high-performance movie and music machine. In addition to DVD movies, the slim DV-563A plays multi-channel, high-resolution DVD-Audio and SACD discs, plus all of your recordings on DVD-R/RW*, CD-R/RW**, and MP3"

 

[Teacher]

i'm betting the DAC on that players is so shitty that it defeats the purpose of having a SACD or DVD playing

 

[BlueSky]

i'm betting the DAC on that players is so shitty that it defeats the purpose of having a SACD or DVD playing

A friend just purchased one and it sound very good... YMMV

 

[mallcore pop]

Please, it's hard enough to stay in the sweet spot for stereo.

 

[TexRoadkill]

DV-563A

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pe/product/detail/0,,2076_4139_2046370,00.html

Street price appx. US$179.00

"This is a high-performance movie and music machine. In addition to DVD movies, the slim DV-563A plays multi-channel, high-resolution DVD-Audio and SACD discs, plus all of your recordings on DVD-R/RW*, CD-R/RW**, and MP3"

Thanks for the link. Too bad I bought a new DVD player a few months ago. Maybe I can offload it on a friend. I suppose you could use the 5.1 Digital output to bypass the onboard convertors.

In regards to what's the point of surround mixing I would agree for most music there isn't any. It would be cool for concept albums, instrumental and classical music.

 

[KingstonRock]

In regards to what's the point of surround mixing I would agree for most music there isn't any. It would be cool for concept albums, instrumental and classical music.

I would really like to sit in the middle of the New York Philharmonic.

I just don't think that enough people are really active enough listeners to appreciate music in such an intricate setting. Surround is good for movies because people will sit there when they have the screen to watch, but otherwise I think that most people don't need/want surround mixing for music. It's something that'll be left to the audiphiles and music-buff types.

Eric

 

[faderbug]

I would really like to sit in the middle of the New York Philharmonic.

I just don't think that enough people are really active enough listeners to appreciate music in such an intricate setting. Surround is good for movies because people will sit there when they have the screen to watch, but otherwise I think that most people don't need/want surround mixing for music. It's something that'll be left to the audiphiles and music-buff types.

Eric

that's what they used to say about stereo

 

[CarcPazu]

that's what they used to say about stereo

ahaha true, I totally agree

I heard some pretty impressive stuff done in 5.1
I think it's not the future, it's currently the present.