Is surround sound for music and home theater on its way out?

[Ronnie-]

You are now reaching the point where the 6 yo will start to appreciate the surround. However, you still have younger ones, right?

Probably so, but I am not sure it is worth the hassle for me to deal with it. I am pretty much used to not having it, probably to the point that a simple sound bar would be sufficient for my ears as a massive upgrade.

No, only have the one thank the good Lord.

 

[Ronnie-]

2) no clean way to run wires.

That is another hang up of mine. I could run them through the attic and mount at the back of the room, but the way it is laid out, for the best effect, they need to be right behind my couch, this would IMO put them too far too the rear. Just not worth it for what I would get in return.

 

[Hall]

Even Quadrophenia was never released in Quad.

You mean that the stand-up, jukebox-looking stereo my brother and I had, the one that had a "Quadraphonic" sticker or something on it, was fake ? Or are you referring to the 8-tracks (or LPs) that we would have to use with it ?

 

[harshness]

You mean that the stand-up, jukebox-looking stereo my brother and I had, the one that had a "Quadraphonic" sticker or something on it, was fake ?

Quadraphonic was real. Quadrophenia, the "landmark" double album by The Who, was mixed down to stereo when it was concluded that the Quad mix sounded like poo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrophenia

 

[gadgtfreek]

The livingroom is the only room (out of 3) I don't have 5.1 sound in, for most of my watching I use surround sound...

Im only setup in the living room, but thats where we watch most of our sports, movies and HDTV. My amp is on whenever the tv is on.

 

[jevans64]

I've owned big-box RPTV's since 2004, which generally have plenty of room for decent speakers. I have NEVER heard the TV's speakers in the last two RPTV's I have owned. When I put together my current setup, it would have been a mid-range audiophile setup, but I'm guessing it is considered a top-tier system now with most folks wanting to budget less than $1000 for " surround sound. "

I actually have two setups... a 11.2 setup for movies and a 2.1 setup for high-fidelity music. Some of the best recordings I have are actually 24/192 stereo " rips " of vinyl recordings. Most of the surround stuff I have are live classical recordings, like the Christian Thielemann/Wiener Philmoniker Beethoven 9 collection, which is more of a video presentation than an audio presentation. I'm still hoping for BD Audio to take off.

 

[gadgtfreek]

11.2, thats awesome.

 

[dfergie]

Looking at 7.2 soon, then will have 5.1 in the living room again...

 

[navychop]

Makes my 7.1 look pale.

 

[teachsac]

7.2 here. That's all there's gonna be.

S~

 

[KC9TIK]

I purchased a surround sound receiver several years ago and set up the surround sound. I must say I was not impressed. I can't figure out why the voice only comes out of the center channel and why I can barely hear the rear speakers. I now have it set to bi-amp stereo and I couldn't be happier.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Part of the problem with multiple speakers is speaker placement. I moved my towers several times and they can go from good, great, to poor depending on where they are at. Plus rooms are different, and then it helps if you have an AVR with room correction like Audyssey. Unfortunately, being a HT enthusiast does not = easy.

 

[jayn_j]

I kind of agree John. The problem was not in immersive vs concert mixes, it was that the editors fell in love with their effects.

 

[John Kotches]

I purchased a surround sound receiver several years ago and set up the surround sound. I must say I was not impressed. I can't figure out why the voice only comes out of the center channel and why I can barely hear the rear speakers. I now have it set to bi-amp stereo and I couldn't be happier.

So that the voice is locked to the screen center for all listeners regardless of location. With traditional stereo imaging the phantom center is based on where the listener is seated instead of where it is mixed.





Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[John Kotches]

I kind of agree John. The problem was not in immersive vs concert mixes, it was that the editors fell in love with their effects.

Not editors, mix engineers.

I spoke with some of the people that were doing the mixes, like Elliot Scheiner and Frank Fillipetti. They were very particular about this and kept "effects" to a minimum. Scheiner went back and fixed the guitars on hotel California on the surround mix so that Walsh and Henley weren't in the same location.

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots had effects but they fit the music.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[riffjim4069]

Okay, I'm actually in the process of validating whether to buy a newfangled HT Receiver when my old 7.1 ones work just fine, and I almost always listen to music using an old 2-channel Yamaha amp and a pair of Kliphorns or my Klipsch KLF-30s for metal. Does anyone listen to surround for music these days? The last time I did was probably when I bought the Tina Turner Live in Amsterdam DVD.

 

[jevans64]

11.2, thats awesome.

Not really... Since I have a total of TWO, a whopping TWO, movies that were mastered/mixed in DTS Neo:X. It does a pretty good job of adding presence in 2-channel recordings when I process to Neo:X though. The biggest improvement was changing my layout and adding a decent pair of speakers for back surround 7.x. Front Height and Wide, not so much, but there was a scene in Avengers where the Front Height became noticeable with Neo:X. Main thing is to have ample power reserves to make 5.x and 7.x sound good. I have 3000 watts, not including subs, on tap for the 11 speakers, which can get quite loud. LOL

For anyone that owns Dredd or Expendables 2 there are 11.1 DTS demos on the discs to check your Neo:X setup.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I can imagine it can be loud, knowing what I can hit with what I have.

 

[jevans64]

I can imagine it can be loud, knowing what I can hit with what I have.

Yes. I was looking at the Outlaw 7900 since the 7 speakers I have can all handle the 300 watts. I went to EmoFest 2012 and ended up with the XPR-5 for $1300 plus tax. Now Emotiva has an XPR-7 in the works, which might be a decent companion for the XPR-5 IF I decide to get a Marantz 8801 or something similar.

 

[Hall]

I can't figure out why the voice only comes out of the center channel and why I can barely hear the rear speakers.

Voice from the center is by design. When you talk to a person, where does their voice come from, straight ahead or out from the sides ? Barely hearing anything from the rear is also by design. I think anything from the rear during a "normal" scene will be rather discrete. It's really only used noticeably during some scenes, such as something moving and going past you. Try Black Hawk Down, for example, and the helicopters will start quietly in the rears, get louder in the rears (as if they're coming towards you), then transition to the fronts. Other scenes, such as a door closing, can be done only through the right rear or left rear and can sometimes cause you to actually turn your head.