Surround music R.I.P.

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Ed Hughes, Jul 9, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Eric Weinraub

    Eric Weinraub Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon
    But I hear of a Betamax release for RSD
     
  2. JonUrban

    JonUrban SHF Member #497

    Location:
    Connecticut
    These are new to me! :laugh:

    At QQ we have a thread run by our member haikubass that lists all of the surround releases of this year (and past years). I gave him his own forum section! There's not a lot, but there are things coming out. You can check out 2018 here:

    2018 SURROUND RELEASES
     
    Mahalo, Plan9, fredblue and 5 others like this.
  3. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    i understand some of the pro's.... i guess I'm just stubborn.... I'm a tactile person. I play with the cover and read the stuff in it. i look at the cover. if there's a booklet i flip through it. Depending on an artist, I'll look to see who is playing what where.
    I guess from the time I bought my first record in 1980, i just loved the idea of getting it out of the plastic, checking they hadn't given me a visibly damaged copy, putting it carefully on the turntable (back in the day) .... i guess it's like an addicts ritual before, during and after partaking of their personal thing ... the whole thing is part of the addiction ... and it seems terrible to reference it like that, but that's what it is.
    if every person on the face of the earth had messed with my day, if i had been in an argument with people i loved and loved me ... the perfect constant was that music would just be music and my ritual was set in stone ....
    I can see some great things about streaming, but I also have a mild apprehension about what won't end up on there .... does any of that make sense?
     
    Bill Mac, fredblue and JonUrban like this.
  4. wiseblood

    wiseblood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    The article hit it on the head. No one ever knew what to do with the extra channels of audio that were available. This tried to become a thing when kids were stuffing .99 cent earbuds in their ears to listen to their free downloads from Napster and Limewire.

    It was doomed from the word go.

    And this whole thing with the Beatles White Album potentially getting a surround mix...I'm not looking forward to it. The one album that was asking for that treatment got it and it was absolutely horrible. Giles didn't go aggressive with it PLUS he has a chorus of estate reps and ex-Beatles over his shoulder. What a mess. It was the one part of the Pepper box that was an utter letdown. I don't care about the White Album in surround if he's doing it with those same people chiming in. It will be another failure. Just keep it in stereo and mono.

    I also hated Pet Sounds in surround.

    It's a terrible format for music. Far more demanding than even vinyl. I'm okay with it going away.
     
    Malina and D.B. like this.
  5. dprokopy

    dprokopy Senior Member

    Location:
    Near Seattle, WA
    I'm talking new albums. That is, where the surround version comes out at or around the same time that the album is first released. Even in the surround "heyday" of the early 2000s, this was still a relatively rare phenomenon (except with classical titles). And the fact that we haven't really seen a new pop/rock album released in surround in 3-4 years tells me the format will be relegated, as I said, to catalog titles aimed at an older audience who still values actually sitting still and listening to an album start to finish. (I'm 46 and barely fall into that category myself.)
     
    D.B. likes this.
  6. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    there aren't too many new albums coming out that make me want to buy them anyhow, but i understand what you're saying.
    I reckon Devin Townsend may look at it ... he just mixed his plovdiv concert in 5.1 and stated very clearly that he loved working in the format ... so fingers crossed he may decide to mix a few of his 4-5 new projects in 5.1 also :)
     
    fredblue likes this.
  7. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    I suppose the question is if there is enough surround music to fill an app? Reading through the QQ list, some of the releases seem to be film soundtracks, which already have surround mixes - make those available as well. I'm just trying to figure out how to make a lot more music available for those of us who enjoy streaming.
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  8. You said it all!
     
  9. Every time I get an album with a 5.1 mix I play it once they rarely ever again. It’s a fun novelty and just that for me personally .
     
    scobb likes this.
  10. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    Here's the problem - if surround is only available to those who buy physical media, then surround on physical media tiny sliver of an already tiny market segment, which means that potential sales of any title are going to max out at a couple of thousand copies. I want to get more titles out there, and removing the physical element is the way to do that.
     
  11. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    What about you? Would you pay a monthly subscription to check out these novelties?
     
  12. JonUrban

    JonUrban SHF Member #497

    Location:
    Connecticut
    To each his own. Everytime I get an album with a 5.1 mix, I *never* play the stereo! :hide:
     
    pdenny, Bill Mac, marcb and 21 others like this.
  13. Vaughan

    Vaughan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex, UK
    /Rant On

    Yah know, all this talk about Surround being a niche, and therefore not relevant, is getting old, imo.

    Look, we all know that people with an audiophile passion are a small part of the wider market, but it's not like it was ever anything but. Still, that's not a reason for something to stop. Not everything has to be a rush to the bottom. Record companies know this too. Yes we're a small percentage of the total market, but on the other hand we're passionate, we don't mind handing over cash, and we're quite voracious. Instead of flying the white flag, it's time we demanded what we want.

    I mean, there's a thread on this site about box sets. Some sets have 50, 100, 150 discs and more. Hell, there's a 100-disc Merzbow set. If Merzbow isn't niche, I don't know what is. Yet there it is. It doesn't have to be a big market, it has to be a big enough, market.

    As Digital Z wrote earlier in the thread: "Why is everyone so gung-ho to kill off our music choices?"

    With CD's going by the wayside, I do sense a certain amount of gloating from some corners, usually from people who buy Vinyl. I just don't understand it. I don't want Vinyl, but I'm happy that those who want it can get it. I may not agree with their choice, and I know it's not the right choice for me, but dammit - we live in a world where they mass produce consumer electronics for pennies on the dollar and ship them to the other side of the planet, along with cars, various foodstuffs etc. Yet we're too damn niche to deserve a decent Surround Mix? Come on.

    Surround is a great choice, especially in box sets. The multi-disc sets of Steve Wilson doing Yes and King Crimson titles are certainly enhanced by the Surround mixes. There is a place for them. Surround systems also aren't some obscure niche - plenty of people have them in their homes, even if it's mostly for movies. But then, how many does there need to be?

    As a consumer, I want choice. I don't need Jethro Tull's This Was again. I own the damn thing four times already. Remix it, add in a Surround mix, and okay - you got me - I'm in. We should demand more from a music business that is hell bent on getting us to buy the same stuff over and over. No wonder they love the Vinyl resurgence. But at the same time we demand Vinyl releases, they should also consider CD, Surround, and a hi-res format (most seem to want SACD, I'd prefer Blu-Ray). It's not costing them fortunes to make the damn things.......

    /rant off.
     
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2018
  14. All of these deluxe box sets with surround on Blu-ray argues differently. It's not going to ever be a huge market (thank you Mp3's) but I doubt most folks wanted this anyway. They DO have a ready market but it's small which is one of the reasons why we are still seeing deluxe box sets with surround.

    As for downloadable, I really don't want downloadable surround. I prefer it on a Blu-ray disc myself.

    It's not dead. It just smells funny. It needed a show and some aftershave.
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  15. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    I'm a member of that older audience who in fact just sat still and listened to an album start to finish. (Getaway by The Clean, as it happens.)

    I can think of very few things that I would find more boring than listening to a surround mix, especially of an album I'm already well familiar with. "Oh, that bit's back there now. Mm."
     
  16. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    Ken Pohlmann is old and cynical. :D
     
  17. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    no worries in the future we can always get an upcoming REMIXED Beatles album in surround sound emulating the "mono" mix...chin up the White Album is just around the corner in the next "gilesfied" release!!!
     
    maui jim likes this.
  18. Hymie the Robot

    Hymie the Robot Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    You sound like an expert on the subject!
     
    quicksrt likes this.
  19. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    this will be a daily bread article to supplement the CD is Dead...LOL
     
    Ed Hughes likes this.
  20. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    His brother...
     
  21. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    It's a cool idea ... i guess it would need to be independent of record companies to a degree, as part of the initial problem was sony and warner creating an unnecessary format war for something that was a delicate shrub to grow anyhow.
    It would need to be able to have everything and the capacity to store and broadcast (whatever the correct terminology would be) it all ....
    With several other variable factors taken into account, if everyone interested joined/subscribed i guess it could work ...
    Still makes me uncomfortable .. it's like renting, and i don't really like renting stuff
     
  22. zen

    zen Senior Member

    [​IMG]

    Still love the Brian Eno Do-It-Yourself Surround Sound.
     
  23. Nope. I hate subscriptions except for Netflix.
     
    Shvartze Shabbos likes this.
  24. Vaughan

    Vaughan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex, UK
    My go to answer to this type of comment is: Have you heard the Surround mix of Talking Heads Fear of Music? You truly have not heard the track "Drugs" until you've heard the Surround mix. It's not gimmicky, or just a matter of "oh, that's behind me" - it swirls and spins, and really draws you in far better than the stereo ever will, imo. I've heard both good and bad Surrounds (Bowie's Young Americans is a hit and miss affair, I find the Surround of Fascination pretty terrible, for example) - but when done right they really do give a totally different perspective on the music we love.
     
  25. That’s cool. The only Surround album I loved and played a lot was the DVD of Rings Around the World by Super Furry Animals.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine