Multi-channel beyond 5.1 - how many channels/speakers...

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by RickH, Sep 21, 2004.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. RickH

    RickH Connoisseur of deep album cuts Thread Starter

    Location:
    Raleigh, NC
    Just a hypothetical question...one which Steve Martin once discussed with his "Googlephonics sound system" :p ...but let's say in the future someone came up with the idea to go with a system that played 10 or 12 channels with that many speakers, placed all around the room. The source disc is only mixed down to that many channels - what would this sound like? Would this be overkill or audio paradise like we've never heard before, completely blowing away 5.1? And you also had the ability to mix these 10 or 12 channels the way you wanted to hear them. (more cowbell!)
     
  2. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    It all depends if the mix is good or not, the space you have, etc. To me this would be overkill.
     
  3. I would say nothing much would be gained from that many channels. Taking the average room in consideration 10-12 channels would become very overlapped based on the speaker dispersion. 2 front mains, 2 rear mains, 2 front effects, 2 rear effects, 2 left side effects (on mid wall) 2 right side effects (on mid wall), and of course the sub. I see that many speakers having wave fronts that are all crashing into each other. Ending up with a mashed sound quality rather than a defined direction where the sound is from.
     
  4. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    The "Googlephonic" thoery could be taken seriously. It can literally get to the point where one would go out and buy sick amounts of equipment and still be somewhat dissatisifed with it. Some audiophiles go through life changing and upgrading their systems every year only to go back to the simple electronics they started with saying "What was I thinking?!?"

    With something like DTS, they've even done up to 6.1 with some success, but how many channels could you possibly pay attention to past 5.1 without turning your head all over the place? How far away would you possibly be away from the artist intention or even be ABLE to place yourself in an intended space for listening??

    Oh, and then you listen to the stereo mix and fall in love with that all along?

    Space....Madness.....!
     
  5. Joe Nino-Hernes

    Joe Nino-Hernes Active Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    IMO anything over two channels is overkill. I am not a fan of surround.
     
  6. Didn't "Magic Alex" attempt to build a 48 track recording console (or something ridiculous like that!) for The Beatles that consisted of a speaker for each individual track?
     
  7. soundboy

    soundboy Senior Member

    We are on our way already....the Yamaha RX-Z9 receiver with 9.1 channel of surround sound!!

    [​IMG]

    Main features
     
  8. RickH

    RickH Connoisseur of deep album cuts Thread Starter

    Location:
    Raleigh, NC
    And most people these days are more concerned over portability than great sound (not us, of course). I still would like to hear a 2-channel 3D surround system that rivaled actual 5.1. I think if surround is to ever have any real hope of totally replacing two-channel, the way to do it would be in car systems and radio stations broadcasting 5.1. Get today's youth heavy exposure to it in their cars with the booming systems.
     
  9. JonUrban

    JonUrban SHF Member #497

    Location:
    Connecticut
    I don't think surround will ever "replace" stereo, esp since headphone fit two ears "nicely"! (Yes, I know there are 4.0 and 5.1 headphones)

    I like to think of 5.1 as my prefered method of listening when I want to actually SIT DOWN and listen, something most folks rarely do anymore (excepting this membership, of course).

    Surround in the car, however, is a NATURAL. And for those who claim that "I have two ears, why should I have a surround system in my car" I ask you one question....

    "Why then do you have speakers in the rear of the car?" (As long as they are there, give them their own channels!) :D
     
  10. Beatlesfan03

    Beatlesfan03 New Member

    Location:
    cleveland, ohio
    Yes, but I believe he was going for 72 tracks to be exact.
     
  11. RexKramer

    RexKramer Senior Member

    Location:
    Outside of Philly
  12. proufo

    proufo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bogotá, Colombia
    Current top ambiance recreation systems use around 12-16 channels of ambiance plus the main source.
     
  13. -=Rudy=-

    -=Rudy=- ♪♫♪♫♫♪♪♫♪♪ Staff

    Location:
    US
    IMHO the next step in "surround" should be in the vertical plane. Right now, we have sound coming from around us in the horizontal plane, but nothing in the vertical to give the sound's apparent position any sense of height. This could be accomplished with as few as eight speakers (one in each "corner" of the listening area, top and bottom, with "phantom" images used to place the sound between speakers) or as many as 24 if you put center speakers between the eight.

    Also IMHO, anything more than 5.1 isn't needed currently: this is all the information we have on current DVDs and surround audio discs.
     
  14. Dave D

    Dave D Done!

    Location:
    Milton, Canada
    I think it would start to lose discreteness with too many speakers
     
  15. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    I agree that it would lose discreteness with too many speakers, IMO
     
  16. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    It all boils down to personal taste.
     
  17. RickH

    RickH Connoisseur of deep album cuts Thread Starter

    Location:
    Raleigh, NC
    That's pretty exciting reading, even if it's not going to be commercially available for a long time. Maybe the DSP angle of achieving close to the same results will be the key.
     
  18. grx8

    grx8 Senior Member

    Location:
    Santiago, Chile
    Who´s Magic Alex?
     
  19. Dave D

    Dave D Done!

    Location:
    Milton, Canada
    A guy that John Lennon brought into the Beatles circle of friends. He was a "genius" according to John. He was supposed to do a bunch of stuff for the Beatles.....studios with a gagillion tracks......electric paint that changed colours or something like that......the best he could do was make little boxes with flashing lights.
     
  20. grx8

    grx8 Senior Member

    Location:
    Santiago, Chile
    So John was high when he met him.
     
  21. Dave D

    Dave D Done!

    Location:
    Milton, Canada
    John was very naive when it came to technology, so he was easy to dupe.
     
  22. grx8

    grx8 Senior Member

    Location:
    Santiago, Chile
    Paul was the tech guy? I mean the one who want new amplifiers, looking for better sound, etc.
    But if John was naive, how did he wrote and invented so many efect for the songs?
     
  23. whitenoise

    whitenoise New Member

    Location:
    Sarasota, Florida
    Depends. 6.1 and 7.1 usually add rear speakers. These tend to duplicate some of the other channels, for a more solid rear sound.

    My understanding is that height is one of the things people are looking at for > 7.1. The article posted by Rex above, for example:
     
  24. whitenoise

    whitenoise New Member

    Location:
    Sarasota, Florida
    The Beatles Recording Sessions, by Mark Lewisohn, contains all the answers. You really need this book. :) Everybody needs this book.
     
  25. Joe Nino-Hernes

    Joe Nino-Hernes Active Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    I have been talking a lot with my professor here at Columbia about multichannel audio. We were discussing the new super high definition HDTV (different from standard HDTV) and its audio. It will have the capability of supporting up to 22 channel audio. 22 channel audio is becoming increasingly popular in clubs, and such, because with that many speakers, you can create the illusion of the music being louder than it really is. This is great, because it keeps the decibel level in the club below the legal limit, and it protects your hearing. The only drawback to this, is that mixing 22 channels is very hard. You have to have incredible ears, and a good sense of space and balance. It frightens me, because there are a lot of engineers that can barley do stereo!

    However, I still think that two channel stereo will stay the standard for a long time. I like two channel stereo in the home, and I would most not likely upgrade to multichannel, until most major titles were available in that format.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine