Poll of the Day > Petition for 5.1 surround music

(+) Yeah! (+)

If you would like to see 5.1 surround music become commonplace, consider signing this petition. There have been a few attempts over the years to introduce new formats supporting 5.1 surround music, but they were very poorly marketed and had a very limited amount of content available. Consequently, they fizzled out and music technology has essentially stagnated. For something like this to succeed, the music industry needs to target the mainstream demographic, which is something they haven't done in the past.

https://chn.ge/2ND6Hsw
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Nope. We need to get ditch 440hz and go to 432hz.
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Okay...what does the tuning have to do with 5.1 vs. stereo?
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so we can transcend to the 5th dimension brah!!

I agree with you, I'd love for 5.1 to be standardized.
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Sorry but I went from 5.1 to stereo some years ago and I am never going back :)
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The simple fact is, not that many people have surround systems. Surround sound has carved out a decent following of aficionados between video games and feature films, but whether it's TV speakers, headphones, bookshelves or a pair of towers, the bulk of listening is still done in stereo.

Not to mention the difficulty of making good recordings of live audio in surround. Mixing audio for games or movies can be incredibly simple and still sound fine even with mediocre tools and software, getting that "sitting in the chair" feeling out of a live recording is much more difficult.

Love me some of that surround sound.
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Most 5.1 surround music is on DVD, either as a live show with video or as a studio album mixed in surround. CD's with surround sound are rare and most people won't have the equipment to play them either.

Personally, I'm okay with stereo music using speaker fill on a surround system.

7.1 or get out!
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I'd rather every musical element recorded separately with 22.2 so the entire score can be adjusted on the fly for any system.
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as someone who listens to almost-muted audio at night to keep from waking a sleeping baby, i do not give a shit about 5.1, ok?

we now watch netflix with subtitles, ok?
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Audio always struck me as one of the weirdest things to be a snob over. Like I notice zero difference between earbuds I get for $10 from Walmart and $300+ Beats whatever. Doubly so with speakers, it matters much more what your software levels are set to then the actual speakers themselves.

Being a snob about 1080 vs. 4K I can understand because their is an actual noticeable difference, but audio just seems like a way to get a whole bunch of stereo producers very rich.
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Nice to see a few supporters! Be sure to sign the petition if you haven't already. Every signature counts (at least to me).

Red_Frog posted...

The simple fact is, not that many people have surround systems. Surround sound has carved out a decent following of aficionados between video games and feature films, but whether it's TV speakers, headphones, bookshelves or a pair of towers, the bulk of listening is still done in stereo.

Not to mention the difficulty of making good recordings of live audio in surround. Mixing audio for games or movies can be incredibly simple and still sound fine even with mediocre tools and software, getting that "sitting in the chair" feeling out of a live recording is much more difficult.

This is true, and I wouldn't suggest getting rid of stereo because there will probably always be situations where 5.1 just isn't practical. Still, I think the number of people with surround sound systems has probably increased somewhat compared to 20 years ago, at least based on my experience. It would be interesting to see some actual data though. With movies and video games commonly supporting surround sound and the advent of "home theater in a box" systems lowering the price of entry, it would at least make sense for there to be more people with surround systems now. I am simply advocating having 5.1 music alongside stereo so people can choose which way they want to listen, just like with movies.

It is undoubtedly harder to make 5.1 mixes than it is to make stereo mixes. That has been my experience when making my 5.1 remixes of NES soundtracks. Still, I'm of the opinion that it's well worth the extra effort. I'm sure that working with live recordings has its own challenges that are not present with electronically generated audio. That is something I've never had the occasion to attempt. Nevertheless, I have some 5.1 albums on DVD-Audio that sound really good so there are definitely some people that figured out how to make good 5.1 mixes. I think the best ones in my collection, only considering the quality of the 5.1 mix are:

Dream Theater (self-titled)
Megadeth - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?
Nightwish - Dark Passion Play

Zangulus posted...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/5.1_Music_Disc

Its existed for a long time. There are some discs out there. But like others have said, the lack of proliferation of systems to play it, its pretty rare.

Yep, that's pretty much the point. The technology has been around for about 20 years or so, but wasn't marketed so hardly anyone knew about it. Furthermore, the lack of available content would deter most people from buying the necessary equipment. The main problem with DTS-CD specifically, in my opinion, is that it requires using lossy compression. In this regard, it is similar to MP3, except that it is in 5.1. That doesn't mean that it automatically sounds bad, but at the same time, it isn't completely satisfying when you're accustomed to lossless audio.
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HighwayPilot posted...

Most 5.1 surround music is on DVD, either as a live show with video or as a studio album mixed in surround. CD's with surround sound are rare and most people won't have the equipment to play them either.

Personally, I'm okay with stereo music using speaker fill on a surround system.

The problem with surround music on regular DVD (i.e., DVD-Video) is the same problem that DTS-CD has. It requires Dolby Digital or DTS encoding, both of which are lossy. To have surround music on a physical format without lossy encoding, you either need Super Audio CD, DVD-Audio, or Blu-ray.

Yeah, I use the 7-channel stereo mode on my receiver a lot for music, but sometimes I'll use pure direct stereo. It kind of depends on where I am while I'm listening. Still, there are some albums that are just begging to have a 5.1 mix, but sadly one doesn't exist. In particular, when I listen to Rhapsody of Fire, hearing all the layers they have going on in their music, combined with their grandiose style, I'm wishing the whole time that it was in 5.1 surround.

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I'd rather every musical element recorded separately with 22.2 so the entire score can be adjusted on the fly for any system.

Yeah, something like that would be ideal, but probably isn't feasible right now. Having each musical element as a separate "voice" that can be toggled on or off, similar to chiptune video game music, would be pretty sweet. In the meantime, 5.1 is a significant step in the right direction.

Dikitain posted...

Audio always struck me as one of the weirdest things to be a snob over. Like I notice zero difference between earbuds I get for $10 from Walmart and $300+ Beats whatever. Doubly so with speakers, it matters much more what your software levels are set to then the actual speakers themselves.

Being an enthusiast about something hardly makes one a snob. Some people just have more of an appreciation for audio than others. It just means they get more enjoyment (or disappointment) from it than others. My wife, for instance, has no interest in music so she couldn't care less about speakers or audio formats. In that regard, she is the opposite of me.

However, I don't understand not being able to tell the difference between speakers. At the low end of the spectrum is built-in laptop speakers. Compare that to some decent, entry-level floor standing speakers with a subwoofer and the difference is night and day.
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Listening to music on Pro-Logic with my 5.1 surround sound system actually sounds really good.

For what it is, Pro-Logic is pretty impressive. Of course, it will never be as good as a discrete 5.1 mix, but nevertheless, the fact that it can take a stereo signal and make it into surround on the fly is pretty cool.
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2.0 is good enough. 2.1 is awesome, though.
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It's 2018 Atmos plebs.