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Do you guys prefer 2 channel music or multichannel music better? Cds, HDCD, DVD-audio, SACD. Which do you prefer? I do not want to take 2 channel recording and listen to them in multichannel unless it was recorded in multichannel...


IMO native multichannel is the best musical experience, but only for material that's (a) artistically suitable and (b) technically well-mixed. It's becoming less an issue since there's so little quality multichannel material.

Simpler arrangements seem to benefit less from multichannel. More complex, textured arrangements IF engineered and mixed properly are better suited.

However any material can be ruined by a mixing engineer who takes a "gimmicky", unrestrained approach.

If you have multichannel capability, these albums are very impressive, significantly better than the stereo versions (which may themselves be very good):

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (SACD)
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (SACD)
Roxy Music - Avalon (SACD)
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (DVD-A)
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (DVD-A)
Eagles - Hotel California (DVD-A)
The Beatles - Love (DVD-A)

Note: a key reason multichannel sounds so good (if properly done) is NOT because of the high sampling resolution, but because it's been re-mixed.

Unlike remastering which can be more automated, re-mixing requires a high degree of artistic involvement. IOW the performance must be "pulled apart", and decisions made about what tracks go on what channels. The entire acoustic pallet must be re-thought. When it's done well, nothing is better. Unfortunately it's rarely done well, multichannel sales are not encouraging, so sadly the trend is unfavorable.

Using PLII or Logic 7 to convert stereo material to surround can work pretty well for some material. However it's not nearly as good as a native multichannel release. I've listened to several of the above stereo CD albums using PLII, vs the native multichannel version which is much better.

That said, PLII and Logic 7 can improve the experience for some stereo material. It's hard to predict which stereo material works well in surround using these methods. Often newer material with more phase differences works well.