Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo 2 ch vs Multi-ch music

I don't know about everyone else, but I like both.

Two channel purists get all bent out of shape over the fact that instruments' sounds are coming from every which way, killing the illusion of a live band playing in front of you...but so what?

That's ONE way to listen to music, yeah - but I enjoy listening to music, simply to hear the music, the sounds. Sometimes I don't care if it sounds "live". The effect of total enveloping sound is quite fun!

If you think about it...how many of us actually hear "live" music performed on a regular basis? Most people hear music in their living room - or even more often, in their cars. I understand that it's fun to be able to close your eyes and feel as though you could reach out and touch the singer in front of you. Or hear the bassist just off to your left, while the guitarist is standing just to your right...that's all good too. But all these people that totally discount the enjoyment of music all around you are really just limiting their own enjoyment of music.

It's also interesting to note that many recordings are composites; the band isn't really all in the same room doing one take. The bassist gets recorded, then the drums, then the guitar, then about 15 tracks of the singer (seems like these days), etc. And they take bits and pieces of all the different tracks and mishmash it together. Then they play with the balance and levels, so that bassist is off to your left, the guitarist just to your right, and you can reach out and touch the singer in front of you!

Of course, live performances are something different... or are they? They (probably) still play with the levels and balance, so that bassist is off to your left....

Hell, when I was recording with the Cal Jazz Choir (just vocal!), we did an awful lot as different takes, with different parts in and out of the room. And let me tell you, when we were live, we didn't sound like the CD (lots of echo, boosting of parts, etc.)

Very good point. I've always found it funny to hear "purists" talking about how they could tell where in the room people were when something was recorded, when in actuality, none of the musicians were probably ever in the same room at once.

It's conceivable that they're hearing the location in the room of that particular musician, assuming they all used the same studio.

Personally, I tend to listen to music in whatever format it was intended, giving the choice in the matter to the artist. If it's a multi-channel DVD-A, then so be it. If it's a stereo CD, I'll defer back to the artist.

noone will ever know what the recording was supposed to sound like unless you were in the room with the musician at the time of the recording,if a speaker can play loud,clear,and have a good ballance throughout the freq range, thats the speaker for me,thats why im happy with the m80s.my grandmother had two baby grand stienways,but sold one,now she has one(2-1=1...thank you....thank you very much)in two different rooms and they sounded totally different,and i never,never heard a stereo that sounded like either one,even through levinson electronics,and b&w-forgot the model but very expensive speakers...ron...ps back to the original post..for me multi channel is fun,but i prefer two channel for music

Ditto. But my grandmother just had a 100 year old upright that looked like it came out of an old western saloon. It sure was fun when I was a kid playing it in her trailer in Fontucky, though. Just kidding, she had a house in Fontucky.

I'm pretty much with Semi on this one.
I defer to the method of recording.
Stereo made into multi channel via DD PL2 or the like does use a 'faked' method for extracting info for the surround channels (although it does not a bad job).
However, if someone were to place 6 mics around a theatre and record the sounds at each location and then sell that as a dvd-a (or equivalent), you would think that is about the closest you could get to hearing a live session without attending.
It makes sense that each mic would record the surround back channel, surround left channel, centre, etc. specifically for the home audio gear in more of a true 6 speaker replay format. Sound never comes from just one direction as our brain perceives echoes and reflections. The point of dual ears (or eyes) is all about triangulation of the source.

Where was i going with this?
I digress.

Perhaps you were going to say that with very well-recorded and well-mastered material, a stereo presentation can give you a great sense of left, right, forward, and backward -- sound can seem to emanate from well outside the physical dimensions of the speakers or even the room. I've got a stereo CD that seems to completely erase the walls in my small 12'ish x 12'ish room.

Surround sound is just an easier, dare I say lazier?, way of achieving those effects -- which is not to say it doesn't have any merits especially when taking home theater into consideration.

TO PINPOINT WEATHER ,SAY, A VIOLIN IS JUST TO THE RIGHT,AND MAYBE THE PIANO IS SET BACK AND A LITTLE TO THE LEFT,AND THE VOCALIST IS IS RIGHT UP FRONT,DEAD CENTER,I BELIEVE WOULD HAVE TO DONE DURING THE MIXDOWN OF THE RECORDING USING A SERIES OF DIGITAL DELAYS AND AJUSTING THE BALANCE CONTROLLS.ALL THREE MUSICIANS COULD BE RECORDED IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES,BUT THE PLACEMENT CAN BE DETERMINED BY WHOEVER IS AT THE BOARD....RON...didnt realize caps were on....sorry.im not yelling

LOL... Wow, so you type without looking at the screen?