Do You Have Immersive Audio at home?

[ManFromGlass]

I’m asking this from the perspective as a listener, not a mixer, so I’m not asking about your studio setup but your consume media setup..
I love the idea of mixing tracks in immersive audio. It’s another level of creativity to bring to one’s vision.
But
I am getting the impression that there are very few people who are going for a surround setup in the place where they listen to music or watch tv, or game etc. I’ve seen videos of people having difficult times getting systems to work properly, where immersive content is not as available as one would hope, where the surround mixes were more of a distracting novelty.
So I’m curious if anyone here is set up for immersive and if you use it.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Not me.

I ran 5.1 in the lounge with the TV up until about 15 years ago, but it was a hassle in terms of speaker placement and cables, so I downgraded to stereo and don't regret it. Much more practical.

I have 4.1 in the studio, but I dont use it much.

I know only one person with a real immersive rig (7.1.4), and that's a film/tv composer and only in his studio.

I dont know anyone with immersive in their living spaces...

...and a depressingly large number just have a mono smart speaker!

[RichardT]

I don't, and I can see no reason to change that at the moment. It costs a lot for a start!

[Martin Walker]

I don't either - when you have expensive loudspeakers in your setup, it's significantly more expensive to add a clutch more of them to listen to surround stuff, and to be honest, there's only a miniscule amount of things that I listen to that even have the option of surround/immersive audio.

[OneWorld]

I do, it's a pair of headphones, I even watch telly with the headphones. What I would like some VR Headset, but I cannot work out what I'm supposed to do with them except put them on my head, then what?

With my setup, I can get to my music anywhere in the house, and/or vids, on my NAS or on YouTube, drop the headphones on and I got the front seat to a concert from anywhere in the world

Just finished listening to Faya Tess - Mongali, African Rhumba, one of the coolest grooves there is, infectious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ8zlrQ ... rt_radio=1

Currently listening to The Dramatics - What You See is What You Get, a classic motown track
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmF_9ag ... rt_radio=1

And next up, the ever so catchy - The Little Birds - The Be Good Tanyas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdIhpkE ... rt_radio=1

[Drew Stephenson]

Nope. We have a decent Yamaha soundbar that does a good job with surround on DVDs in AC3, but mostly we watch streaming so it's just in stereo.

[Tomás Mulcahy]

I do, and I really enjoy it. 5.1 in the living room. Even just to have control over dialogue level is great. We are watching all of House MD at the mo, and that is a tastefully done surround mix- don't need to adjust dialogue level!

I have 5.1 in the studio as well, although that is quite jury rigged.

Living room:
Pioneer receiver
B&W 686 front
Mission 701 centre
Yamaha sub
JPW minis rear surround

Studio:
Event 20/20 mains with Quad 405
Eltax monitor C centre
Mission 701 LFE (placeholder)
Lentek S4 rears
Sony TA-242 amplifier
Wharfedale amplifier

[Aled Hughes]

Not in the house, but in the garden studio where I work I have a 4.0 setup (reverse bass management and phantom centre to deal with 5.1) Sometimes I watch films and TV series' in there (and secretly play my old PlayStation3...), but not that much because if we do watch TV, me and my wife like to enjoy a film or series together in the house. I very rarely use the surround system for work.

I also have a pair of Audeze Mobius headphones that can handle 7.1, but they're rarely used.

[The Elf]

Yes.

My studio is capable of 7.1, when I roll out a couple of extra monitors.

My living room system is 5.1 and wild horses wouldn't take it away from me. I love listening to (good) 5.1 mixes of music, and watching TV/movies. Happily the lady elf shares my feelings.

Many visitors remark on how they wouldn't want such large speakers in their own home, but 5 minutes into a movie they're mentally redesigning their own living rooms.

Sceptics need to hear the 5.1 mix of 'War of the Worlds'.

[Tomás Mulcahy]

Mentally redesigning their own room lol! Same here. The missus did not want all the speakers… until she watched a movie with it. The B&W are a recent upgrade and she loves them, now the rather obvious black JPWs for the rears are AOK after the more discrete Pioneers they replaced.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Sceptics need to hear the 5.1 mix of 'War of the Worlds'.

That is very good (blooming good in stereo headphones, too, especially the top unscrewing) ...and there are lots of other albums and movies/series that impress just as much.

And then you hear a proper 7.1 system and realise how 'gappy' 5.1 is... and then you hear a good 3D system with height channels and realise how dismal 5.1/7.1 really are.... there is no end to it!

Sadly, the benefit/hassle ratio is too heavy on the hassle side here... but that's mostly an issue with the room design and location of doors/ windows/ radiators/ fireplace. If I could I probably would (and I can in the studio), but good stereo on the big IB1s is very satisfying and pleasurable.

[tacitus]

I have 5.1 in our cinema room (aka sitting room) and I have selection of 5.1 discs of classical music which I fetch out when that itch needs scratching.

I bought a projector first, and that was a big hit for both of us, having a picture 10ft wide ifcthereabouts (side to side, not diagonal) and that prompted a series of upgrades to actual 5.1. The snag is that my partner runs largely to Rom-coms, and most of the films I buy have mono soundtracks. My favourite DSP preset on our Yamaha AVR is “mono film”!

I do enjoy the better music discs, but then I enjoy stereo too, and that’s all I have in my listening room apart from a pair of Haflered speakers on top of the bookcases behind me. I get close to tasteful 5.1 ambience more than I expected, and some frankly weird effects from rock albums. Whether I do it from the speaker terminals or from line outs into two amps, I have control of rear volume right down to zero!

So some pleasures here, but not the current ultra-complicated “real deal”. I do enjoy mono, too, so I don’t see me investing a lot more in this immersive business unless something amazing happens before my mind goes.

[YashN]

Yes, I explored high-res surround a few years back for music playback. My current setup for home theater is a simple 7.1 for Dolby Atmos, 2 of which are upfiring (not ideal but still works).

A good high-res surround mix for music is great to listen to, it's a different experience.

There are other speaker configurations that I am going to try in the future, as stereo placement as it's done nowadays isn't a very good way to proceed, IMO.

[awjoe]

I don't. I like music playback to be like music in the real world, which means it comes from in front of me. The only time I was ever immersed in music in real life was playing clarinet in the school band.

[The Elf]

I don't. I like music playback to be like music in the real world, which means it comes from in front of me.

But it doesn't.

When you go to a concert hall the sound is coming from all around you, bouncing from the walls.

And that's what the best surround systems do. And that's what the best (IMHO) 5.1 music mixes do. They don't spin sounds around your head; they just make you feel like you are hearing a real performance in a real space.

[Tomás Mulcahy]

@The Elf what 5.1 music mixes would you recommend?

It’s mostly electronic music that I've been enjoying- Tomita, Jarre, Orbital. Kraftwerk Autobahn in surround is superb, the phaser sounds absolutely magnificent.

I have War of the Worlds SACD, I think Garry Langan did an incredibly good job of retaining the original aesthetic and expanding it to surround.

Philip Newell’s quad mix of Tubular Bells is bonkers in my opinion, he often has the wrong top line in harmonised parts, or parts are missing, or unused parts are present. In contrast his book on speakers is world class . Oldfield’s own surround mix I found lifeless with all the “corrections” he made to the original performances. There is yet another mix that apparently retains the original performances but I’m wary lol.

[The Elf]

WOTW is the one I go back to as my reference for how 5.1 music should be done. Yes, there are some whizz-bang effects on there, but they are well-chosen and don't detract from the music. The approach those producers took is not the norm of surround mixes, though it is closely aligned with mine. This is probably why, for me, it still stands proud.

The mix of Genesis' 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway', though fascinating in a 'see how it's put together' sense, was a bit of a let-down. It takes the approach of throwing instruments out wide, and places too much reliance on the centre speaker. I have a version of 'Dark Side of the Moon' of a similar persuasion. Fun if you're happy to sit speaker-centre, or if you want to learn some of the parts, but I certainly don't feel I'm at a live performance.

I've heard a few different surround versions of 'Tubular Bells', but I found them all a bit gimmicky for my tastes.

All this said, despite my pernickity comments, I can still enjoy surround mixes, even if it wouldn't be the way I'd do it. It provides a new and enjoyable way to listen to familiar material, and sitting close to one speaker can you teach a lot about how things were done!

My own approach to surround music mixes is very much in line with how WOTW was done. I believe the rear speakers are an extension of stereo, and I use them as such - a sound I would place stereo centre I would also consider for pulling into front/back centre - lead vocal being an obvious example. Now I have space 'behind' the vocal where I can place other sounds. I'm not much for throwing sounds out wide, or active panning as attention-grabbers. To me it's about making the listener feel he's watching the perfect gig from the perfect seat.

Centre and LFE are out of bounds for a music mix AFAIAC. I'm actually mixing in quad. This is out of kilter with how you'd sit to watch a surround movie, but...

Oh, and give 'The Others' movie a shot in surround. If you don't jump out of your skin you're not listening in surround!

[YashN]

Roxy Music - Avalon

DSD Surround preferred, but you can get other formats from the Blue Ray audio.

Doesn't get much better than that,

[MarkOne]

Like Hugh I ran 5.1 in the lounge right up until we moved from a detached house well away from anyone to a flat. With neighbours.

I felt that having a total of about 750W RMS going down to sub 20Hz was probably antisocial.

I don't regret going stereo. The KEF LS50s are stupendous and beautifully detailed. The stereo field is the best I've ever had.

But a little part of me misses the Battle of the Pelennor Fields from LoTR, The "Guns, lots of guns" scene from the Matrix or the Pod Racer scene from Star Wars on a good 2m projector screen with the surround audio going full chat.

I often wonder what the people who bought our house thought when they found the wall plates with 4mm sockets in all the speaker positions and the connector plate in the corner with the speaker and HDMI sockets where the receiver used to sit.

[Philbo King]

I have a 4.1 setup, with 4 fullrange speakers. The subwoofer is one I found along the road; it just needed reconing.

[Stratman57]

I have a 5.0 surround setup, I too had to move into a flat (1st floor) so a sub is definitely out, however the Alesis monitor one mk 2 speakers provide plenty of bass. The rest are some cheap Schneider speakers I bought as a surround sound set. I'm only using the centre and rears as there isn't room for the left and right floor standers that came with the set. All are powered by an 80 watts/per channel Yamaha AV amp.

Regards, Simon.

[awjoe]

I don't. I like music playback to be like music in the real world, which means it comes from in front of me.

But it doesn't.

When you go to a concert hall the sound is coming from all around you, bouncing from the walls.

And that's what the best surround systems do. And that's what the best (IMHO) 5.1 music mixes do. They don't spin sounds around your head; they just make you feel like you are hearing a real performance in a real space.

When I play a stereo track from in from of me, it bounces off the walls all around me. It's true to the space I'm in, just like a concert.

[BigRedX]

IME most domestic listening spaces are barely adequate for decent stereo imagining, let alone multi-channel audio reproduction.

[The Elf]

I don't. I like music playback to be like music in the real world, which means it comes from in front of me.

But it doesn't.

When you go to a concert hall the sound is coming from all around you, bouncing from the walls.

And that's what the best surround systems do. And that's what the best (IMHO) 5.1 music mixes do. They don't spin sounds around your head; they just make you feel like you are hearing a real performance in a real space.

When I play a stereo track from in from of me, it bounces off the walls all around me. It's true to the space I'm in, just like a concert.

i somehow think that an Albert Hall recording might not translate to the kind of room in which any of us are listening!

[awjoe]

Exactly. So does surround make it any more real, or just different in a 'wow' kind of way?

If I had surround in my room, I'd be turning everything but the front speakers w-a-y w-a-y down.