Immersive Audio and How to Achieve It

@kota1:

I can appreciate what you’re driving at: the sensation of sound from everywhere is enticing.  However, I think you’ve mistaken the intent of such systems.  Surround isn’t necessarily to immerse or envelope, or engulf a listener.  The original, (and I believe still), intent was to recreate the sounds projected from a scene consisting of elements that are placed in areas requiring those sound signatures (AKA, a helicopter fly-over, or a fast-approaching car coming up from the rear.  But as for music, the band, orchestra, fiddle player, torch singer, is IN FRONT of you.  Roger Waters may love hearing his guitar reverberate around the room, but that is a sound effect that doesn’t require Atmos, just walls and ceilings in a good hall, or room.  Finally, I feel “immersed” in music that is well-produced, and frankly, which engages me.  All the sonic tricks in the book, including floating drum kits and saxophones on the ceiling, can’t make me like bad music.  I have a 7.2 SOTA  system for films and TV.  But my jewel is my  (near) SOTA 2.2 stereo music system.  I’ll leave it at that.

@kota1 

Thank you, Kota, for the nice words regarding my system.  Yes, the walls.  They are due for treatment next.  You don’t see it in the pics,  but there is a nice thick area rug just in front, and a very large over-stuffed corduroy sectional 9’  from the system which absorbs a lot of the reflections. Sounds good in there most of the time (unless the music or movie  is bad!).

 I realize some artists have wide-ranging ideas on how to present their music, but keep in mind most musicians care little about what we audiophiles (yes, I called myself that—yikes!), care about in sound reproduction.  They just want to make music.  It’s not unusual to hear stories of brilliant classical musicians, for instance,  who play music at home on boom boxes. They are not always the best choice to ask how to setup sound in a room or hall.  For me, immersion is an  emotional, psychological, if you will, experience of musical art being carried by sound waves.  Not the other way around.  The art comes first, and it can come in 2 or 3 or a thousand dimensions.  As long as its good (to me). But right-on to you for seeking the best sound you can.