Immersive Audio and How to Achieve It

I am curious more  about Bach and Scriabin...😊😉

and Elvis is not dead anyway...

@mahgister 

«I don’t know what happens when we die, 

We get to meet Elvis (I hope) :)

@kota1. “…I am in the camp that a good system can play music or movies, channel or object based audio…”

I think this comment of yours identifies the point of contention. Playing music and music by definition is a home theater system.  The  assumption that a home theater system will reproduce music as well, very few of us would agree with. Most of us want the very best audio playback possible. That requires the very highest quality and fewest components possible. Those of us that have, or tried both know that multichannel is highly compromised with respect to music… so, say for an investment level.

So what you are saying is you want an immersive home theater system. So, I am confused as to what the point is. 

I am skeptical of the value of having a sweet spot so minuscule that you cannot have more than one person enjoy a system. If only one seat lets the system sound right, you might as well use headphones and save on speakers. 

There is another limitation. Some live performances have musicians up in balconies behind the audience for dramatic effect. No multi-channel recordings duplicate this. 

@ghdprentice

I think this comment of yours identifies the point of contention. Playing music and music (movies) by definition is a home theater system.

OK.

The assumption that a home theater system will reproduce music as well, very few of us would agree with.

I would say this is another point of contention. The content creators seem to feel that indeed, a "home theater" system can produce music beautifully. Look at the artists and engineers who have their feet in both worlds. Look at the AES event coming up next week on immersive audio:

https://aes2.org/events-calendar/2023-aes-international-conference-on-spatial-and-immersive-audio/

The studios are converting to immersive audio in droves (because it sucks???):

https://www.mixonline.com/tag/atmos

Most of us want the very best audio playback possible.

OK

That requires the very highest quality and fewest components possible.

That is exactly why the AES, Dolby, THX, etc. have standards. I have to agree with @mahgister that you have to start with acoustics first.

Those of us that have, or tried both know that multichannel is highly compromised with respect to music… so, say for an investment level.

I think you have another point of contention, Atmos/spatial audio/Sony 360 audio drops on Tidal and Apple music are snowballing because... ??

So, I am confused as to what the point is.

My point is to not sink your budget into ONLY a channel based system , include BOTH a channel based AND an object based preamp/processor to enjoy ALL that the streaming services have to offer.

Immersive audio is NOT surround sound, see:

Audio Engineer Stan Kybert:

So how does Dolby Atmos actually work? 

On a technical level, where stereo audio is limited to two channels of output, Atmos offers 128 discrete locations to send audio, which can move and alter at the mixer's requirements, utilising a connection to a supported DAW (Pro Tools, Logic, Ableton). While like 5.1 or 7.1 it uses a surrounding array of speakers for mixing, it doesn't suffer from the former's required numbers of speakers , and as a medium is adaptable to any system with Atmos technology installed.

“It is so much more”, says Stan. “You might have a forward-facing Dolby Atmos mix - drums, bass and vocal - coming at you and then you'll maybe use the Atmos technology to wrap an orchestra around the listener. Or you have extra width. With stereo there is this trend to use wideners but with Atmos it can be as wide as you ever need it and as tall as you ever want it. 

“The tools that Atmos gives me in height, width, depth and sub are everything you need in comparison to stereo. In stereo you are always making sacrifices when mixing, like if you want to hear the guitar you may have to turn the Hammond down. You are constantly having to make decisions and carve out EQs in consideration of what other instrumentation is playing. You don’t need to do that in Atmos as there is enough space for everybody. The music is so dynamic, and it is such a joy to experience.”

https://www.musicradar.com/news/an-audio-engineer-explains-why-dolby-atmos-music-is-definitely-going-to-supersede-stereo