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3. Re: Surround Sound / Wildlife Recordings

Subject: 3. Re: Surround Sound / Wildlife Recordings
From: "Marinos Koutsomichalis" marinoskouts=
omichalis
Date: Sat Aug 28, 2010 10:52 am ((PDT))


On 28 =CE=91=CF=85=CE=B3 2010, at 5:21 =CE=BC.=CE=BC., Charles Veasey wrote=
:

> Regarding the tightness you describe and feeling compelled to keep you
> head still. This is I feel is a major drawback on Ambi reproduction.


that' s really strange.. this is exactly one of the problems Ambisonics are=
 supposed to solve...

this is from a paper titled 'the best sounds surround' from ambisonics.net

'Ambisonics provides significant advantages in that the effect does not sou=
nd significantly listener- or speaker-dependent (you can even walk outside =
the speakers and appreciate the image).'

my limited experience with ambisonics  is with 2 or 3dimensional speaker ar=
rays in auditoriums, confirms this advantage at least over traditional surr=
ound systems (I have no experience with VBap though..)

What I have to note here is that ambisonics decoding is a seriously complex=
 task - not sure how the programs you mention do the decoding - I use custo=
m software coded in supercollider or C++ personally.

This winter I did a live improvised performance in a medium-sized auditoriu=
m at the 2d conference of acoustic ecology in Crete (that is an island in s=
outh Greece) - I used a 2dimensional array  of 10 genelecs and I decoded ev=
erything with a more advanced algorithm (one that also takes into considera=
tion the angles and distances between speakers to slightly delay each signa=
l accordingly so one can compensate for problems related to these factors)

I didn' t used any surround recordings - I just panned stereo/mono recordin=
gs - I nevertheless experienced a very smooth soundscape throughout the spa=
ce

I have a far greater experience working with typical 5.1 systems - what I c=
an say for sure is that if you walk or move your head within a 5.1 system y=
ou will hear all sorts of artifacts (comb effects, phase modulations etc..)

I think ambi reproduction is more forgiving in that respect

in a couple of months I'll have access to a decent auditorium equipped with=
 both a 40+ speakers 3d ambi array and a massive 5.1 genelec system - I' d =
like to do some listening tests with the same material reproduced both ways=
 - It would also be a great opportunity to listen to all these subtleties R=
ob described ;-) - unfortunately up to then I don' t have access to any sur=
round array so I can' t listen to anything :-(


greetZ

m












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