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I am reading about surround sound.

I understand that reverb/delay and the db level of a sound generator object give the spatial characteristic of depth in the process of mixing.

So, if you mix for a surround sound end-system that has fore and rear speakers, this might sound great. But if the end-user has only got a speaker pair, would it sound different, if not what was not intended. Maybe the audio field is narrower in scope; condensed/compressed? Maybe this is acceptable but would such a condensation/compression create side effects?

Thanks in advance.

Comments

audios Mon, 06/13/2011 - 11:43

surround mixing

I am a sound designer and composer for film by trade and i do a lot of 5.1 mixing in my studio. Surround mixing is not typically used for music only recordings. Artists and studios use 2.1 or 3.1 for DVD audio but not 5.1. 5.1 mixes are for theatrical r film DVD release and must be encoded into either one of a number of formats, DTS, DOLBY Pro logic II, DOLBY -E or THX. So I'm not sure why you'd want a stereo fold down of a mix other than to check phasing and EQ in the stereo bus.

5.1 mixing is a completely different art than stereo and requires some sophisticated software (i.e. ProTools or in my Case Digital Performer) to achieve the correct results. Unless you're doing master 5.1 mixes and encoding, i would stick with stereo and send the stems to a pro 5.1 mixer for theater placements and encoding.

gdoubleyou Wed, 06/15/2011 - 13:14

Depends on how you encode the mix when creating a DVD-A, if that's what you're doing.

Apple's CAF (core Audio Format) 64bit audio Format, allows you to deliver multiple mixes/ languages for DVD authoring.

Minnetonka has software for encoding DVD audio [="http://www.minnetonkaaudio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=61"]Products - Minnetonka Audio Software, Inc[/]="http://www.minneton…"]Products - Minnetonka Audio Software, Inc[/].

CAF: [[url=http://="http://en.wikipedia…"]Core Audio Format - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/]="http://en.wikipedia…"]Core Audio Format - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/]

RF64: [[url=http://[/URL]="http://en.wikipedia…"]RF64 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/]="http://en.wikipedia…"]RF64 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/]

audios Wed, 06/15/2011 - 13:30

Depends too if you're looking for 2.1, 3.1 or 5.1 encoding. For DVD music I usually master in 2.1 and encode through Minnetonka SurCode. best encoder/decoder for the bucks. I do a lot of sound design for feature films as well. For that 5.1, 6.1 and now I'm doing 7.1. This is usually reserved for theatrical distribution though and not DVD-A. You also need a monitor system. Genelec and Mackie are two that i use for theater sound. I use a smaller home-style, prosummer BOSE system for the 2.1 and 3.1 music formating. My DAW's are ProTools and Digital Performer from MOTU.

Good Luck on your music. post some mixes when you're done.

nolimore Fri, 06/17/2011 - 13:52

Thanks for this guys.

It makes sense that the model of the surround concept for the mix is done by software.

The stereo mix to surround version conversion has been noted and the multi-format containers for distribution. I was looking at music distribution only, and the MP3 surround (5.1), backward compatible with MP3 is something that is what i am looking at.