Fons Adriaensen <[email protected]> a écrit :

> Most stereo recordings are made to be reproduced by two speakers,
> seen by the listener at an angle of 60 to 90 degrees, and such that
> the signals from either speaker reach both ears. That is the way it
> is supposed to work. There is a solid theory behind this. Calling
> this 'crosstalk (a term which has a negative connotation as a defect
> of audio equipment), and the cure 'crosstalk cancellation' amounts to
> gross intellectual dishonesty. The signals you find on the vast
> majority of stereo records are _not_ meant to be delivered one-to-one
> to the ears. 

I understand your clinical point of view, but I don't consider the act
of listening to reproduced music as a scientific activity. Each time a
playback occurs, it can be a new creation, not always a perfect
repetition of past events. I admire the virtues of hi-fidelity, but I
don't have the required budget (and mindset) to play this game. Most
honest people are listening to stereo in any possible ways, including
some twisted people who enjoy stereo with XTC. :-)

> XTC will work (within some limits) on binaural recordings, and it 
> produces a sort of spatial effect on some of those that are badly 
> engineered for speaker reproduction, e.g. using widely spaced omni
> mics as the main source. 

I never experienced convincing "3D" with binaural recordings, either
with headphones or XTC. Many stereo recordings are better than binaural
recordings.

> It also can provide some 'spatiality' on
> TV sound, helped by the fact that when watching a screen in front
> you are unlikely to face other directions than the one to the screen.

True: XTC is not ideal for dancing.

> Starting from stereo there is little Ambisonics can do. One some
> (mostly classical music) recordings, you can add either algorithmic
> or convolution reverb to mimic the acoustics of a real concert 
> hall, and this can be quite effective. An AMB reproduction rig
> can also do better room correction than would be possible with
> just two speakers.

Interesting. The same trick is used with ambiophonics.

What I'd like to avoid is to install those distinct setups:
- conventional 60 degrees stereo
- stereo with XTC
- 5.1 and 7.1
- ambiophonics (with 4 speakers)
- ambisonics

Ambisonics is often described as THE grand unified theory of audio, 
but it's just one more. I accept it as one of the best, even if I don't
understand its strange maths. I'd really like to understand that
"spherical harmonics" business, but I'd have to go back to school...

--
Marc

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