Meridian may be expensive, too, but at least they are sticking with
Ambisonics. Full horizontal 1st order B-format is now included in
their decoders, as well as UHJ, superstereo and Trifield. Oh, and I'm
a Meridian customer enjoying one of the few (only?) current domestic
ambisonic decoders. Still damned expensive, so I've not replaced mine
for nearly 15 years.
I could just about cope with full 2nd order horizontal (6 speakers)
but not 3rd with eight speakers in my typically small UK sitting room.
Height is out of the question, People clearly put 5 and sometimes 7
speakers in their listening/entertainment rooms (in all sorts of odd
places, though), so G-format should be possible, too (up to 3rd
order?). For home use, I use superstereo with the TV and, as long as
the width control is kept narrow-ish, centrally based sounds tie in
well with what's happening on-screen. Sounds-off, such as doors
closing and people speaking about to come into the image from left or
right, can give a nicely widened perspective on a performance. I've
only really been used to UHJ as a home user so I'm looking forward to
full 1st order for music, classical and otherwise. I'd love to try UHJ
with the TV. I suspect the dominance of a large TV image will tend to
direct (sharpen?) perception of sound source positions on a TV screen,
as happens anyway with TV speakers placed well off centre. Cinema may
be a non-starter but not home use.
IMHO I can't see how FOA isn't clearly worth promoting along with up
to 3rd order G-format decodes for 5.1/7.1 setups for home users.
Basically, get UHJ and, while we are at it, superstereo into people's
homes, then get on with full 1st and higher orders.
Steve
On 12 Apr 2012, at 22:05, Fons Adriaensen wrote:
On Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 10:47:04PM +0200, Ronald C.F. Antony wrote:
On 12 Apr 2012, at 22:27, Fons Adriaensen <f...@linuxaudio.org>
wrote:
First order definitely isn't good enough. As long a you insist that
one can't go up in order, just forget about it all.
Tell that Meridian, and all their customers who have enjoyed
immensely not only listening to horizontal-only 1st order
Ambisonics, but also to 1st order horizontal-only Ambisonics
crippled by UHJ matrix-encoding constraints.
First order is certainly fine for classical orchestral music,
and I enjoy that as well even without Meridian's help.
But that will reach a minoriy classical music lovers audience
only. And first order fails rather miserably for anything else
compared to 5.1 which is what people already have and can compare
with. It won't produce a stable front channel for movie sound,
nor has it the the required spatial definition for effects that
work outside a very small sweet spot. And what's the problem with
five or seven channels anyway ?
This has nothing to do with 'elitism'. Try selling 256-color
computer displays to today's consumers. Won't work even if they
would do fine for 99% of all practical computer applications.
It's too late for that. Technology has moved on, and people
know it.
Ciao,
--
FA
A world of exhaustive, reliable metadata would be an utopia.
It's also a pipe-dream, founded on self-delusion, nerd hubris
and hysterically inflated market opportunities. (Cory Doctorow)
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