[QUOTE="Kal Rubinson, post: 404053,Exactly, there is no reason for an LFE channel in a music recording. If your main speakers are suitable and can reproduce low bass with power, you don't need it.
If your speakers cannot handle low bass, you need to implement bass management anyway (and route the lowest tones to the subwoofer). In addition, bass management implemented to suit your particular room and system is much more effective than a one-size-fits-all LFE implementation.
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Perhaps I've made a mistake in nomenclature? I've always equated the LFE channel with the ".1" of the subwoofer channel. Some of us who can only afford consumer-grade HT equipment realize that our main L-R speakers may be pretty decent but they can always use some support down at the lowest part of the frequency range. As a working musician, recordist and occasional sound designer for the last 45 years I have a hard time agreeing with the statement that there is "no reason for an LFE channel in music recording". Every tutorial I've taken in surround sound music production has told me otherwise, as have many of my SACD, DVD-A and Blu-ray audio discs which use all six speakers in their mix. In fact I think I've encountered more discs that eschew the center channel speaker than avoid the subwoofer channel (Alan Parsons anyone?).
Perhaps If I had the means to own a better system this issue might be a different discussion, or none at all. And although I fully enjoy the music from many genres and composers thru the centuries, I am a classic rock & pop guy at heart and that bass extension I get from my sub (no boombox sounds here, just low-end reinforcement) is most gratifying.
I enjoy the discourse, I respect all of you who fight the good fight to retain and increase the fidelity in our listening experiences despite the recent consumer swing to convenience over quality. Convenience has it's place but when I sit myself down in the sweet spot I want the finest experience I can afford. Then again, don't we all?
BTW the disc that started this conversation sounds quite nice in many aspects however I still prefer the old CBS recording with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra with E. Power Biggs in the power seat. Magnificent!
Jeffrey Glenn Tveraas
Cheshire Moon Studio - Austin TX
www.jeffreytveraas.com