Vinyl vs. Surround albums (...and the future of this format)

[alansanchez86]

I read not so long that Vinyl records have new sales records (pun intended) and were on track to sell more units than CDs for the past 30 years. Which gives me hope on people caring about quality. Yes, there may be some that are just acquiring albums in this format to be pretencious douch... (not having the sound system to support the so called improve and sound waves openness). And at one side, I feel happy that regardless the case, physical copies can still be a thing, but on the other side, I turn to my friends with a vinyl collection and say to them, you should check any of these albums in 5.1. The experience is completely different, music you've probably listen all your life, in a way that you've never experienced.

So, my open question to this community, is to get to know your approach on the future of surround music. Given the boxsets and blu rays included in some of these rerelases of big names, do you think surround music will gain more market? If so, do you think artists/engineers/labels would incorporate or upgrade (if you will) Dolby Atmos to this? I'm only aware of three records in this format 1) REM, 2) Kraftwerk, 3) The Beatles - Abbey Road, (I'm not counting Roger Waters - The Wall, because this is a concert).

 

[Circular Vibes]

I do not know if it will gain much market, especially with the earbud crowd. The younger generation seems to be minimalist. I definitely am NOT. I buy surround albums of stuff I like even if I have the stereo, quad or even mono LP. My records way out number my digital discs. I do think Atmos is the future, for now, but I am still in 4.0 mode. I think if people realise they can play or stream to the same system that they watch TV on, they may take to it more. Streamng seems tobe the future, even if I haven't embraced it yet. The big thing is it seems almost all current audio and video systems are HDMI only which leaves all legacy formats in the past unless you get a fancy converter or transfer your media to a server before its too late.

 

[MCDave]

Judging by the snail's pace of popular surround releases over the last year or so, I don't think the market is ever going to get any bigger than it is now. Millennials are the largest music-buying group now, and they all want headphones and streaming accounts. Besides, they're so saddled with student loan debt that they can't afford a surround music system, or a house to put one in. Not only that, but most of today's popular music artists aren't putting out music in surround at all. The future of surround looks very bleak to me.

 

[proufo]

I hope Atmos becomes the new "stereo". Just as so few people sit in the sweet spot to "listen" to music, it is possible that in the future most people would buy cheap movie/music equipment adorned with an Atmos logo and demand that the software has also an Atmos logo/icon, with no more depth and technical understanding than that.

That would keep the door ajar for small percentage of artists, recordings and mixes with merits, the ones we care about.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Hola Alan,
I'll hace to side with MCDave here...
We are the last of the mohicans...
One day in the future, real audiophiles will look back at this "reissue" age in amazement as a GOLDEN AGE...although the young 'uns don't care for possesions they DO care for good music and this is what we listen to...
Are you hearing us from the future, kids????

 

[Franklin]

I don't think surround will catch on into mainstream. The current trend seems to be streaming onto one speaker devices. While vinyl has made a comeback of sorts there's not much for music only surround formats to make a comeback from...

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I read not so long that Vinyl records have new sales records (pun intended) and were on track to sell more units than CDs for the past 30 years.

What I read only said that for the first time in 30 years, LP sales had surpassed CD sales. I assume that is what you meant.

I think the industry is putting their bets on Atmos to bring surround to the mainstream, even if it is only via Atmos headphone listeners. Surround formats will be coming along for the ride.

 

[Philip Spinner]

Someday all the young people who now listen to earbuds will get older, settle down and upgrade. Question is what will they upgrade to.

 

[MCDave]

I think the industry is putting their bets on Atmos to bring surround to the mainstream, even if it is only via Atmos headphone listeners.

The mainstream rejected quad in the 70's. They rejected SACD and DVD-Audio in the early 2000's. They rejected them again during the revival in the mid-late 2000's, and they still reject them and pure audio blu-ray today. I doubt the industry harbors any illusions about Atmos delivering a breakthrough in surround music market penetration.

I read an article a year or two ago that said that more than 50% of homes in the U.S. don't have any surround capability at all. Not for TV or movies or anything else. The public loves surround movie soundtracks in commercial theaters, but implementing it at home is too expensive, too cumbersome, too difficult for the overwhelming majority. An Atmos-enabled soundbar is probably the closest we'll get to mainstream implementation of surround-anything in the home.

 

[Circular Vibes]

Someday all the young people who now listen to earbuds will get older, settle down and upgrade. Question is what will they upgrade to.

Ear trumpets!

 

[Circular Vibes]

The mainstream rejected quad in the 70's. They rejected SACD and DVD-Audio in the early 2000's. They rejected them again during the revival in the mid-late 2000's, and they still reject them and pure audio blu-ray today. I doubt the industry harbors any illusions about Atmos delivering a breakthrough in surround music market penetration.

I read an article a year or two ago that said that more than 50% of homes in the U.S. don't have any surround capability at all. Not for TV or movies or anything else. The public loves surround movie soundtracks in commercial theaters, but implementing it at home is too expensive, too cumbersome, too difficult for the overwhelming majority. An Atmos-enabled soundbar is probably the closest we'll get to mainstream implementation of surround-anything in the home.

Anyone I know with a home theatre in a box have the speakers all grouped beside the TV. The only way surround with take off is if CDs are discontinued and all physical music discs are Blu-Ray Audio and cars get BD players (not bruddy rikery).

 

[LuvMyQuad]

The mainstream rejected quad in the 70's. They rejected SACD and DVD-Audio in the early 2000's. They rejected them again during the revival in the mid-late 2000's, and they still reject them and pure audio blu-ray today. I doubt the industry harbors any illusions about Atmos delivering a breakthrough in surround music market penetration.

I read an article a year or two ago that said that more than 50% of homes in the U.S. don't have any surround capability at all. Not for TV or movies or anything else. The public loves surround movie soundtracks in commercial theaters, but implementing it at home is too expensive, too cumbersome, too difficult for the overwhelming majority. An Atmos-enabled soundbar is probably the closest we'll get to mainstream implementation of surround-anything in the home.

Yep. That and Atmos enabled headphones... which is the one ingredient SACD, DVDA, and for the most part Quad never addressed. Just the ticket to make the surround-less, ear-bud-addicted masses take notice.

 

[MCDave]

Yep. That and Atmos enabled headphones... which is the one ingredient SACD, DVDA, and for the most part Quad never addressed. Just the ticket to make the surround-less, ear-bud-addicted masses take notice.

Atmos and the other surround presentations through headphones are already available today in the remarkable Smyth Realiser A16, though it's a $4,000 solution that also requires high quality headphones. It wouldn't work with cheap earbuds. The REAL problem is that most people just don't care about surround music. We've all had the experience of demo'ing our systems to friends or family, only to have most of them shrug their shoulders and say "yeah that sounds nice", but none of them like it enough to join the hobby. I just don't think people are going to give a hoot no matter how easy we make it for them. But I hope I'm wrong!

 

[Philip Spinner]

Ear trumpets.
That's for sure.

 

[uffeolby]

Atmos and the other surround presentations through headphones are already available today in the remarkable Smyth Realiser A16, though it's a $4,000 solution that also requires high quality headphones. It wouldn't work with cheap earbuds. The REAL problem is that most people just don't care about surround music. We've all had the experience of demo'ing our systems to friends or family, only to have most of them shrug their shoulders and say "yeah that sounds nice", but none of them like it enough to join the hobby. I just don't think people are going to give a hoot no matter how easy we make it for them. But I hope I'm wrong!

I am afraid you are dead right