Robert Margouleff’s Headphone Surround site.

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I've been corresponding with Mr. Margouleff about some surround sound related stuff recently, and he feels very strongly that headphone surround has the possibility of being what he calls 'the next great disruptor in music'. I'm not sure if the actual technology is all there yet, but he's been at the forefront of music and surround sound for so long (including doing the amazing quad mix of the Isley Bros. 3+3, and some of the first DTS 5.1 CD's in the 90's, not to mention his work with Stevie Wonder etc) I think it would be foolhardy to at least not give his current endeavour a look-in. He's working with a new electronica artist called Lexi Baker right now that he thinks very highly of and I believe she will have some new music out in a couple of weeks mixed in Robert's new HPS 12.1 Headphone Surround format.

You can listen to several examples of HPS 12.1 employed both for music and film on Robert's website, www.margouleff.com.

This is a short essay Robert wrote on why he thinks headphone surround is so important:

The Music Unfolds In Your Head

Headphone Surround is the next great disruptor in music. Composers, artists and producers are creating music that engages people with sound from all directions. Traditional stereo is no longer the only listening alternative. Now audiences of all ages can use standard headphones, ear buds or in-ear monitors plugged into their mobile devices, and experience songs, soundtracks and videos in immersive surround sound.

Situational awareness has become an important part of the listening experience in music and music video, as well as in movies, VR and gaming. It was something we had to leave out when recording was invented because we could not store the spatial information. The 70's saw the emergence of surround in the movies and then in home theaters. It was complex and expensive to deliver to consumers. With the advent of digital recording and the latest in-the-box technologies, these expensive mixing regimes and multi-speaker setups are no longer required. All that's needed for playback is a simple set of headphones!

I am currently mixing new music and soundtrack projects in Headphone Surround using a variety of systems, as you can see below. It’s important to understand what each different system has to offer and which best fits the project at hand.

This exciting new technology presents a viable opportunity to monetize 5.1 surround music titles that have been left languishing in your vaults. For a minimal investment, these surround mixes can be distributed through the usual digital music retailers such as iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon, Google, Tidal and Spotify because Headphone Surround music exists within a traditional stereo file.

Put on your headphones. And listen to HPS examples at my web site, www.robertmargouleff.com.

The music unfolds in your head. It will change you!
 
I know Bob. He certainly has a deep knowledge and a resume that goes way back. I will call him and maybe we'll do lunch.

I think he was promoting a system called the Base system in the late 80s. I never heard much about it other than it also worked using two channels of information.

My opinion is we have now evolved to 5.1 without having to decode it from two channels. Right!
 
Sorry but wearing headphones is a losing proposition from the start.
Met Bob many times when doing DTS in the mid 90s and he is driven by surround and can do mixes fairly well, he worked on Boys2Men and a few others. (boys is demo on his site) But headphones suck and if you think quad has a limited audience, just imagine you have to sell surround( most folks could care less) and have to sell a hardware item to listen. It is a bitch, i know, i have done it. Some of these fellows have too much $ and time and a limited view after years in the biz. Tough tough sell. Maybe he thinks it will sell cause lots of folks have been using earbuds. After all these years watching quad from the start, i think it is a difficult because most don't want any complications, and he must be trying to sell something that goes in between your phone and your headphones. But having crap stuffed in my ears is not my idea of pleasure. I took the trip up to the site and listened to a couple things on the site. There is just not enough space to create a feeling of air like listening to surround in a room. This trip is just not gonna work. Some quad headphones with quad material, had as much to present as complicated math equations muddling up the sound.
 
Sorry but wearing headphones is a losing proposition from the start.
that's true. i just have listened samples on the site and haven't been impressed. albeit guiding vox
has some sort of positioning, the songs/tunes seems all that based too much on the echoing created
ambient effect but not true imitation of sound panorama as it can be achieved with loudspeakers around the listener.
 
Since folks out there have concocted some interesting 'faux quad' and 5.1 from stereo sources, the headphone concept, while it can't possibly replicate a speaker/room environment, could provide an interesting variant on your favorite music, if those stereo sources 'co-operate.'

Although I've never been a big fan of headphones--and Stax makes some very, very nice beauties in the electrostatic realm--I generally use them to confirm things like analog tape hiss and anomalies, mono/stereo/rechanneled sound, things like that. A nice home audio room is an optimum place for dynamic range and volume, but it can also diffuse sound enough to force me to the cans when a stereo mix is especially tight, or off in some way.



ED :)
 
To date, only the Smyth Realiser system is able to create realistic Surround Sound over Stereo Headphones.
Interestingly, I visited Bob Margoulett's studios a few years back and did a studio profile for my Smyth Realiser of his Surround studio.

He is an interesting guy. Quite a setup.
 
Next time you see him could you please ask him if he has a copy of the Isleys' Heat Is On Quad? ;)

Seriously.. an interview with reminiscences of his work with the Isleys and Quad would be rather special.. or a QQ Q+A or something?
 
I know Bob. He certainly has a deep knowledge and a resume that goes way back. I will call him and maybe we'll do lunch.

I think he was promoting a system called the Base system in the late 80s. I never heard much about it other than it also worked using two channels of information.

My opinion is we have now evolved to 5.1 without having to decode it from two channels. Right!

Very cool! Next time you go for lunch, could you please ask him about his work remixing the Isley Brothers into Quad?
 
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