HelpfulDad
Member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2012
- Messages
- 24
First, I've tried hard to be succinct here, but there are a ton of little nuances to this and I can't find a better way to ask you this and explain why I ask. So my apologies to all for the length of this question.
Question: What content are you, Steven Wilson, putting into the .1/LFE/Subwoofer channel of your surround mixes? Is this even something you address, or could the content be determined in post-production when creating production masters? It appears that most recordings have full range content like a kickdrum track in there because it's predominantly low frequency/subwoofer sound. However it's not just low frequency. After all, I can hear it on my computer speaker. So what happens to that higher frequency sound when someone has a subwoofer trying to reproduce it all?
The reason I'm asking is that every Rock DVDA that I have checked (I haven't checked all of them but) has full range content, not just what is getting through some sort of low pass filter. However most home surround systems are configured with a subwoofer that has a low upper limit of reproduction (i.e. Velodyne HGS10) connected to the LFE channel with a cutoff frequency if the front speakers are small. What I've also noticed is that there is something different about the music when played through this configuration. There seems to be something missing and my guess is that it's the sound at frequencies above what the subwoofer can, or is set to produce.
Restating my question, what are you doing with the LFE/subwoofer/.1 channel? Are you mixing/selecting full range tracks for that channel that are predominately low frequency information for a subwoofer? If you are, are you putting the sound at frequencies above some sort of cutoff frequency into the other channels?
Bottom line is this: It appears that most people aren't really hearing your mixes correctly, unless they use method 1 below, because their configurations are cutting of any .1/LFE/subwoofer channel sound above some frequency. I say this because for a listener to get the full musical experience from a 5.1 mix with nothing lost, he/she must either:
1) Configure their electronics without a subwoofer, then connect the front channels to a subwoofer with a high gain crossover, connect the front speakers to the crossover. This way, any LFE/subwoofer/.1 channel sound will get mixed into the front 2 channels by the electronics, sent to the crossover which will then send low frequency information to the subwoofer and everything else to front speakers. (this would be problematic if you, Steven Wilson, are sending full range to .1 channel AND to other channels)
2) Configure their electronics with a subwoofer and a high power amplifier for that channel (inboard or outboard) and connect a full range speaker capable of very low LFE and full range that matches the sound of the other 5 speakers. Frankly, I don't know of any full-range speaker like this, nor any receivers with the .1 channel amplifier and speaker terminals, so I don't think this is feasible.
Yet, most people are just configuring with subwoofer on the "subwoofer/LFE" out on their receivers and maybe setting a cutoff frequency.
What say you?
Question: What content are you, Steven Wilson, putting into the .1/LFE/Subwoofer channel of your surround mixes? Is this even something you address, or could the content be determined in post-production when creating production masters? It appears that most recordings have full range content like a kickdrum track in there because it's predominantly low frequency/subwoofer sound. However it's not just low frequency. After all, I can hear it on my computer speaker. So what happens to that higher frequency sound when someone has a subwoofer trying to reproduce it all?
The reason I'm asking is that every Rock DVDA that I have checked (I haven't checked all of them but) has full range content, not just what is getting through some sort of low pass filter. However most home surround systems are configured with a subwoofer that has a low upper limit of reproduction (i.e. Velodyne HGS10) connected to the LFE channel with a cutoff frequency if the front speakers are small. What I've also noticed is that there is something different about the music when played through this configuration. There seems to be something missing and my guess is that it's the sound at frequencies above what the subwoofer can, or is set to produce.
Restating my question, what are you doing with the LFE/subwoofer/.1 channel? Are you mixing/selecting full range tracks for that channel that are predominately low frequency information for a subwoofer? If you are, are you putting the sound at frequencies above some sort of cutoff frequency into the other channels?
Bottom line is this: It appears that most people aren't really hearing your mixes correctly, unless they use method 1 below, because their configurations are cutting of any .1/LFE/subwoofer channel sound above some frequency. I say this because for a listener to get the full musical experience from a 5.1 mix with nothing lost, he/she must either:
1) Configure their electronics without a subwoofer, then connect the front channels to a subwoofer with a high gain crossover, connect the front speakers to the crossover. This way, any LFE/subwoofer/.1 channel sound will get mixed into the front 2 channels by the electronics, sent to the crossover which will then send low frequency information to the subwoofer and everything else to front speakers. (this would be problematic if you, Steven Wilson, are sending full range to .1 channel AND to other channels)
2) Configure their electronics with a subwoofer and a high power amplifier for that channel (inboard or outboard) and connect a full range speaker capable of very low LFE and full range that matches the sound of the other 5 speakers. Frankly, I don't know of any full-range speaker like this, nor any receivers with the .1 channel amplifier and speaker terminals, so I don't think this is feasible.
Yet, most people are just configuring with subwoofer on the "subwoofer/LFE" out on their receivers and maybe setting a cutoff frequency.
What say you?