I spent some time over at www.surroundbyus.com today, and tried the software that they recommend and that some of them have created, and wow, was I impressed.
I've never been a huge fan of upmixing, generally preferring a "real" surround mix and not giving much thought to taking a stereo recording and forcing it to be quad or 5.1. Of course, I tried it in the past using the SQ or QS script in audition, as well as using the MATRIX mode in old quad receivers, mostly to put a stereo only track into a quad compilation where there were one or two tracks that never were released in surround.
Anyway, by using the tools that the SurroundByUS group has put together, in only an hour or so I was hearing stereo tunes played back on my PC in what I have to say was very impressive surround!!
:yikes
So far, I have everything at default, and the results are very impressive. I had some stereo wav's on my PC, so I used those. I tried "Dream On" and "Dude Looks Like A Lady" from an Aerosmith folder I had, and also Paul Simon's "Stranded in a Limousine". All 3 tunes generated excellent surround mixes through the SPEC 4.0 processing.
At this point, I have no idea what I've done, or how I did it. I just know that it works and works well. It looks and feels complicated, but they have very detailed instructions on how to use everything over there, so even an old guy like me figured it out.
If you're up for it, go give it a shot. You can get the Plogue Bidule as a demo that runs for 45 days, but it only costs $75, so it's a no brainer to buy.
Here's a look at my messy desktop with the software laid out. I have it set so that I can monitor the audio:
I've never been a huge fan of upmixing, generally preferring a "real" surround mix and not giving much thought to taking a stereo recording and forcing it to be quad or 5.1. Of course, I tried it in the past using the SQ or QS script in audition, as well as using the MATRIX mode in old quad receivers, mostly to put a stereo only track into a quad compilation where there were one or two tracks that never were released in surround.
Anyway, by using the tools that the SurroundByUS group has put together, in only an hour or so I was hearing stereo tunes played back on my PC in what I have to say was very impressive surround!!
:yikes
So far, I have everything at default, and the results are very impressive. I had some stereo wav's on my PC, so I used those. I tried "Dream On" and "Dude Looks Like A Lady" from an Aerosmith folder I had, and also Paul Simon's "Stranded in a Limousine". All 3 tunes generated excellent surround mixes through the SPEC 4.0 processing.
At this point, I have no idea what I've done, or how I did it. I just know that it works and works well. It looks and feels complicated, but they have very detailed instructions on how to use everything over there, so even an old guy like me figured it out.
If you're up for it, go give it a shot. You can get the Plogue Bidule as a demo that runs for 45 days, but it only costs $75, so it's a no brainer to buy.
Here's a look at my messy desktop with the software laid out. I have it set so that I can monitor the audio: