Hi!
I have searched over the QQ forum and I didn't found a category nor a specific thread that address the topic I want to talk about.
Multichannel audio, which distinguishes itself from monophonic audio or stereophonic audio over 2 channels (possibly with a third channel dedicated to sub-bass), is generally envisioned as surround audio. That is- speakers set out around the listening area (from sides, rear, above or below) or attempting to simulate sounds coming from points around the listener(s).
However, nearly since the very moment of the inception of stereophonic sound in the thirties of the 20th century, some seek to improve stereophonic record and reproduction of sound by devoting more than two channels to the sound coming from the front of the listener(s).
As an example, I would like to recall the extraordinary work of engineer William Snow of Bell Laboratories described in 1934 and republished in August 1953 in the Audio magazine (page 20 of the printed document) : https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Audio/50s/Audio-1957-Aug.pdf
This works demonstrated that three discrete channels record reproduced on three independent loudspeakers, without any kind of mixing between any of the three tracks of the record, greatly improve the faithfulness of the reproduced sound-stage to the actual live sound-stage.
Obviously, Snow's groundbreaking work led to the memorable three channels stereophonic records of RCA Living Stereo, Mercury Living Presence or Everest in the late fifties and early sixties of the 20th century.
W. Snow himself persevered with his idea and wrote an article in the Journal of the SMPTE in November 1953: https://www.one-electron.com/Archives/Audio/AudioJournals/Snow 1953 Basic Principles of Stereophonic Sound.pdf
W. Snow has summarized the theoretical grounds of his proposed ideal system on this sketch (my avatar) :
Nevertheless, W. Snow had to circumvent the practical feasibility of the technology of his time by once again limiting his technique to three channels.
But others have adhered to the core idea of W. Snow (a large number of recording channels and a correspondingly large number of reproducing channels) and have practiced experimentation of their own.
As a Frenchman, I cannot ignore the experiments of Georges Cabasse, the founder of the Cabasse loudspeaker company in 1950. My research allowed me to learn that G. Cabasse made some experiments of recording and reproduction with 8 channels in 1959. Later, he attempted to hack quadraphonic coding techniques in the seventies and after that the earlier 5.1 home-theater devices in the nineties by utilizing the available channels only on the front of the listener(s) in order to demonstrate the potential of this set up to improve the fidelity of the reproduction to the live sound. As for me, I was never able to attend these public demonstrations, during which small orchestras playing live were compared to the reproduction of the recordings of said orchestras. But all the testimonies that I have been able to read are unanimous in saying that these demonstrations were extraordinary indeed.
I therefore wanted to install that kind of front-end multi-channel stereophonic system in my home to listen to the recordings made with this technique. Fortunately, there are a few. Not counting the historic recordings of RCA, Mercury and Everest, now finally available in three channels, some sound engineers faithful to the ideas of G. Cabasse have in fact produced a few albums in 4, 5 or 6 channels. At the moment, I only have three channels on the front. But as a classical music lover, the results I obtained convinced me that this method represents a very significant improvement in fidelity to the original sound.
This is why I propose to devote this discussion to all multichannel recordings which correspond to these principles:
- more than two recording channels on the front;
- all reproduction channels at the front, preferably as many as there are recording channels without mixing.
I have searched over the QQ forum and I didn't found a category nor a specific thread that address the topic I want to talk about.
Multichannel audio, which distinguishes itself from monophonic audio or stereophonic audio over 2 channels (possibly with a third channel dedicated to sub-bass), is generally envisioned as surround audio. That is- speakers set out around the listening area (from sides, rear, above or below) or attempting to simulate sounds coming from points around the listener(s).
However, nearly since the very moment of the inception of stereophonic sound in the thirties of the 20th century, some seek to improve stereophonic record and reproduction of sound by devoting more than two channels to the sound coming from the front of the listener(s).
As an example, I would like to recall the extraordinary work of engineer William Snow of Bell Laboratories described in 1934 and republished in August 1953 in the Audio magazine (page 20 of the printed document) : https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Audio/50s/Audio-1957-Aug.pdf
This works demonstrated that three discrete channels record reproduced on three independent loudspeakers, without any kind of mixing between any of the three tracks of the record, greatly improve the faithfulness of the reproduced sound-stage to the actual live sound-stage.
Obviously, Snow's groundbreaking work led to the memorable three channels stereophonic records of RCA Living Stereo, Mercury Living Presence or Everest in the late fifties and early sixties of the 20th century.
W. Snow himself persevered with his idea and wrote an article in the Journal of the SMPTE in November 1953: https://www.one-electron.com/Archives/Audio/AudioJournals/Snow 1953 Basic Principles of Stereophonic Sound.pdf
W. Snow has summarized the theoretical grounds of his proposed ideal system on this sketch (my avatar) :
Nevertheless, W. Snow had to circumvent the practical feasibility of the technology of his time by once again limiting his technique to three channels.
But others have adhered to the core idea of W. Snow (a large number of recording channels and a correspondingly large number of reproducing channels) and have practiced experimentation of their own.
As a Frenchman, I cannot ignore the experiments of Georges Cabasse, the founder of the Cabasse loudspeaker company in 1950. My research allowed me to learn that G. Cabasse made some experiments of recording and reproduction with 8 channels in 1959. Later, he attempted to hack quadraphonic coding techniques in the seventies and after that the earlier 5.1 home-theater devices in the nineties by utilizing the available channels only on the front of the listener(s) in order to demonstrate the potential of this set up to improve the fidelity of the reproduction to the live sound. As for me, I was never able to attend these public demonstrations, during which small orchestras playing live were compared to the reproduction of the recordings of said orchestras. But all the testimonies that I have been able to read are unanimous in saying that these demonstrations were extraordinary indeed.
I therefore wanted to install that kind of front-end multi-channel stereophonic system in my home to listen to the recordings made with this technique. Fortunately, there are a few. Not counting the historic recordings of RCA, Mercury and Everest, now finally available in three channels, some sound engineers faithful to the ideas of G. Cabasse have in fact produced a few albums in 4, 5 or 6 channels. At the moment, I only have three channels on the front. But as a classical music lover, the results I obtained convinced me that this method represents a very significant improvement in fidelity to the original sound.
This is why I propose to devote this discussion to all multichannel recordings which correspond to these principles:
- more than two recording channels on the front;
- all reproduction channels at the front, preferably as many as there are recording channels without mixing.
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