Involve Total Perspective interview

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dwight

Well-known Member
QQ Supporter
Since 2002/2003
Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Messages
164
Location
Santa Clarita Calif.
View attachment A Audio pt.1.mp3View attachment A Audio pt.2.mp3View attachment A Audio pt.3 .mp3View attachment A Audio pt.4 .mp3

Greetings All, A few months ago I was presented with one of those once in a lifetime gifts, an opportunity to visit Melbourne Australia…and of course, as most of you know, it is the home of Involve Audio, the birthplace of The Surround Master, the now state of the art SM/SQ decoder which was literally a labor of love and an answer to 10 years of wailing on this forum….one box that does both formats…no sex jokes please!

Last month I met with the very personable guys who make Reality Technologies tick, Chucky, David, Dawson, Trevor and many others at their offices,( you’ve seen their pictures if you bought the SQ Master) which is actually their factory too…..I was flabbergasted by the scope and breadth of their endeavor…from very efficient electrostatic panels and esoteric prototypes to their proprietary TOTAL PERPECTIVE system which removes the need for a center channel, and as you will hear in the recorded MP3 interview, I was not ready to accept that, but the proof was in the listening. Please forgive my exuberance and stuttering…I do shut up after the intro and let them do the talking!

I was not prepared for what I heard. Somehow, after encoding a 5.1 source and playing it back through the INVOLVE decoder in TOTAL PERSPECTIVE, there was more information retrieved than from the 5.1, and the center channel sound was superior to the standard 5.1 presentation with the center channel speaker. The standard system was all B&W…not a slouch system! I was able to move around their theater setup and the dialogue was always center, but more importantly, it was always clearer and more natural. Hopefully this will be the subject of much discussion in the future.

I will let Chucky tell you in his own voice, but like me, I’m sure you will have to hear it to believe it, and I hope that happens soon.
I was also treated with such hospitality by a long standing member of this forum “Rustyandi”….Ron has an amazing system, phenomenal sound with a wall of components reminiscent of an audio salon…it is beyond belief …more cables than I have had in my worst nightmares and the largest single collection of quad records I have ever seen. He can play anything with the push of a button. … and what a beautiful family…his wife and daughter made me feel as if I were home and fed me the best lasagna I have ever had in my life….I now have the recipe and will attempt to replicate it today……..I was also introduced to a friend of Ron’s and his massive custom built room….with huge concrete enclosures….Horns and large direct radiators ….sound as effortless as I have ever heard.
Here is the interview…..I hope hearing the voices that go along with the names and faces is enjoyable and informative. I really have to thank the guys in Australia….they are not just brilliant, but very warm and approachable. …and thanks to Jon Urban for making all of this possible!
Dwight
 
Hello All

It was a great pleasure to meet Dwight and we really had a fun 2 days playing with stuff. I must thank Dwight for the great interview, somehow he even removed my slight Dutch accent (I cannot pronounce TH. Don't ask me to say THat THing over THere!).

Please note we are happy to spend time with any QQ members and show you around. All you need do is book a plane flight.

As I just mentioned in the coming new technologies thread Overture has successfully powered up our new Total Perspective controller and the Bookshelf TP speakers are being built for a show put on by Swinburne University in Melbourne on 22 November. See below a render of the new TP bookshelf speaker.

All hail Dwight.

Regards

Chucky
11851
 
I'm totally jealous Dwight got to go and visit you and your company. If I had the money I'd be over there in a heartbeat - As it is I'm spending my small savings flying back and forth from Kansas City, MO to Albuquerque, NM every 2 weeks - I spend 2 weeks in Abq and then 2 weeks at home. I do it because my dad is 84 and doesn't like living alone now that mom has gone to her reward and he does not want to have to move to a seniors center - he wants to live at home and I'm making that happen. But living in 2 places will help me in many ways.

I didn't mean to spill my guts about taking care of my dad.

Charlie, will those speakers need a sub to reproduce frequencies below 60 Hz or so? From the looks of them it seems like sound would just appear to float in front of the speakers with no actual localization to them. what price range are you aiming for the bookshelf versions?
 
Jon, Yes! At my extended 66 …route 66….one digit from 666…Yes, I am to be coveted. I have never lost an argument with a two channel fanatic…never, however I had to work hard to inhabit their BS. That is my real claim to fame…and I have met the Involve Masters……That is good fortune!
Dwight
 
Jon, Yes! At my extended 66 …route 66….one digit from 666…Yes, I am to be coveted. I have never lost an argument with a two channel fanatic…never, however I had to work hard to inhabit their BS. That is my real claim to fame…and I have met the Involve Masters……That is good fortune!
Dwight

Have you ever argued with the Ambisonic fanatics? Especially the ones who think the two channel BHJ (called UHJ for some reason) is the end all and be all of surround. Yet, when DTS was actively releasing discs, they couldn't even get their G-Format 5.1 discs released due to the poor imaging and phasiness. And there are what, maybe 3 UHJ discs released per year, usually made by the fanatics themselves.
 
Hi Disclord

You are correct that the TP speaker needs a subwoofer, this is our smallest unit with 100mm X 250mm panels, they are useful down to 250Hz and is intended in 2.1 style (or 4.1/ 5.1) bookshelf systems. We are designing a really amazing mini subwoofer that matches these units bases on dual 5.5 inch cones, don't laugh they sound huge and are really good down to 50 Hz, originally conceptualized by the great but insane Zel. For a 2.1 style system we are targeting a RRP somewhere between $699 and $999, for the full surround (including Surround Master) somewhere around $2k.

As Dwight would probably agree the Total Perspective system when used with the Surround Master creates a real sense of dimension and removes the walls from the room yet maintains accurate localization........All sounds too good to be true! Oh, it's patented.

Please note that I am not a fan of the use of external subwoofers but in today's market that is very space conscious it is a useful compromise but I would say not absolute HiFi. Our testing of localization of low frequencies on test audiences showed the whole premise that somehow we cannot directionalize low frequencies is deeply flawed.

Believe it or not we found the following inconsistency:

1 On pure sine wave tone in a normal listening room with good speakers we found audience members could not correctly localize direction right up to 1 kHz.
2 On steep cut band limited music or pink noise audience members COULD accurately localize bass down to 35 Hz.

Now their goes the myth of the subwoofer! Personally I have noticed with systems that use a sub - on turn on I can pick exactly where the sub is but after a few second as my brain integrates the sound I cannot tell where it is. All this means the brain is not relaxing and creates listener fatigue.

Come on down to Melbourne Australia and I will prove it to you.

Regards

Chucky



I'm totally jealous Dwight got to go and visit you and your company. If I had the money I'd be over there in a heartbeat - As it is I'm spending my small savings flying back and forth from Kansas City, MO to Albuquerque, NM every 2 weeks - I spend 2 weeks in Abq and then 2 weeks at home. I do it because my dad is 84 and doesn't like living alone now that mom has gone to her reward and he does not want to have to move to a seniors center - he wants to live at home and I'm making that happen. But living in 2 places will help me in many ways.

I didn't mean to spill my guts about taking care of my dad.

Charlie, will those speakers need a sub to reproduce frequencies below 60 Hz or so? From the looks of them it seems like sound would just appear to float in front of the speakers with no actual localization to them. what price range are you aiming for the bookshelf versions?
 
Hi Disclord

Now their goes the myth of the subwoofer! Personally I have noticed with systems that use a sub - on turn on I can pick exactly where the sub is but after a few second as my brain integrates the sound I cannot tell where it is. All this means the brain is not relaxing and creates listener fatigue.

Come on down to Melbourne Australia and I will prove it to you.

Regards

Chucky

Oh, believe me, I'd be there in a flash if I had the funds. I'd love to get to meet you all and hear the products you are developing. At least it doesn't cost anything to dream about visiting you and I have the massive enjoyment I'm getting from the Involve encoder and decoder. I've never heard such wonderful surround.

Cheers,
Ty
 
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