Why isn't surround sound more popular with Audiophiles?

[markshan]

It comes from this:
"I equate those types like a classical music snob who will only listen to classical music. Fine if that is what you like but don’t use it as a weapon to seem intellectually superior. "
You are relating an obnoxious behavior to classical listeners. I am saying that there are musical snobs in all genres and that they are equally obnoxious.

That wasn't me, it was @doity , but the mixup may explain your confusion.

 

[doity]

I have read this article a few different times and it is just as good each time. A light hearted look at the insanity of audiophiles:

Audiophiles: Are They Hearing Something We're Not?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

The post you were responding to said something to the effect that classical fans think they are smarter than everyone else. My point is that I can't say smarter, but that there is a whole lot more info to take in and less access to it. I wasn't quite saying that classical fans have a right to think that but I was saying it would be understandable if they did.

Thanks. I do not entirely agree but I do understand.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I've been actively involved in audio since the late 60's to the present constantly upgrading my systems over the years and one thing I have learned.......There are vast differences between owning a receiver and separate components. It's akin to ordering a steak from a diner and a reputable steak house ....IMO, NO comparison.

I look at it like this.......If you have the gelt and ALL your expenses are paid and you have money left over ..... why not spend it on something you like. I'm not a gambler or a world traveler...more of a home body and if I see something I like ..... I buy it. I do have a receiver in my bedroom with very capable B&W satellite speakers and a B&W sub and LOVE the way it sounds .... but then when I go to another room with separate components, B&W 802 Nautilus speakers, it sounds REMARKABLY better and my new system which will be ALL Meridian will likely blow the doors off that system as well.

And NO apologies here. I do love ALL types of music....am hardly a classical snob but at a certain age having been involved in my 'passion' for audio for so many decades ........ I think I've earned that right to splurge on what makes me happy before I meet my maker.

 

[jimfisheye]

Back when I was doing live sound, I was never content to sit behind the board all night. I was constantly out wandering around to see how things sounded in other parts of the seating area. Of course in some most of our less-sophisticated venues, the console location was stuck back in the corner somewhere where it was difficult to hear or even see anything properly.

Also, those were usually the areas the punters would choose to visit when they wanted to vomit against the back wall, so that was a motivator as well. Ahh, free, fragrant youth...sometimes I do pine for thee. Other times not so much.

I first started running live sound with a computer and an iPod and a couple MIDI controllers over a USB wi-fi hub in 2009. The ability to finally be able to roam the room with the controls still in my hands the whole time was a dream finally come true! The stage became my home base. Dialing up monitors right next to the artist was another magical impossibility come true!

Digital Performer was not doing well with the transition to OSX from OS9. That was my remote recording software. Protools HD just had their big v9 update crash of all crashes. I was looking for new software. Checked out Reaper DAW. Discovered you could set it for low latency like no DAW app ever before. The iPad was just first released. Looked stupid. Lightbulb went off a day or two later: That's a remote control for a computer! With a screen! Did some stability testing... and we're off! First show I ran with that felt like I was in a Star Trek episode and I was worried the whole time about something crashing. Digital madness! Reaper has never once crashed. Huge upgrade over Protools HD in the studio as well.

It hit home how shitty a lot of medium sized mixing boards found in various clubs were instantly. My first 16 channels were True Audio mic pres. Pushing up a fader on the Reaper board was like pushing up a fader on a Neve suddenly! Night and day upgrade in front of house.

Oh, and bringing home a full multitrack from every show I've run since.

Sorry for the long digression!

I wish I could tie this story to surround sound! Haven't had the opportunity yet unfortunately. The computer system could easily handle that live. The routing is just click-click for anything. I'd need to work out some surround panners with something on the iPad or something like that. Mostly need the right band!

 

[doity]

That wasn't me, it was @doity , but the mixup may explain your confusion.

Well it is not like I just pulled that observation about classical music snobs out of my ‘you know what’. Look up the terms “classical music snob intellectually superior”. I just did myself and there are numerous articles on the matter. I think that Jazz, Rock, and Pop listeners have a lot of crossover. A lot of jazz listeners might dable in the Blues or rock/fusion, while rock music listeners are all over the place.

I was basically weaned on Classical music and most of my favorite records and artists are classically influenced. Me and my stoner friends were listening to classical music without any push from parents or schools. I remember my friend Gary always used to say “Bartok rocks!” We were listening to Sky, Stravinsky, Carlos Montoya, The Nice, ELP, Moody Blues, Renaissance, Curved Air, etc., while other people our age were into the Police and U2. So it isn’t like I am talking from a point of ignorance on the matter. I have probably heard more Classical music than 90% of the American public.

So my analogy wasn’t out of disrespect. I just think that serious audiophiles and serious classical music listeners share some of the same tendencies that’s all.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Well it is not like I just pulled that observation about classical music snobs out of my ‘you know what’. Look up the terms “classical music snob intellectually superior”. I just did myself and there are numerous articles on the matter. I think that Jazz, Rock, and Pop listeners have a lot of crossover. A lot of jazz listeners might dable in the Blues or rock/fusion, while rock music listeners are all over the place.

I am sure there some to blame in every camp and I do not know if there is data to show overlaps in preferences among the groups, independent of age group. I am probably one of the oldest guys around here, raised on classical and still committed to it. OTOH, my crossover is to blues. So what. The issue is not the genre but the attitude.

So my analogy wasn’t out of disrespect.

OK but it still smells of stereotyping (no pun intended).

I just think that serious audiophiles and serious classical music listeners share some of the same tendencies that’s all.

There's probably at least one rotten apple in every barrel.

 

[EricKalet]

Makes me sad to see ignorant and elitist acting people perpetuate falsities.

 

[quadsearcher]

Because record store clerks are famous for their sophisticated audio knowledge.
(posted by a former record store clerk)

Yeah! I was a record store clerk for a while too.
What I meant though, is that hearing more two channel detail with good reproduction and good source material is a similar goal to hearing more detail with four or more channels of discrete mix (making instruments more clearly heard). And with both, it is the best of the best.

 

[ar surround]

Yeah! I was a record store clerk for a while too.
What I meant though, is that hearing more two channel detail with good reproduction and good source material is a similar goal to hearing more detail with four or more channels of discrete mix (making instruments more clearly heard). And with both, it is the best of the best.

Generally, the multi-channel versions of music that I most frequently play-- rock/pop of the 60's and '70's-- exhibit more detail than their original two-channel versions. This material mixed into stereo just does not hold up to the original quads and remixed 5.1's. Initially, I would conjecture that it is due to the limitation of the recording equipment of the time, but then stereo jazz recordings of the same era sound fantastic. So I conclude that the stereo mixing and mastering of rock/pop recordings from that era typically did not receive the TLC of the more "serious" genres.

 

[doity]

Generally, the multi-channel versions of music that I most frequently play-- rock/pop of the 60's and '70's-- exhibit more detail than their original two-channel versions. This material mixed into stereo just does not hold up to the original quads and remixed 5.1's. Initially, I would conjecture that it is due to the limitation of the recording equipment of the time, but then stereo jazz recordings of the same era sound fantastic. So I conclude that the stereo mixing and mastering of rock/pop recordings from that era typically did not receive the TLC of the more "serious" genres.

You are right. At a certain point the rock music of the 70’s just became ‘product’ and it was just a thing to get out as soon as possible to the kiddies. Until the Steely Dan’s and APP’s came along that is. Though I have always thought that “Abbey Road” always had a bit of audiophile quality to it. Maybe that was just me?