SurroundByUs.com

As some of you know, I run the QuadraphonicQuad website. I have also been doing quad conversions for years, and have dabbled in stereo to surround upmixing myself, mostly using the great scripts created by kempfand and improved by others.

I don't do as many conversions as I once did, and I also have never been a big proponent of creating "fake" quad, but in these times when getting real surround mixes out of the record companies is like pulling teeth, there is not much left for folks to do!

To me, the best part of doing a stere-to-surround job is when it works out right, when you get something unexpected that makes you smile and want to share it immediately with other fans, that's when you get the big pay-off.

However, you also have to know that when you do one and it sounds like crap, you have to let go. Putting out bad upmixes is bad for the community. Self-editing is probably just as important as doing the upmix itself.

Some sound advice for sure.

Thanks for taking the time out of running that monster of a site you run.

Thanks for popping by Oblio and your good wishes..

I agree fully with your self discipline comment - unfortunately there has been quite alot of upmixes that are just not that good and it gives what we do a bad rap..

Thanks in part to sites like yours, I now have a very healthy surround collection which means I can be more selective as to which stereo conversions will stay in my collection and get a fair share of play time..

I fianlly had some time today to read through the wiki's and other great info on this site. WHEW!

You guys have done a TON of work. It's almost mind-boggling for an "old-guy" like me.

I was thinking about buying the $75 Bidule program and giving this thing a try. The guides you guys have compiled are excellent. I know how much time it takes to do pages with screen shots and all, and I have to say they look very professional and easy to follow.

So, I guess I'm going to give it a shot. If I get too confused, I'll give y'all a shout!

Thanks for keeping the surround world going, even if we have to do it ourselves!

Speaking of quad, we have experimented with using SPEC to make 5.0 or 5.1 from 4.0:

1) Reposition the sound so it comes from the original "quad" speaker angles, given today's 5.1 "ITU" speaker locations

2) derive and extract any "phantom center" sounds into a discrete center (just like in stereo to 5.1).

3) Add an additional .1 channel to give some bass boost, or add complete bass management for creating DVD A etc. discs specially for those who have bass management issues with those formats.

Each of the above is optional of course.

If you like we can post layouts and guides for "quad to 5.1".

...

Re the "flanging" (actually a good description), you can try (in no particualr order):

Make sure you have a high quality lossless stereo source
Blend, adjacent speaker, and/or humidity controls
larger FFT sizes and overlaps
The "blackman" window type

if none of the above works we can experiment with over sampling.