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Hi Gang,
I should have posted here before so please bear with me while I attempt a belated self-introduction.
As a spam man in England I was something of an audiophile and a good portion of my income was thus channeled. In 1988 the US software company I worked for transferred me to California where I remained until a few years ago when I relocated to Las Vegas.
In the late 90's I became interested in DTS multichannel music. At the time I thought it would become a popular format which musicians and publishers would embrace. I assumed that the industry would realize that the introduction of such a format (and associated standard protocols) would lead to consumers upgrading their equipment and purchasing (repurchasing) music – it seemed an obvious way to re-invigorate a softening market. Sadly like many things the easy, simple and lazy approach prevailed and now the music publishing industry is struggling to reinvent itself.
In 2004 I created a dedicated home theater room featuring Yamaha amplification and Boston Acoustics speakers (the older Lynnfield VR models). While the video elements have seen changes not much has changed on the audio side since. As the theater is in the basement the temperature doesn't change much summer/winter which means recalibration isn't a frequent requirement.
In 2007 I tried building a Home Theater PC - the experience was not a good one. I determined the performance requirements exceeded my budget by a very large margin. The system became a useful bedroom video and streaming solution at least after I placed on the other side of the wall (in the closet).
Earlier this year (2011) while searching for a specific song I tripped over an “Upmix” version. Having experienced less than satisfactory "sound conversion" routines I wasn't expecting much as decided to give it a listen. I was shocked how good it was!
Inspired I decided to revisit the HTPC space. While movies played well with TotalMedia Theatre, Music was another matter entirely. Oh misery! Formats, Codecs, Players, Encoding, Muxing - A period of unexpectedly complex learning not made easy by the vast quantity of terrible and inaccurate information.
Simply getting a DTS encoded .wav file to be delivered "unmolested" to an Audio Receiver via a Toslink optical cable is not a minor undertaking. For my HTPC the ONLY tool which would do it was FooBar 2000 with an add-on.
Despite the complexity the ability to hear these new renditions (upmixes) of some of my favorite music was such a thrill that I invited some friends over to listen. This gathering has become a regular event and excuse to ensconce ourselves away from the spouses to enjoy libations and music at sound levels which shake the house (literally – wood construction here).
Interactions with members of this forum (River161 especially) have encouraged me to take the next step and attempt SPEC conversion of my own music. So, please excuse me while I fumble around trying to learn what I’m doing.
As computing performance continues exponential growth it should become possible to encapsulate (all) the (complex) processes of upmixing into a simple to use/install software solution. I look forward to contributing that goal.
Finally - Thank you. Had I not discovered this forum, tools and the associated people I would have given up pursuit of excellent multi-channel music as something lost along with Quad!
Cheers … Phil Usher
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