SurroundByUs.com

responding to some previous reactions........

I've been to concerts sponsored by DTS Online !
Standing one meter from the stage, looking right into the face of the guitarplayer and hearing his guitar 20 meters left behind me......

When quoting, please don't quote one sentence which gets the content out of context.
The next sentences said :
I have never seen a band playing and hearing one of the instruments coming from left or right behind me > everything was in front !
I did hear some reverb from the rear, but that was all, nothing more.


So I can conclude the PF gig and the concerts I attended were the exception ?
When one band plays surround "live" , doesn't make it a general rule !
And the rest of my response clearly says it's artificial.
Well, that guitarplayer wasn't even artificial, it was unnatural !!
FWIW I have about 1100 DVD's from live concerts which have at least a DD 5.1 stream.
There is not one where more than reverb is coming from the rears channel.......

The other remark : but our method....etc. ....... I simply want to make Muziekschuur aware that Ambisonics is the way to go.
If he talks about a soundfield and your remark to him only comes after my pointing him to Ambisonics.........
Don't want to start a war, don't want to start a "my method is superior"........
So why that immediately "in the defence" attitude is necessary, is a riddle to me.
If your Spec with Arctan can handle Soundfield methods, why not answer that in the first place to him ?
And sounds stellar ? Well, that can be discussed. Other methods sound stellar too and if Muziekschuur tells the brand of the Soundfiled microphone he is using, there is even a method available to spread 2 channels over 5 with emulation of the microphone he used in 2.0 !! Which is as I believe the only conversion method that will probably satisfy his needs........

We all have enough experience here in converting to surround with some form of separation. But after all these years, I am still not convinced that surrounding by sound necessarily does have to come from separation ! Especially not if even commercial releases tend to move to other ways of reproducing over 5 channels too.......
Ambisonics is going through a revival and there is nothing wrong to pointing people to methods providing Ambisonics, when they are not available here !

If folks want to give them a try (after trying what is offered here, of course), ambisonic methods are available on dtsac3 and other sites as well. Just google "ambisonic bidule" and you can go from there. Many people here have a vast experience with ambisonic methods and rarely use them anymore. But every tastes exist in nature. I sincerely believe ArcTan is a very adequate soundfield method which also routinely provides a very high degree of separation. Just browse through the Downloads section to be convinced by our Creative Commons examples of ArcTan conversions.

Nothing really more to say here. When developing this site, we considered whether we wanted to host an ambisonic-based method. We ultimately made the decision not to because we felt it was a topic well-covered on the internet, both my Fantasia's website, as well as, like Fan51 said, simply Googling it. While Ambisonics will probably work its way into the "surround glossary" we'd like to develop for the Wiki (and, yes, there's still parts of this site we haven't gotten to, folks!), we were much more intrigued by the possibilities our own developments, such as the "wrap" function of SPEC and ArcTan, would bring to the table......and we will continue to feel that way.

There's not much I feel SPEC can't handle, and it will continue to be an evolving piece of work. If anyone wonders why what launched with the site was version 4.0, it's because this all started as an alternative to various LCR spreads available out there. That turned into including some of the Center Cut algorithm (v2), which then turned into Slice (v3) and, finally, ArcTan (v4.) There's still even more that can be accomplished, I'm sure, but not without feedback from those who have already begun to experiment. Already, in a week's time, someone pointed out the need for 64-bit versions of our plug-ins. That's in process. There could be a SPEC 5.0 one day, and a 6.0, etc., and its folks here who can play a part in shaping that.

For me it's not a battle of methods, only want to point Muziekschuur to Ambisonics.
If SPEC 4.0 can offer an alternative, I will be happy to try it out.

My opinion about Ambisonics has in basic nothing to do with my website, but more with developments that are going on commercially.
It's indeed a good idea to Google on Ambisonics (not necessary to add "bidule", add "DVDA" will give a better result) because you can find out on several sites, that there is still a lot of new things going on.
And indeed, there is more going on on the Ambisonics front in term of amount of sites, than there is on the separation front...........
(LOL : Should that make us all wonder ?? )

Anyway : I found a new developed method but only for AC3 448 Kb/s that can handle a conversion from the stereo CD to 5.1 surround based on Multisonic, Gerzon, Farina, Sound on Sound and a few others. At first sight it seems nothing special, because there are already methods doing that.
BUT : it converts a 75 minutes CD within 5 minutes to 5.1 AC3 !!!!
And that is amazing and I'm really keen to find out how they managed that. (We all know how long it normally takes, don't we ?)

Instead of starting wars, pointing to the past or whatever, I still prefer to work together in a normal civilized way..........
So ideas and/or help in the case with those speedy conversions is welcome........