Stereo vs. Surround Sound: An Obvious Choice

Mark Waldrep, Ph.D.

The debate over whether stereo is “better” than some variant of surround sound has been an active topic since the days of QS and SQ quadraphonic vinyl. Those analog attempts at storing four discrete channels of music within the two sides of a single groove were less than satisfactory, but they did initiate the stereo vs. sur- round discussion. However, it wasn’t until the arrival of the DVD- format in 1997 that surround sound—this time as multichan- nel support for movies—achieved a solid foothold in the home Surround music on SACD and DVD-Audio entered the market entertainment market. Never mind that Dolby Digital® and DTS® with the dawn of the new millennia. compa- were both lossy formats, those properly equipped with a DVD- nies convinced the record labels that high-resolution, surround Video player, an AVR capable of decoding the 5.1 formats, and a music mixes would be very profitable. As a result, the music labels 5.1 loudspeaker setup enjoyed an experience similar to that being dug into their archives and went about digitizing the 24-track ana- provided at the local cineplex. It was great! But it was for movies. log master tapes, remixing “classic” albums into stereo and 5.1 The DVD-Video format was an obvious improvement over rent- versions and releasing them on SACDs and DVD-Audio discs. Sadly, no one paid much attention. Sales were dismal and produc- tion of new surround titles slowed to a trickle. But audiophiles that enjoyed surround mixes of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours or Queen’s Night At The Opera and collected 5.1 music discs have seen the value of their catalogs rise dramatically. Prices for DVD-Audio and SACD discs of albums that are no longer available have gone through the roof. Why? Because listening to properly done 5.1 surround music is trans-

ing movies on VHS tapes. Launched in March of 1997—I know because my little production company authored and released the first four titles in the U.S.— had better video, better sound, navigation, multiple audio track, 5.1 capability, better audio speci- fications than compact discs, and you didn’t have to rewind them when you mailed them back to Netflix! But surround music deliv- ered using a lossy compression scheme? That wasn’t going to fly for audiophiles. The DVD-Video format, like its predecessor the CD, had to spawn a version dedicated to music. Thus, in 2000 the DVD-Audio format was born. and entered the “high- resolution” audio format marketplace with the DSD-powered Super Audio —aka SACD—about a year earlier after hav- ing been rejected by the DVD Forum. They proposed having the SACD succeed the CD but lost out to the DVD-Audio format because DSD is a very poor encoding scheme for producing audio. Digital audio in the professional production world has been formative. One of my blog readers (at RealHD-Audio.com) for- built around pulse code modulation (PCM), and in spite of audio warded a link to a recent YouTube video by the head of PS Audio, journalists and consumers irrationally promoting DSD as sounding Paul MacGowan. Paul misses the mark regularly in his regular closer to “analog,” the truth is PCM delivers fidelity higher than any posts and , but his answer to a question submitted by an other format—and this includes the emperor’s new format MQA. audiophile in Israel asking whether stereo or surround sound

44 Widescreen Review • Issue 250 • June/July 2020 1/2 music is better was pretty good—or at least it started out that way. “looking into a performance space” and surround sound as “being Paul said, “Look, there is no question that a properly done, full in the same space as the performance.” And it only gets better. immersion surround system gives an amazing ‘you are there’ The addition of height channels to music soundtracks is migrating image, if it was recorded properly. I go upstairs to our Octave to music. Auro-3D and Dolby Atmos music mixes on disc and Studios where Gus Skinas has one of the coolest 5-channel sys- streaming is already here. tems on the planet. And he has original recordings, Joni Mitchell. While Paul acknowledges that surround music mixes deliver an Uh, I mean…if you’re ever here ask him to play the Joni Mitchell experience unparalleled with stereo, his support falters when it piece in, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in full surround. comes to the practical reality of surround music. His first response Oh my God, it brings…I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a dry eye lis- to his own question above, “So why do we even bother with two- tening to that. And then when you go to two-channel, it’s like ‘meh.’ channel?”—because PS Audio is a two-channel company! He con- Yeah, I get it. Nothing like the surround because it’s beautifully done, tinues by lamenting the paucity of titles available in surround and it’s set up in a room perfectly. And, yeah, it’s stunning. And sound. He says, “We certainly love surround sound but there are anywhere you walk around in the room, it sounds like you’re there very few decent recordings. And I’m talking a handful of decent in the auditorium and the London Philharmonic is playing. It’s an recordings of surround stuff. Two hundred, two thousand, I don’t amazing experience. So why do we even bother with two-channel?” know. Whatever it is, they are far and few between.” He’s right. Surround music mixes provide a much better sense He’s wrong about that. True, there are far fewer surround music of involvement and emotional impact than even the best stereo albums than stereo, but at last glance, there are over 10,000! I have almost 100 in my own AIX Records catalog—each of my releases comes with TWO 5.1 surround mixes. I include a “stage” mix that puts you right in the middle of the band and an “audi- ence” mix that re-creates the “best seat in the house.” The ambi- ence of the hall comes from the left and right surround channels. Don’t take my word for it. In these times of “stay-at-home” orders, I’ve decided to make a sampler album produced in collab-

system. I would argue that surround music is not required to cre- ate the sense that the band is right in front of you. Surround mixes can subscribe to the “sonic documentary” aesthetic or deliver a musical experience completely divorced from reality. The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s 5.1 Blu-ray included with the 50th anniversary deluxe reissue has no relationship with a band “playing live” in front of you. It’s a masterpiece of music production and songwrit- ing spread out in 5.1 loudspeakers. I’ve heard artists, engineers, and producers describe stereo as

oration with Sprint available through iTrax.com, my digital music download site. It’s free for a limited time. The iTrax-Sprint AIX Records Sampler contains 18 full-length, high-resolution audio tracks in stereo, stage, and audience mixes. Artists include Paul Williams, Willie Nelson, Laurence Juber, and Albert Lee. There are acoustic tunes, classical orchestral and chamber music, vocal and instrumental, folk and jazz, and even a rock track played by Supertramp guitarist Carl Verheyen. Visit the site, download the tracks, and listen for yourself in your home theatre setup. I think you’ll agree that surround music blows away simple stereo. WSR

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