[linux-audio-dev] Info required: FLAC on W*****S

[Fons Adriaensen]

Hi Joern,

> not superior, but equivalent, less snake-oil-infested, cheaper, more 
> general and more elegant. ahem, yes, superior :-D
> 
> you can express any spatial sound with just 4 channels, where one is 
> the mono component, and 3 are the x, y, and z-axis difference 
> signals (similar to m/s stereo).
> you can then render it to any speaker layout you want.
> 
> imnsho all those n.1 surround techniques (where n is defined as the 
> number of speakers you have or want to afford plus any positive 
> integer greater than one) are money-making schemes. anything above 
> 5.1 in one plane is plain stupid (even the center is not necessary 
> in theory, although it makes the job for the mix engineer a lot easier).
> and the mutually incompatible encoding formats are not helping either...
> 
> and as to encoding anything outside the line between the speakers in 
> stereo, well, it just does not work very well. it's ok for the 
> occasional "wow, cool" effect, but for not much else. all those 
> nifty little tricks have very small sweet spots and fall apart as 
> soon as you move just a little, and those oh-so-cool 3d phasing 
> effects completely and utterly wreck the low end in practice.

For some reason this only arrived today (27 May), but I coulnd't
agree more !

-- 
Fons