[LAU] more than 4 channels for listening? Really?

[Fernando Lopez-Lezcano]

On Thu, 2010-02-25 at 11:27 -0700, Bearcat M. Sandor wrote:
> Couldn't one create the sound of a fly moving through out a room simply
> by adjusting the balance of 4 speakers?

Yes, of course, this has been in the computer music composer's toolbox
for quite a number of years. For a little bit of background see (for
example):

http://cec.concordia.ca/eContact/Multichannel/spatial_music_short.html

> If so why do we need more than 4 speakers?

If you are using amplitude panning and any two speakers are more than 60
degrees apart in angle (or so) it becomes increasingly difficult to
create convincing virtual images between the speakers. The virtual image
tends to jump from one speaker to the other instead of smoothly panning
between them (this is an extreme simplification, of course). 

-- Fernando