Getting my head around surround streaming

[wappinghigh]

Hi again everyone.

 

Could someone please post a "how to" summary of the current state of play of surround tracks.

 

I am completely in control of streaming hirez up to 24/192 in stereo

 

Right through the whole process from purchase->storage->music library cataloging->to streaming->hifi

 

But surround? I've got a few clues. DVD Audio/SACD as the obvious sources. DVDextractor, maybe even an Oppo that somehow can stream this stuff via DLNA.

 

But I can't put it all together.

 

Can anyone help? Links would be appreciated

 

 

 

 

[wappinghigh]

Bump

 

[wappinghigh]

C'mon guys. It's the next "frontier"..surely there must be someone who is a bit of a quad head on this forum

 

[blueixus]

and it was great fun, had some spectacular SACDs, Rage Hard and Tubular Bells.

 

Short of spending serious cash the Oppo's are pretty good. I am sure you will find Esoteric DV-50/60s floating aroung the used market as people move to blu-ray as well.

 

A few points, I have never bothered with a centre speaker, IMHO a total waste of time as it rarely matches the two fronts and good stereo speakers should image well enough to make it unnecessary.

 

I run my sub off my fronts using high level input rather than as a .1.

 

This set up means you have a stereo x 2 config which is better and gives more options for quality sound rather than getting caught in the Home Cinema trap.

 

If high res music is rare this is rarer and will become extinct, pity because it was fun, but alas so was quadraphonic and that died a death!

 

[Al Jones]

Quote: I have never bothered with a centre speaker, IMHO a total waste of time as it rarely matches the two fronts and good stereo speakers should image well enough to make it unnecessary.

 

If you are at all serious about surround, your center will match the two fronts, because it will be identical to them. Problem solved.

 

And, yes, stereo speakers image "well enough," if you're hogging the sweet spot, but for a shared viewing/listening experience with a wider audience area, a dedicated center speaker nails the center image in place, even for those seated well off-axis.

 

 

[wappinghigh]

No way blue...!!!!! Quad is alive and well : see quadraphonicquad.com

 

There are some amazing dudes on that site who really know this stuff. Real recording studio engineers. That have lived through the whole saga! They refuse to let Quad die...and good on them! But now that DVD-A has gone, they fall down on the next medium.. they are stumbling around saying it will be blu ray. But I think the future is FLAC and streaming. Just like is was for stereo...Chris has shown the way how to extract DVD-A. And Oppo can output 4.0, or 5.1 analog straight into an older style receiver with some real anaolg grunt (and avoid all the hitech "Home Cinema trap", as you rightly call it.) No "reprocessing" is required. I think there is a future in Quad/5.1 It's a great way to recycle that "not so" old receiver you might have that doesn't have HDMI. Some of these like my NAD 773 can be set to avoid all the digital DTS/Dolby crap and play straight analog right from the Oppo...

 

We all know HDtracks.com is starting to release stereo tracks straight from the original SACD's. The next logical step is to release the surround 4.0 or 5.1 versions. Maybe as FLAC. With a bit of luck the Oppo might be able to handle this format. We just need a library and media program to store them (maybe JRiver, or VLC, or even put them on a esata attached drive on the Oppo, and bingo...Quad will live again !! Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, my friends, it can come back

 

And the reason it can come back is cost. Previously it was huge to get into surround. Now the costs are way lower. An Oppo and a second hand receiver will basically do it (speakers aside) for less than a 1000 bucks! Compare that to the old tape days. Combine that with ready availability of surround FLAC files, and Quad will remain alive and well. We just have to workout how to do it.. With a bit of help from the geeks on this forum, I reckon we can show the way forward for all the passionate ol' quad rockers out there...

 

Long live Quad !!

 

[blueixus]

"If you are at all serious about surround, your center will match the two fronts, because it will be identical to them. Problem solved."

 

In the vast majority of surround sound systems the centre speaker is at a different height and axis from the Fronts (to allow for the screen),so whatever the centre speaker is it can't be identical, for that reason it's use is highly questionable.

 

In a large auditorium it may have value. Interestingly many imax theatres run all the front/centres on the same axis behind an acoustically transparent screen for the reason outlined above.

 

[blueixus]

Thank you for the link to QuadraphonicQuad - brilliant. Somewhere I have a probably 'not genuine' Quad version of DSOTM on DVD-a.

 

It professes to be the original Alan Parsons quad mix, whether it is or isn't it is great fun.