KMO
02-27-08, 12:13 PM
Just been compiling a "complete(ish) Madonna" DVD-Audio from my CD collection, and in the process I've just discovered the QSound effects on The Immaculate Collection.
This is the first time I'd heard of QSound, or heard that the disc had been mixed using it, and I don't remember the last time I'd listened to the compilation (or if I ever had on my main A/V system), so I thought I'd better check it out.
I was initially extremely skeptical, and the first minute or so of listening was a bit weird, but it's actually rather impressive.
The process, as I understand it, is a plug-in to the mixing desk that lets you pan the individual mix elements in a 360 degree circle using psycho-acoustic trickery. And it works. :eek:
Various elements have been panned to 90-degree left, 90-degree right, panning behind the listener, etc, and it's all quite fun. In some cases the rear imaging was actually better than I'm currently achieving from my real 5-channel surround disks (which suggests I need to work on my setup - things tend to be too clearly coming from a particular speaker rather than forming a solid soundfield with smooth panning).
If you haven't given this disc a good listen, try it out. It's designed for 2-channel speaker playback, not headphones. You need to be firmly in the sweet spot, and I'd recommend the standard speaker positioning of L/R speakers and listener forming an equilateral triangle. And don't engage any funny modes like Pro Logic - put it in straight 2-channel stereo.
Tell me what you think.
I'm not sure I'd appreciate discs generally using this process, but for a compilation it's quite fun, and gives you another way of listening to the tracks. Not as good as proper multichannel, obviously, but listening to the surround mixes on this album gave me a feel as to how some of the tracks could be approached in a real multichannel mix.
This is the first time I'd heard of QSound, or heard that the disc had been mixed using it, and I don't remember the last time I'd listened to the compilation (or if I ever had on my main A/V system), so I thought I'd better check it out.
I was initially extremely skeptical, and the first minute or so of listening was a bit weird, but it's actually rather impressive.
The process, as I understand it, is a plug-in to the mixing desk that lets you pan the individual mix elements in a 360 degree circle using psycho-acoustic trickery. And it works. :eek:
Various elements have been panned to 90-degree left, 90-degree right, panning behind the listener, etc, and it's all quite fun. In some cases the rear imaging was actually better than I'm currently achieving from my real 5-channel surround disks (which suggests I need to work on my setup - things tend to be too clearly coming from a particular speaker rather than forming a solid soundfield with smooth panning).
If you haven't given this disc a good listen, try it out. It's designed for 2-channel speaker playback, not headphones. You need to be firmly in the sweet spot, and I'd recommend the standard speaker positioning of L/R speakers and listener forming an equilateral triangle. And don't engage any funny modes like Pro Logic - put it in straight 2-channel stereo.
Tell me what you think.
I'm not sure I'd appreciate discs generally using this process, but for a compilation it's quite fun, and gives you another way of listening to the tracks. Not as good as proper multichannel, obviously, but listening to the surround mixes on this album gave me a feel as to how some of the tracks could be approached in a real multichannel mix.