[Kabillyhop]

I was browsing the Bryston web site for information about their new pre-pro and came across their latest newsletter. It contains a letter from Dennis Sands, a leading Hollywood scoring engineer. The letter provides some insight into why so little interest in Hollywood in producing 6.1/7.1 material, and an opinion that SACD/DVD Audio "will continue to be a novelty at best"

http://www.bryston.ca/newsletters/64_files/vol6is4.html


I thought the article might spawn some interesting discussion. I apologize if this letter has already been discussed, but a search for "Dennis Sands" came up with nothing. BTW, the list of sound tracks he has engineered is included and I'm sure contains many of your favorites.


(Also posted at HTF).

 

[lolittle]

I saw the newsletter yesterday. I haven't seen any discussion on it. I thought it was great to hear this from somebody like Dennis Sands.


"Most home theaters can barely get set up for the 5.1 format, let alone 6.1 or 7.1."


I agree.


"As far as DVD-Audio or SACD, I have yet to understand what the market is. Kids are interested in lesser quality (i.e., mp3), not higher quality. Until the market is clearly defined, these formats are meaningless. They will continue to be a novelty at best, and will not have much future on any grand scale."


I'd really like to see SACD take off. However, it will take YEARS for there to be enough software to compete with CD. As a VERY happy owner of a Perpetual Technologies P-1A/P-3A/P3 setup, I'm ready to wait...

 

[John F. Palacio]

Thank you for the info. It is always good to know how the top pro's think on all these matters.

 

[Selden Ball]

Designing soundtracks only for the most common systems means that there'll be no reason for improvement. By the same argument, 5.1 is a *lot* harder than monaural, so why bother? The picture's in front of you, so that's where the sounds should be, too.


I do agree that the rear center channel is primarily used for sound effects, not so much for music. In fact, the sound effects are its reason for existing.


I don't currently have a 7.1 setup, but that doesn't mean I don't want to be able to upgrade at some point and be able to hear things coming from directly behind me.

 

[John Desmond]

Interesting, I wonder what others in the industry think about this? It sure would be nice to know as we all develop our own personal systems. Two extra speakers and amplifier channels do not come free.

 

[sdurani]

Quote:

I wonder what others in the industry think about this?

John,


I may be wrong but I have a feeling that other industry pros like Tom Holman and Gary Rydstrom wouldn't agree with Sands.


Best,

Sanjay

 

[Buzz Goddard]

Does it come as a surprise that there are multiple opinions in the production end just as there are in the reproduction end?


Personally, I don't go for any of the arguments promoting lowest common denominator, be it in MP-3's vs SACD or stereo vs 10.2