Pro vs hifi drivers - pros and cons?

[Andre Visser]

Originally Posted by cbdb

You also have 5 speakers instead of 2, gives you 10db more headroom. So going from stereo music to 5.1 can increase your SPL 12 to 20db while your Left Right speakers are putting out exactly the same level.

And that will put you in the centre of the performance, not very realistic.

[badman]

Originally Posted by Andre Visser

And that will put you in the centre of the performance, not very realistic.

Only if you're using a "5 stereo" mode or the like. But to the point you're responding to, it doesn't really buy you that much extra headroom, in any decent mix, the surrounds are used quite a bit less than the mains. But the CC would certainly help. You might find an extra couple dB (not that that's something to scoff at) but not much more.

[J.R.Freeman]

Originally Posted by cbdb

A lot of the dynamic power in HT is in the LFE (sub) channel, thats why its set 10db hotter than the mains. This takes the heat off the other woofs. You also have 5 speakers instead of 2, gives you 10db more headroom. So going from stereo music to 5.1 can increase your SPL 12 to 20db while your Left Right speakers are putting out exactly the same level.

Hmm, those figures seem rather arbitrary. Do you have a reference? I agree that the use of a subwoofer will un-burden the main speakers some amount, but I think it's more about the frequency range covered rather than SPL. Low frequency content requires the movement of a lot of air (that takes a lot of power), compared to higher frequency stuff. Sub-sequently (pun intended!) having a subwoofer to take care of this range keeps the main speakers from having to endure that load.

JF

[cbdb]

Originally Posted by Andre Visser

And that will put you in the centre of the performance, not very realistic.

You missed the point. I was responding to the high dynamic content in movies played over 5.1 compared to stereo music on 2 of the same speakers. The extra dynamics in movies can be overcome by the extra speakers (of course it depends on the movie mix).

And until you hear music thats been recorded with a 5 channel mic dont tell about music reproduced on a 5.1 system.

[J.R.Freeman]

I think we can all agree that 5.1 systems in their inception were about special effects more than accurate musical reproduction.

[rcw]

If you set it up properly you can get a virtual space from the 5.1 system that is more real than the real space of your listening room.
rcw.

[Pano]

5.1 is about accurate cinema presentation, right?

If music is mixed and mastered in 5.1, couldn't it be accurate, too?

[CLS]

I'm wondering, how many music recordings are accurately mixed and mastered in 5.1? Maybe barely exist

A more proper question: how many movies are accurately mixed and mastered in 5.1? (not just a label on it)

And prior to these 2 questions, how accurate?

[Robh3606]

5.1 is about accurate cinema presentation, right?

Yes the whole point is accuracy so I see it as the same exact requirements as 2 channel. Obviously you want accuracy there as well. It seems that when you mention HT or a 5.1 set-up it is automatically considered louder and/or less accurate but that's not the case. Any speaker worth a damn can put out 105db. The only real challenge lies in the LFE with a 115db level from say 40hz and down. Seems we are straying a bit off topic.

Rob

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by cbdb

And until you hear music thats been recorded with a 5 channel mic dont tell about music reproduced on a 5.1 system.

A logic above applies to stereo too. So I guess I will not tell you about "2.0 systems".

Very few studios use stereo mics. They are very uncommon. Maybe for a room overhead but music recording is with "regular" single channel mics. Stereo is something the engineer creates in the mix by panning the tracks to create a sense of "'space".

When you mix to a surround format you can tell the mixer software whereto place the sound, not which speaker. Same concept as a pan pot on a stereo console.

What is "accurate" anyways? Most music we hear was not even recored all at the same time. Except for most jazz and most classical music the tracks were never heard together until the engineer put them together. For example the drum and vocals might have been recored weeks apart. So what does "accurate even mean in that context.

And that will put you in the centre of the performance, not very realistic.

Video is mixed that way. Many times in a movie a shot is "subjective", that is taken from the character's view point and other shots are narative to show you the "big picture" the sound is typically mixed to put the listener in the action. Some times from the character's location and sometimes from an overview location

But when MUSIC is mixed to 5.1 format almost always they do NOT try an place the listener in the center of the performance. They try instead to put the listening in the audiance, may near the front at the center. the surround speakers are used to fill in what a concert goer would hear reflecting off the back walls of the concert hall. The goals is to make your room sound like the larger space.