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There’s a lot of discussion and disagreement about the use of 5.1 for television sound. The energy is split in a number of directions: so we have the issue of the creative use of the channels; the appropriate use (or not) of a centre channel and the surround channels; how programme influences the potential experience; how screen size correlates to appropriate volume levels and the degree of immersion; how the demands of home cinema setups are different from those of kitchen TVs; how stereo (and still mono) remain delivery realities that must not be neglected; how you handle news and ENG; what you do about the adverts; and where do most households put all those speakers anyway? There’s more, of course, but it adds up to a tricky topic that has undoubtedly detracted from a unified voice of multichannel at all stages of production.
For me, 5.1 works best with a screen when it attempts to recreate ambience for a forward positioned main source or when it is used to reinforce front to back action as demonstrated by a typical fly/drive by. One thing that has always disappointed me about 5.1 is the lack of positional resolution from front left and rights to rear left and rights -- i.e. down the sides -– as we’ve relying on a single ear for the dominant input. In the best case scenario the sound transfers from the front stereo to the rear stereo in an orderly fashion; in the worst case the mixer just tries to fool you with a blast of direction that your eyes tell you is OK. I have often thought that mixers’ jobs would be so much easier if they had height channels to play with. I have now heard 3D sound reproduction and believe it’s the future; or rather one future.
Hearing 9.1 immediately makes aural sense and exposes the inadequacies of 5.1. Rather than a broad ‘ring’ the sense of immersion transforms into more of a sphere and a fly-by does just that by tailing of into the distance rather than seeming to land rather abruptly behind you. You also get both ears involved in the side action with lots of useful information adding to the realism and depth. It must be a pleasure to mix for even though the 3D panning controller options are currently a little less than ideal because you wouldn’t need to cheat with a fast action sonic blur when doing it properly would be just as easy. It has downsides, depending on the different 3D systems that exist, from the standpoint of delivery and in the case of the target audience of feature film in the elegance with which these new formats are integrated with all the other required standards for playback in theatres.
For TV, we currently couldn’t begin to entertain it yet given the rush towards 3D TV it is unmistakably the much more natural audio companion compared to 5.1. And it is still likely to suffer from all the aforementioned disagreements on 5.1. Most significantly it is hamstrung by being driven not by enormous manufacturer consortia but by smaller individual audio companies. That sort of stacks the odds against it despite the soundness of the idea and the experience. You should hear it and decide whether you feel like becoming an evangelist.
Zenon Schoepe, Editorial Director
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