Surround sound arrives for redbook & radio

[eyeteeth]

Another novelty format?
Is this similar to an HDCD with fake surround sound or a real development?
Even if this is more gimmick than development it can't be helpful to either of the embattled SACD or DVD-A camps.

http://www.stereophile.com/news/062804SRS/

"SRS recently announced that Lava Records' artist Uncle Kracker has chosen the company's Circle Surround (CS) multichannel encoding technology for a disc that will be released this week called Seventy Two & Sunny. According to SRS, CS provides the capability to encode up to 6.1 channels of audio for transmission or storage over standard two-channel carriers such as CD and stereo broadcasts.

"CDs encoded with the patented Circle Surround technology can be played back on any regular CD player," says SRS, "unlike competing technologies that specifically require DVD-Audio or other special playback equipment." The company says the process is compatible with all types of CD players and A/V receivers or preamps and with all playback environments, including mono, stereo, and other matrix surround systems. SRS adds, "One Circle Surround mix satisfies all playback environments."

More info at Stereophile.

 

[soundboy]

Hong Kong BMG released 2 two-CD compilations encoded w/ SRS Circle Surround 5.1

And HK BMG has officially declared that SRS Circle Surround 5.1 will be its multi-channel format of choice. Since HK BMG (and sister label HK Arista) have released a number of titles of SACD, do this mean they are dumping SACD??

 

[eyeteeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy Hong Kong BMG released 2 two-CD compilations encoded w/ SRS Circle Surround 5.1 And HK BMG has officially declared that SRS Circle Surround 5.1 will be its multi-channel format of choice. Since HK BMG (and sister label HK Arista) have released a number of titles of SACD, do this mean they are dumping SACD??

Hmmm... more development than gimmick it seems.

That image isn't coming through soundboy.

 

[Wodgy]

This is likely a disaster for 2-channel audio quality. I've never liked any of these "squeeze multiple channels into 2 channels using phase distortion" schemes. Listening to a Dolby Surround mix on a 2-channel music setup without a proper decoder is very irritating and fatiguing. (I even got rid of one of my DVD players because it couldn't do a generic 2 channel downmix without Dolby Surround.)

I personally would never buy a Redbook CD encoded with this technology. It's not as if Redbook doesn't already sound poor enough. There's no need for more distortion.

 

[rickcr42]

the SRS Surround on my Hughes satellite receiver actually sounds pretty decent and i use it for movies often when in two cannel mode

 

[lifeinabox]

Sounds a bit gimicky to me.

As for Dolby Pro Logic, I agree that the original was less than convincing with 2-channel music. However, II and IIx are definitely an improvement. I've always felt stuff like sports benefitted the most from DPL with the added ambience of surrounds.

 

[soundboy]

These are two 2-CD sets released by Hong Kong BMG that're SRS Circle Surround 5.1-encoded....

The Celtic Circle

The Celtic Circle 2

Click on the "Product Zoom In" below the photo and you can see a close-up of the SRS Circle Surround sticker.

 

[zombietycho]

???
I'm confused, I should read the article, but what I get from the brief description is that they are somehow getting 6.1 out of a regular CD? Is it discrete, like DTS?

 

[Wodgy]

No, it's not discrete. They encode the extra 4.1 channels in the regular 2-channel Redbook signal. If you have a CircleSurround decoder, you get all 6.1 channels. Otherwise you just hear "improved" 2-channel Redbook. I'm not holding my breath about the 2-channel "improvement" -- similar schemes I've heard before sound terrible without a decoder. For most of us this is just a way to gum up 2-channel audio.

 

[kwong]

Is it the same thing as Media Player SRS effects? I doubt it'll work for us ... a few years back Rock Records released something called 3D CD in Malaysia, which is the original CD played through a karaoke filter. It instantly turned my rig into a boombox - I wanted to wash my ears afterwards