Anyone else not into surround sound?

I reject your thesis. Do you know the meaning of the word thesis?

Whether I do or not has no bearing on the nature of movies, something I think you misunderstand. I understand the importance of sound to them but that doesn’t affect their inherent mature as a visual medium.
 
Whether I do or not has no bearing on the nature of movies, something I think you misunderstand. I understand the importance of sound to them but that doesn’t affect their inherent mature as a visual medium.
The only comment I've heard by any friend or family member who is not into audio about the sound experience at movie theaters is that it is too loud. :)
 
Whether I do or not has no bearing on the nature of movies, something I think you misunderstand. I understand the importance of sound to them but that doesn’t affect their inherent mature as a visual medium.

What you seem to be ignoring is that since 1977, movies have been an experience that is seen, heard and felt by the audience. Take the Star Wars movies, for example. If you hear it in mono, well yeah, the story is still there but you're not getting the immersive experience that the rumble of the Star Destroyer gives or the surprise of a TIE fighter screeching from behind you over your head and onto the screen.

To say that sound doesn't affect the nature of the movies as a visual medium is almost like saying we didn't need to go to color from black and white.

@ JOeESP9 this one will. :)
 
you did... didn't you? ::runs back to read::

EDIT... yeah you did.. :)

I did? I’m surprised I said something so foolish as that sound doesn’t affect movies, I’m certainly aware it does and said so recently. Like John Ford said, I like talking pictures. I’ve often talked about my love of the large film format magnetic multi track roadshows of the 50s and 60s. My wrangling has been about the primary nature of movies and the need of surround sound vs. 1 or 2 channel sound of good quality.

Anyway, if I said that it was damned stupid of me.
 
Moderation note: OK. Back on topic and off of one another. Otherwise, this thread will go the way of all train wrecks, and vacations will be generously distributed.

Rich P
 
I did? I’m surprised I said something so foolish as that sound doesn’t affect movies, I’m certainly aware it does and said so recently. Like John Ford said, I like talking pictures. I’ve often talked about my love of the large film format magnetic multi track roadshows of the 50s and 60s. My wrangling has been about the primary nature of movies and the need of surround sound vs. 1 or 2 channel sound of good quality.

Anyway, if I said that it was damned stupid of me.

One could argue that surround isn't needed for a certain genre of movie... like those depressing German films. I remember one I saw about a woman who was dealing with the trauma of a re-unified Germany... I would have preferred that that movie had not been a talkie... or even made. But then again, as an immersive experience the added ambiance that a proper surround system brings, while not necessary for, say, a courtroom drama, makes the experience of watching it somehow better. But yes, without it, 12 Angry Men is still 12 Angry Men and still awesome.
 
Have a pretty good surround system in my music rm, all separates including a stand alone surround processor, separate amplifiers for all channels etc, and yet I still prefer my music in stereo, surround for tv and movies. In other rooms I use stereo for all and don't feel I'm missing anything.
 
The only comment I've heard by any friend or family member who is not into audio about the sound experience at movie theaters is that it is too loud. :)
You know, I pondered this statement because I know it is true. I have concluded that it is at once true and irrelevant. People almost always express when they find something in particular not pleasurable because that thing stands out to them. People seldom do the same when something is realistic. They take that for granted because that is the "default setting". It's how things should be.

Let me give this illustration. In my younger days I spent a lot of time either singing/playing in front of a crowd or doing sound for an event. As a performer, I would generally either get complements or no feedback at all. it was very rare for someone to point out an aspect that could have been better. The few times that someone did, they were always trained in some aspect, it was never "regular" people.

Doing sound, OTOH, I would almost never hear a comment from a "regular" person thanking me for the balance being just right. The only complaint would be if something were either too loud or too soft. When something is just right it tends to not even be noticed by most. When the performer does a good job, everyone notices. When the sound man does a good job, nobody notices.

This leads me back to your post. When there is just the right amount of low frequency rumble in that helicopter scene, or the car pans audibly in an exact match to what it does visually, that is realism. People don't tend to notice it because it is the "default setting" as it were. It is how things are supposed to be. If it weren't there, would people notice that? I submit that they perhaps wouldn't overtly notice that particular detail, but rather they would talk about how the theater wasn't as good as that one down the street or that the movie didn't draw them in.
 
Have a pretty good surround system in my music rm, all separates including a stand alone surround processor, separate amplifiers for all channels etc, and yet I still prefer my music in stereo, surround for tv and movies. In other rooms I use stereo for all and don't feel I'm missing anything.
Okay, let me ask you. Have you ever listened to something that was mixed for surround? I want to get an idea of what percentage of people who reject it out of hand have either never heard it or have only heard processed "surround". As I said above, I don't like that stuff either.
 
ELP's Lucky Man (bonus track) from the Brain Salad Surgery DVD-A is amazing in mch/surround. I first heard it at Ivan Messer's place (aka Masterlu, for the oldtimers still around). Knew then it would be standard/demo material to have on hand.
 
Back
Top Bottom