this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2024
687 points (98.3% liked)

Memes

45661 readers
1741 users here now

Rules:

  1. Be civil and nice.
  2. Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] the_dopamine_fiend@lemmy.world 68 points 2 months ago (6 children)

The jump from mono to stereo made a lot of engineers' heads spin. Then again, how many 100% perfect 5.1 albums have you heard?

Actually, I've listened to only three 5.1 remixes, all of them phenomenal albums to begin with, and their 5.1 jobs were pretty meh. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots came out pretty good, but mainly because they just fucked around and tried stuff.

[–] li10@feddit.uk 40 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I hate the “spatial” mixes.

Sometimes they’re done really well, but most of the time it’s just putting different parts of the song in different areas and makes it sound “diluted”.

Like, the guitar is in front of you, then the bass is behind and to the left… why??

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You’re missing a key ingredient: Lysergic acid diethylamide.

In all other circumstances I agree with you.

[–] li10@feddit.uk 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Lysergic acid diethylamide doesn’t fix a bad mix.

You can still hear all the separate instruments surrounding you on a good regular mix, all the spatial does is break the interwoven sound.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 months ago

Lysergic acid diethylamide doesn’t fix a bad mix.

I mean... Have you ever listened to "Whole Lotta Love" or "Axis: Bold as Love" while tripping balls? Those panning parts are pretty wild.

[–] DannyBoy@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

My understanding is that most (at least rock) music is mixed this way, just subtle enough to help your brain pick out instruments but not enough to consciously notice.

[–] li10@feddit.uk 8 points 2 months ago

Music is mixed that way, but spatial then takes a hammer to that concept.

It takes away the single interwoven sound and imo sounds like different tracks being played on opposite sides of the room.

I usually try the atmos mix for an album if it’s available on tidal, and usually all it ever does is remove the punch from songs.

[–] Iamsqueegee@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Have you ever listened to Zaireeka appropriately? I haven’t, but that must be a headache to line up correctly.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 2 months ago

I thought part of the point of Zaireeka is that it is impossible to get it exact every time, so every time you play it it is a unique soundscape.

[–] LucasWaffyWaf@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

It was a pain in the ass but me and a buddy got it working once. I was a young teen and this was long before weed helped me see more beauty in music, so I didn't get much out of it, but as an adult it'd probably be different.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 months ago

I don't think it's supposed to line up "correctly" no?

[–] the_dopamine_fiend@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

It's a life goal!

[–] koncertejo@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, who produced Pet Sounds, was actually deaf in one ear. Despite that, he got along just fine in a monophonic world, but the switch to stereo completely left him behind. It was a huge change in how music was mixed.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

And yet Pet Sounds (and even the contemporary stuff they originally recorded for SMiLE but never officially released) still sounds phenomenal to this day despite being in mono.

The man was a wizard.

[–] Hammocks4All@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It makes sense. I bet it's super hard, especially at first.

It's largely a headphone problem, at least for me. I can't listen to a song where certain tracks are completely isolated to one ear. The audio doesn't need to be mixed perfectly, but I need at least a little bit of each sound in each ear. Otherwise it's too distracting. My brain hates it.

[–] Tabooki@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

It's supposed to sound like the band is in front of you on a stage. Not all mashed into one spot in the center of the stage. You should be able to close your eyes and picture where each drum is positioned. Where the before guitar players are standing. And you should be able to hear the shape of the room. Modern recordings mixed digitally can no longer do this. Then again if you're streaming Spotify into Bluetooth your missing most of what's there anyways.

[–] saigot@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 months ago

There's some cool 5.1 and even 7.1 stuff in classical music (I don't have a a surround sound setup myself but I hear a lot of talk of it).