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Originally Posted by ReaDave
Yep. That is exactly what I am saying. I wasn't expecting such a difference but it would be hard for me to go back to mixing in stereo now. Even mono downmixes sound better (levels are much more consistent and phase issues are far fewer). I first noticed this when producing a 5.1 output from an Ambisonic mix of a song I had previously mixed in 5.1.
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If you're working in ambisonics, there's a couple things to note.
Ambisonics has trouble storing out-of-phase content, so as a side-effect mono downmixes sound better.
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. The new 5.1 downmix from the Ambisonic mix sounds FAR more spacious and is much more detailed basically because what is being heard is an Ambisonic soundfield created for a specific speaker arrangement.
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I think the difference here is with tools. Ambisonic panners encourage edge-only panning which makes it sound better. You may also have paid decoders which apply processing to it.
If you're using ReaSurround, it sucks for making 5.1 (but it's being addressed). If you have a GOOD surround panner & use it WELL, theoretically it should sound better due to less speaker bleed. I was trying to make a panner based on ambisonics last year & it was frustrating cuz it's almost impossible to make a source come out of 1 speaker only.
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Originally Posted by Joystick
I can also confirm what you are claiming here, we started mixing our (SoundFellas Labs) music and ambience libraries that we sell to Unity store with HOA two years ago and the results are amazing.
Recently at SoundFellas Labs, we conducted a double-blind test ... of various ambience recordings discreet channel recordings versus upmixed/downmixed versions of the same recordings through ambisonics and discreet surround VSTs. The clear winner was the ambisonics workflow as 60% of the listeners claimed a more immersive, clear, and precise representation of the environment, although in many cases the original discreet channel material was included in the listening session.
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HOA's great for gaming purposes, just that I disprefer it on speakers due to channel bleed & thus sounding a bit closed-in. Were the listeners using headphones or speakers?
NB: it's discrete, not discreet
discreet = hidden
discrete = separated