Listen to the 5.1 Mix
About Streaming Surround Sound
This is our first release in 5.1 spatial surround sound. While 5.1 may not have the same buzz as Dolby Atmos, it offers a far more immersive experience than traditional stereo. If you do not have a surround system, a binaural stereo version is also available and optimized for headphone listening.
For those with a compatible surround system, this recording was captured using the Double ORTF technique. Although technically a quad recording, it is delivered in 5.1 due to the current technical limitations of streaming multichannel audio through web browsers.
One unfortunate side effect of streaming multichannel audio is some high-frequency loss caused by the heavier data compression required for streaming. Another is the potential for reconstruction artifacts within the playback chain.
Still, surround playback offers a wonderfully expansive soundfield that is enjoyable to experience.
the Northern Forested Marsh in 5.1
Subjectively, I wouldn’t say this is the most interesting recording. It came to fruition out of the need to be outside on a nice day and a desire to compare some surround recording techniques.
Weeks earlier, I’d been testing an extremely wide-spaced array of four omni mics. While those recordings were nice from an atmospheric perspective, they failed to capture detailed localization.
So when nice weather presented itself, I assembled a Double ORTF rig spaced 24 inches front to back, hoping to capture an enveloping atmosphere while still maintaining localized detail. In some ways, those goals are counter to one another, but hey, you don’t know unless you put in the effort.
Was it successful? You be the judge. I do rather like the woodpecker at around 27 minutes. Yet I think more activity in the environment would help answer the question of balance between localization and atmosphere.(This is partly why I left in some ambient sounds, such as airplanes and voices from nearby fishermen)
I did briefly record a nearby area where a small river flows into the larger St. Croix River, though it was getting late and the sunset was telling me to pack it in.
Of course, I’ll be off trying again, but in the meantime, please enjoy this recording.
