Sound is at least as important to the experience as the picture. Go watch a scary movie with the sound muted and you’ll notice it’s not scary at all.
Playing a game or watching a movie with just 2.0 audio, or worse: using the TV’s built-in speakers, is such a diminished experience that you might as well not bother.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s cool, and I find good sound design at least as important as good visuals. It’s all part of the aesthetics package. One of my fondest media memories is watching Jurassic Park at a relative’s house with the sounds of the raptors coming from speakers all around. I even spent great expense setting up my own 5.1 setup.
But I’ve been chasing this dragon for too long. Audiovisual fidelity doesn’t move the needle for me anymore (pardon the metaphor overload). I no longer feel the need to have my media reach out and immerse me - if it’s good, I can do the work and use my imagination to get lost in the fantasy
Imagine not being able to feel explosions in your gut because you have a pair of tiny speakers strapped to your head instead of a big long-throw woofer moving air.
So because some people have a crappy home theater setup everyone should have a crappy experience?
From the pareto principle it can be said that if the cost for adding a feature for the little percentage of users is quite high, it is not worth it.
Hey my setup’s great, I just don’t need 5.1 surround sound that bad
Without at least 5.1, why even bother playing games or watching movies?
Now you’re just playing
Sound is at least as important to the experience as the picture. Go watch a scary movie with the sound muted and you’ll notice it’s not scary at all.
Playing a game or watching a movie with just 2.0 audio, or worse: using the TV’s built-in speakers, is such a diminished experience that you might as well not bother.
IMO
Watching a movie with 5.1: great
Watching a movie with 2.0: great
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s cool, and I find good sound design at least as important as good visuals. It’s all part of the aesthetics package. One of my fondest media memories is watching Jurassic Park at a relative’s house with the sounds of the raptors coming from speakers all around. I even spent great expense setting up my own 5.1 setup.
But I’ve been chasing this dragon for too long. Audiovisual fidelity doesn’t move the needle for me anymore (pardon the metaphor overload). I no longer feel the need to have my media reach out and immerse me - if it’s good, I can do the work and use my imagination to get lost in the fantasy
Imagine consuming media with speakers rather than high-end OEMs to shut out all outside sound. Might as well just read books in a crowded café.
Imagine not being able to feel explosions in your gut because you have a pair of tiny speakers strapped to your head instead of a big long-throw woofer moving air.