John Darko
Munich High-End – the world’s largest and most professional-looking hi-fi show on the calendar – is only a few weeks away. It’s where we go to look at a new pieces of hi-fi gear, talk to their designers or, in the case of loudspeakers, get a sense of what’s sonically possible.
One exhibit already earmarked by yours truly for a proper sitdown is a collaboration between British loudspeaker manufacturer PMC and musician Steven Wilson. Wilson is the co-founder of Porcupine Tree and a successful solo artist. He has also made a name for himself as the go-to guy for Dolby Atmos (re)mixes.
In Munich, PMC will build its largest Atmos system to date using a mixture of its professional main-mix monitors and ci series products.
From the press release: “A trio of the class-leading BB6 XBD Active monitors, as used by the BBC, Metropolis, LP:ME Dubai and countless other studios, make up the front left, centre and right channels. Surround and height duties will be undertaken by 14 models from the ci series, with the low frequencies handled by four of PMC’s BST awesomely powerful professional-grade subwoofers.”
Wilson will then use this Atmos system – which features seventeen speakers and four subwoofers – as a platform for a series of presentations about Spatial Audio.
Back to the press release: “Each presentation will include demonstrations of his immersive mixes, focusing on his latest album, The Harmony Codex, and some of the other artists’ mixes he has produced, which includes works by Tears for Fears, Ultravox and Roxy Music.”
Wilson says about this opportunity: “There are some people who are very sceptical about spatial audio, and yet they love stereo, to which my reply is, ‘You like stereo, you like spatial’. When sound comes from more than one direction, it is, by definition, spatial.”
Does that mean a stereo system is already a ‘spatial’ system? And if so, why do we need more than two channels?
“And, if you play them the right track, in the right context, you can convert them, which is why this event we’re doing at the High End is so exciting. We’re going to have an incredible system and interesting music. What’s not to love when you hear your favourite music and you are literally inside the music with the artist.”
I am 100% a convert to the Dolby Atmos listening experience, less so to the amount of new hardware required to bring it home, the inconvenience of that hardware’s installation and the paucity of Atmos content, especially in a lossless format. I will be raising these concerns with Steven Wilson when I sit down with him in Munich.
Wilson’s presentations will take place in room K1, Foyer 1, at the following times:
Thursday 9th May
11:00 – Intro to Spatial Audio + tracks from The Harmony Codex and others + Q&A
14:30 – Intro to Spatial Audio + tracks from The Harmony Codex and others + Q&A
Friday 10th May and Saturday 11th May
11:00 – Intro to Spatial Audio + tracks from The Harmony Codex and others + Q&A
14:30 – Intro to Spatial Audio + tracks from The Harmony Codex and others + Q&A
16:30 – The Harmony Codex full album Spatial Audio playback + Q&A
Sunday 12th May
11:00 – Intro to Spatial Audio + tracks from The Harmony Codex and others + Q&A
14:30 – The Harmony Codex full album Spatial Audio playback + Q&A
Further information: High-End Society | Steven Wilson
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