Hi Everyone,

Im doing my dissertation for university on surround sound. As a producer and DJ myself I have no own views on why surround sound isn't used in the DJ world. Although my views are pretty pointless for my research. What I would like is people's views on it.

Basically the question I am asking is:

Can surround sound work as method of DJing in the night club environment?

Thanks for your time

Barry / Sterilis

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Official Site - www.sterilis.co.uk

the only way that would work is if the tunes were made and recorded in surround sound. and the majority of music is made in stereo. certainly the music i play is. and even if producers could be bothered to take the extra time to make the surround sound as well as the stereo there is the matter of purchasing yet more equipment for the club itself. i don't see many clubs being willing or able to do that

it wont work. its hard enough to get stereo to work.

yea the cost for the club has been the big one with club owners. although if it was in the clubs and the producers did produce it would it benefit the clubbers or worsen their night club experience?

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Official Site - www.sterilis.co.uk

Good post. If producers and clubs did move to surround sound it may take some time to get used too because the sounds would be mixed to their discrete channels oppose to the normal stereo or mono feeds. It could possibly work, but the cost outweighs the benefits.

Plus I dunno how this would affect a dj's cueing.

human djs would have to mutate another 3 or 4 ears for cuing. its a terrible idea. even the thought of it. i know some big djs have experienced with it though. dont remember which ones, but i guess tech-geeks like richie hawtin etc.

About 15 years ago, my buddy Jeff (he now works for Serato) described his wish for a quad sound setup, with each of 4 lines (he plays minimal house on 4 decks) on the mixer fitted with a static joystick, enabling the dj to direct elements of the mix to various points in the room. Don't think he ever took it past the conceptual state, but the idea fascinated me at the time.

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The concept sounds cool, but as the Senator pointed out, unless you're a true tech geek, and you're used to mixing in surround and can pin point exact drop points, the results could be disastrous. Imagine the trainwreck it could bring.

some djs like the sound of the trainwreck

Are you talking about DJs just playing surround sound records, or actually mixing in surround (i.e. panning different elements to different 'corners' etc)?


There are hardly any records in surround sound and the CD/DVD decks don't support it - that's why DJs don't play surround sound records. I don't see any reason why people shouldn't make more records in surround - obviously it takes longer and they'd have to do a mixdown for stereo media as well, but maybe that's a quality barrier the scene could do with!

I'd definitely like to write some surround stuff, I'd play surround sound records if the club's rig would allow it and would love to go to see other DJs do the same. But the fact that people don't even seem too fussed about listening to music in surround sound at home suggests I might be in the minority.


In terms of DJs mixing records in surround: so few DJs actually use the pan control on a mixer as it is, and even then it's normally just for a quick wobble. This is partly because it sounds really strange to have the whole mix of a record panned to one side or the another (in the middle of a mix for example) - unless the tracks are really similar in feel, they won't gel... it won't feel so much like a mix as just listening to 2 records on different sound systems.

Surround sound mixing might be more appropriate to live acts where they can place individual sounds around the room, but those live acts would almost certainly start with making surround records first.


I actually think surround sound could work really well in clubs - of course it would only work in certain venues - and could even become the norm one day. It just takes some bold people to get on and make the records and push the technology through.

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Stu Cox |

Last edited by Stu Cox on Feb-26-2011 at 11:07

Because a club is rammed with punters I don't think the concept would work well at all.

For a small private intimate gig where you get to stand right in the middle of the dance floor (surround sound floor if you will).. it would be great.

But imagine being in the corner of a club and you get a much more pronounced blippity bloop from the speaker beside you but the speaker on the far side of the room would barely reach over to you. The sound scape would be thrown off, your perception of what you're listening to would be completely different to what the producer might have wanted etc all down to positioning.

Ever noticed when you go to the cinema and you happen to sit closer to one side how you can noticeably hear the surround sound from the speaker that's closest to you as opposed to the one on the far side of the room.

For this reason alone I think it would be more of a show case event as opposed to a general club night.

Yes it would be nice hearing tracks in surround sound on a club's massive PA. No it wouldn't be practical having the set up in a club with 100's/1000's of clubbers.

Just my 2c.

surround sux, worst moneymaking marketing ever. it has almost ruined the hifi market completely with their cheap receivers and bad sound. i dont know ANYONE with a good stereo anymore, they just buy this shitty 5.1 setups making all music sounds like ass. even the new iPod mono dockings sounds better (those red ugly boxes on a stand you know, dont remmebr the name).