Audio: Listen to this article.
The High End Society took this year’s Munich show to another level by adding presentations and demonstrations from one of the best immersive mixing engineers in the world, Steven Wilson. In addition, there were new immersive product introductions, additional immersive systems for demonstration, and even awards presented for immersive audio albums. What a show!
In Part 1 I focused on new products or upgrades to existing products at the show. In Part 3 I will focus on my favorite sounding rooms. In this, Part 2, it’s all about immersive audio, what I believe is the biggest improvement to HiFi in my lifetime.
I was tipped off before the show to some new products from NuPrime, that would support immersive audio. So, I stopped by the NuPrime booth and talked to James on the first day of the show. NuPrime is known for high quality and reasonable prices. What more could an immersive audiophile want?
During my entire discussion with the NuPrime team, I was saying to myself, these guys are speaking my language! For example, the NuPrime-X MCX-800AD is an 8 channel DAC and integrated amplifiers, with optional AES67 audio over Ethernet, Dolby Atmos decoding, and support for daisy chaining for more channels. As someone with a 12 channel system, this peaked my interest greatly.
James from NuPrime had several add-in cards on the table, with HDMI, Ravenna, among others, that fit into the MCX-800AD. This type of modularity is so nice, and enables only a single piece to be upgraded or added at a time. No replacing the entire unit just for a small technology tweak.
In addition to the DAC, NuPrime showed the Fusion 4X and MCX-800MZ ($2,350) 8 channel amplifier.
Dynaudio held the first press conference of the High End 2024 show, talking about its speaker offerings. Adjacent to the press conference, was a 7.1.4 Dynaudio Dolby Atmos system using Digital Audio Denmark hardware and streaming from Apple Music. It was a really neat and simple system that wowed the two people I saw listen to demos, in the 5 minutes I was standing there before the press conference.
I circled back afterward to hear my own demo, and can confirm it was great. The DAD was connected directly to each active loudspeaker, eliminating the need for separate amplifiers, and slimming down the footprint for the entire system.
The biggest immersive part of Munich 2024 was the PMC loudspeaker / Steven Wilson demonstration and discussion. The fact that Steven Wilson was even at the show giving presentations was thrilling. Steven has immersively mixed The Who’s Who’s Next, Van Morrison’s Moondance, Grateful Dead’s American Beauty, as well as albums from King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Yes, Tears for Fears, Kiss, and Rush, among others. He is a master who knows immersive audio better than anyone in the business.
I attended his first presentation with three people from the industry. All of us, even those not predisposed to liking immersive audio, thought it was fabulous. The mixes Steven played were great, but his discussion items were the best. For example, I had no idea that Spatial Audio was being made in the 1950s, with musicians placed all around the audience! Steven also provided numbers such as 92 of the top 100 selling albums in the US last year, all had Atmos versions available, as did all 8 of the Album of the Year Grammy nominees.
One point he made that can’t be overstated is that fact that immersive audio is already entrenched in the mainstream far more than any previous multichannel efforts such as quad and 5.1.
Steven opened the discussion by saying that there really isn’t a set way of approaching immersive mixing, and I’m happy he said this. Many people get caught up in believing immersive mixes are supposed to recreate a live event, concert, studio, etc… The truth is, there is no such thing. It’s art. Everyone can mix however they want, and immersive audio is better for it.
Prior to attending the event, the one album that I thought Wilson had screwed up, by pulling the mix apart just too far, was Van Morrison’s Moondance. It sounded odd to me. However, after hearing his explanation for why it’s mixed the way it is, I totally love it. How can this be? I either like it or I don’t, based on the sound, not extraneous information. Not so, and here’s why.
Moondance was recorded in a single room. Van’s vocals can be heard on all the tapes, as his voice was picked up by all the microphones. A fact of which I was unaware until Wilson told the audience. He said this lead him to mix the album in a way that places the listener in the recording studio with the band. Knowing this information, I went back and listened to the entire album. It all makes sense now, and sounds superb.
Anyway, I loved the fact that immersive audio was a part of Munich High End 2024 and both the demonstrations and information provided were first class. Bravo High End Society!
Listen to Steven Wilson's entire presentation below, with the music removed.
About the author - https://audiophile.style/about
Author's Complete Audio System Details with Measurements - https://audiophile.style/system
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