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While I could use this thread to advocate 5.1 channel surround soundtracks for demos and intros, which would be great to have more of in this day and age, I'm instead trying to get an idea of how willing musicians would be to remix their previous demo soundtracks in 5.1 - recent PC demos, specifically. If you were asked to do so, would you have the time and will, and would you have the software and sound system for it? Or, would you let someone else who has the same music software do it, or volunteer to mix other people's music?

does MP3 even support 5.1? it has a few unused bits around the channel mode part in the header, but... is it legal?

MP3 doesn't support 5.1 sound yet - but eg. Vorbis does perfectly, and so does AAC if I'm not mistaken.

AAC has patents issues, I believe, so using it would kind of get you into trouble even if we're talking about non-commercial use...

i made the soundtrack for this in 5.1 as simulaatio had surround audio.

i would be interested to know how to make proper 5.1 remixes from songs that have been originally made to be 2 channels as i might have a project where that would be quite nice to do.

there's MP3Pro which supports surround and stuff, but why use commercial patented stuff if there's something like OGG Vorbis?

ogg vorbis for the win.
I think Logic has some 5.1 facility.

saga: ask people who still use mp3 in their demos

or mp2... (yes they exist)

http://www.nothings.org/stb_vorbis/

There, your last excuse to still use MP3 just went poof.

Apart from that, at least I could perfectly imagine rendering the single tracks of my songs to HD and then sending them to someone willing to make a 5.1 version out of it :)

Interesting.
Will compo organizers have to design the party audio equipment accordingly ?
How many computer owners have a 5.1 system (connected to their computer, i mean) ?

The challenge of making cool 5.1 mixes is appealing, but I don't own the required hardware (amp+speakers), and I'm not so interested in buying it.

Besides, if you have 5.1 audio, why not a hemispheric screen?

kb, what was our last excuse to still use mp3?

btw, my excuse typically is "well, that's what i got from the musician".

Most people including my self use stereo.

What's the real use for surround when most demos feature just music?

with surround you can make the music more interesting and enjoyable.

...but imagine penis-pong 3D with a hemispheric screen and full surround sound!!!

we have 5.1 music in Linger In Shadows and we are using mp3s. We've sent separate stems to the studio and they have sent twice as big as normal mp3 which works with their lib. They call it surround mp3. I heard it and it works - but that's all I can say from technical point of view.

Hmm... of course http://www.fmod.org/index.php/products/fmodex (Also used in Little Big Planet! :D )

As for why to have 5.1 for demos at all, it helps spread out different sounds to different speakers, making you notice sounds that might have been "hidden" behind others more. This came up a lot in my 5.1 mixing for MindCandy 2: the crowd in Desert Dream, the crashes/booms in Relic, etc. For mods, it was just a matter of writing out the separate tracks in XMPlay and loading them in an audio program. FWIW, I made 5.1 WMA files for previewing. Of course, nobody really uses trackers for PC demo music anymore, so I can no longer mix it myself. There are ways to simulate 5.1 channels from 2.0 audio (Dolby ProLogic II has been doing it for years) but having the source tracks to mix separately is always better.

I'm still trying to get an idea of how many demo musicians have a 5.1 speaker setup and software which can use it, and if they would volunteer their effort if I were to, say, ask them for a 5.1 track for a recent demo. If at least 1 out of 3 say yes, I will explore this further. :)

i'd say 1 out of 10 :/

tbh, i avoid demo dvds/recordings with remixed audio like the plague

Most 5.1 mixes are botched nowadays especially when it comes to music be it live performances or studio album. Maybe only the Bjork accapella album in 5.1 was really good but just look at the credits and you'll get why.

The reason is that 5.1 mixes really need a solid experience and high-end environnement so... real specialized studios with specialized engineers, not your average home-studio installation.
Most professional music sound engineers who tried to do serious 5.1 mixes often have to confess they failed and they don't have the specific expertise nor experience to do that. It's really a different job.

Oh well, everybody can pretend to do 5.1 mixes just to fill their ego but it's not because you have randoms instruments or FX spread over 5+1 speakers that it means it's multidimensional. I've been lucky enough to assist to an amazing 5.1 demonstration some years ago in one of the best high-end hifi shop in France and all I can say is that it's been one of my best sound experience so far. After that you know how good it can be.

Also, in case you did the perfect mix, your audience needs to have a perfect setup at home to get the real experience. It also needs a real expertise to get a proper setup at home to feel what 5.1 really is. Really, you know how it is. 99% of 5.1 home setup are crap.

So now just try to get the picture if your mix is bad AND the setup is bad (and it's more likely how it will be most of the time)

So my opinion is: better have a very good stereo mix instead of fake 5.1 mixes that will sound like shit. Probably "home" 5.1 for music was dead in the shell and it has badly faded over the years.

My opinion too.
That's the reason why I've chosen a great stereo setup (amp+speakers) instead of a not-so-nice 5.1 setup for the same price in my living room (that isn't qualified to install the extra speakers anyway).

my feelings exactly as well.