My 5.1 Experience.
OK...I was reviewing DVD's for a now defunct DVd magazine, and I was bought a 5.1 amp and player that could handle the DVD-Audio format. i came home from a dance party, and was still buzzing a bit from an E, and decided to try out my promo copy of the Doors 'LA Woman'. to be honest I wasn't a big fan of the album, but it blew my mind! Basically 5.1 seperates sound into a descreet 'surround stage. The Doors album was one of the first, so the mixed it really well. So you had Morrison's vocals in the front, guitar and drums left and right and other 'sounds' spread behind you, like the rain in 'Riders on the Storm'. a track like 'changeling' was quite amazing, not only for it's influence the Stooges, but when the fuzz-guitar solo comes it it swirls all around the room and then meets at a sweet spot as each overdubbed note converges - it's quite fantastic.
ANYWAY since then, I've been somewhat of an afficianado of the DVD-A format, and I'd hate to say, but it's 6 or 1, half a dozev of the other. It's all based on how well the inital albums were recording AND how well the ENGINEERS have 'spaced' the 5.1 mix. I would say that only 25% of the DVD-audio or surround mixes are duds. ANOTHER thing is can't control tone, or equalizer setting - there's no bass, treble, equ or whatever to give yr sound more warmth - what you hear is what you get, no matter how tinny or chintzy it sounds!
I have the following DVd-Audio discs:
Missy Elliot - So Addictive (not bad, but not great mix)
Outkast - Stankonia (a total mess, no bass, little bottom and shocking 5.1 mix)
Flaming Lips - Yoshimi (a good experiment that works fro most of it, but marred by the fact you can't change bass/teble etc, and also I'm not a huge fan of their recent stuff!)
Beach boys - Pet Sounds (goodm, but they only mixed it in 4.1, should put vocal in the centre rather than dispersed through each speaker!!@#!)
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (pretty good actualy, but a bit 'tinny' sounding)
Neil Young - Harvest/Greedale - (Harvest suffers from the 4.1 thing, but 'Greendale' sounds like Neil and Crazy Horse jamming in yr room!)
It's innaresting as Sony have their 'alternative' 5.1 format SACD. I don't have an SACD player, but the prices have come down somewhat. They did Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' in SACD and it's meant to sound *brilliant*, and they've also done the early Can catalogue, Talk Talk's 'Spirit of eden', Bob Dylan, the Abcko Stones cat - basically better than 'lite' stuff on DVD-A. Thing is I'm not sure if all the SACD CD's are in 5.1 or just 'better' stereo, as alot of these formats are doing, simple because thats's how they albums were initally created.
Ultimately it's more 'modern' studio type music that will benefit from 5.1 - hence NiN or Flaming Lips and bigger name electronica acts, simply becuase it's suited to the technology.
Hope that gives you an idea. Cheers B6