Despite the digital boom and after 150 years of experimentation in the field of sound, the quality of what can be heard thanks to a high-end system is inferior to what a live performance provides. Analysts are clear about it: this is the reason that has justified until today that the public has continued to pay to attend shows, beyond the complex montages designed by the great pop stars at concerts and festivals.
A survey by the consulting firm Nielsen revealed in 2017 that around 90% of the US population listens to music regularly, and that they do so for an average of 32 hours a week. Behind the pleasure that this artistic expression brings is a huge industry that is already using the most advanced devices and programs of the fourth and fifth industrial revolutions.
Since Edison’s phonograph and horn speakers of the 1880s, engineers have been inventing technologies and instruments to enhance this experience. And to earn more money, of course. This is how triode vacuum tubes, magnetic phonograph cartridges, optical discs, surround sound or audio compression and transmission were born, among many other innovations.
But even the most committed technicians with their task have recognized in recent decades that live music is “more enjoyable and exciting”, which is why it generates “a greater impact”, as Stuart Bradford explains on the website of the prestigious Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Now, however, at last, recorded audio can almost recreate the natural sound field.
The research promoted by large corporations, such as Apple or Sony, and by smaller companies, such as Creative, is making it possible. Also alliances such as those established between audiovisual giants such as Netflix and specialized companies such as Sennheiser, which has allowed, thanks to Ambeo 2-Channel Spatial Audio, to increase the sound realism of series such as The Witcher or Stranger Things.
Professionals are convinced that the so-called “soundstage” will be the future of recording and playing music. To do this, an obstacle will have to be overcome: converting the enormous number of hours of existing recordings, regardless of whether they are surround, stereo, multichannel audio… According to those responsible for the entertainment metadata firm Gracenote, there are more than 200 million songs available, which is equivalent to about 1,100 years of music.