On 3 Apr 2012, at 16:52, newme...@aol.com wrote: > Ronald: > >> Whiz-bang demos won't make any difference, but >> adoption by Apple's iTunes Store, or something like >> that would make a difference. > > Very interesting! Does iTunes currently support multi-channel audio > (other than on purchased movies)? > > As best I can tell, they do not. Why would they in the future?
No, currently I don't think it's officially supported, although I'm not sure what happens if some standard audio file with multi-channel layout is dropped into iTunes and the default core-audio device happens to be a multi-channel audio interface. However, there are enough of the basics in Mac OS X and related Apple products. e.g. Logic has B-format IR files for surround reverb, core-audio supports multi-channel and has a standard surround panner that uses Ambisonic theory to achieve its task, etc. CAF is both an open file format, future proof and extensible, etc. In short: there are enough of the ingredients and core audio plumbing floating around without 3rd party solutions in Apples OS X and application universe that if the right people were convinced, it would not be a massive undertaking to get the basics going, i.e. something like UHJ, G-Format and 1st order Horizontal-only-B-Format playback in iTunes/QuickTime and production in Logic. It's something that could easily be done within one or two of Apples typical product cycles, BUT they first would have been convinced that it's worth it, and that isn't ever going to happen as long as any time someone might enquire they are going to hear an earful from purists that 1st order isn't good enough and that anything below 3rd-order is beneath them. After all, why would Apple do something that most people don't know, and that causes the natural proponents of the system to just bitch that what they do isn't good enough? For Apple that is just the equivalent of kicking the hornets nest, because they potentially confuse the average user, and then they get bad press on top, when anti-Apple circles start looking for material to smear Apple and they find plenty of people bitching about the "crappy, insufficient implementation". The Ambisonic community keeps shooting itself in the foot, because they can't accept that OK is better than nothing, and that once OK is the accepted standard, one can then incrementally push for higher-order extensions to an already existing infrastructure. Instead, they want it all, and they want it right now, and as a result they are getting nothing ever. Ronald _______________________________________________ Sursound mailing list Sursound@music.vt.edu https://mail.music.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sursound
