Weekly Q&A: Answers | Week of May 20, 2024

A High-Res, High-Fidelity Youtube Channel?

Q: With the push to effect realism into playback, the time is ripe for the inclusion of video into the mix to recreate the concert experience. Why hasn't the introduction of high fidelity in regards to a channel for an artist's "live" presentation occurred? This seems to be the next logical step after MTV.

Not phony surround, but dynamic quality two channel.

-Michael

A: We couldn’t agree more. We’ve said repeatedly that there are four big problems with audio realism:

• The problem of bass in real rooms

• The problem of spatial realism

• The problem of dynamics

• The problem of visual imagery

Bass, spatial realism and dynamics are mostly technical problems, though everything involving equipment at some point is also an economic problem.

In contrast, we would think that adding video to audio is a major economic issue. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour notwithstanding ($75 million for streaming rights), the production costs for more basic video are still non-trivial and probably at least double or triple …