OK Bob, I finally heard Illusonic yesterday

[wisnon]

Recall your post:
"We are in the Surround Sound Hound exploration zone here.

This audio article here on Dolby Atmos mentioned among others Illusonic 3D, Barco, Immsound, and Iosono."

We discussed all 3 competitors over a fun lunch yesterday in Lausanne.

The main setup is in Uster near Zurich with the 16 speaker setup.

As they have 2-3 guys in Lausanne and many audio firm in this region, they decided to do a simple setup in the Lausanne office too. Its a 5 PSI monitor speaker setup (100hz minimum) and I brought my own self powered Energy 8 inch sub (more from music than HT, and goes to just 33hz). They will get a sub later for their permanent use.

So, we went through the paces with 1 SACD (Pink Floyd 4.0 m-Channel), a few RBCD samplers and a Tom Cruise action movie (oblivion). The porcessor is a Dac/preamp/signal processor. There are reviews/feedback at AVSforums and WBF by a retired Dolby gentleman named Dressler, I believe. The processor can be controlled by softare on an external computer with every parameter imaginable and has integrated DRC and bass management included. Time domain and EQ features galore.

We tested with bypass, Bypass and room EQ removed, normal music setup, and boosted for HT. In normal music we were able to isolate the effects of Immersive procession, depth and centre channel:
Center: degree to which phantom center is converted to center
Depth/3D: degree to which sound is reproduced with volume and depth
Immersion: degree to which sound is reproduced immersively

My impression:
It works best for HT, then MC like SACD and then 2 channel stereo. With 2 Channel on certain songs, the centre channel makes the imagine much more precise. I could hear the lead vocalist from the Fairfield 4 (Swing Low) apart from the rest and dead smack in between the centre channel and the right speaker. Christof who was to my left heard exactly the same. On deep bass stuff, the processor also helped a lot. Illusonic really almost eliminates the sweetspot , opening it up from nearly everyone in the room. Even standing behind the rear speakers I still has a great sense of the music.

The bypass buttom (which keeps DRC and only removes processing) was a button press away and enabled us the hear the difference.

I am a bit of a Surround Sound novice, so it was my discovery to notice that you dont hear the rear channels much and almost not at all for 2-ch stereo stuff, you rather FEEL their presence.

Illusonic in essence give the feeling of stitching the speakers together, giving a more cohesive sense of the sound. On HT stuff, this is absolutely a no-brainer. On MC material as well. On 2ch stereo, its not a must in my book, but a handy feature to have as it really is a nice DRC application and the immersive processing really sharpens up the imaging on certain recordings and the bass management is also another big plus. However, as its pricey ~$20K, its not something for a 2-ch guy who doesnt delve into multi-channel music or HT. If you do, then this is the most compatible of the 4D applications at the moment and offers an impressive feature set, scalability from 3 to 16 speakers and uses high quality components. Perhaps they will make a cheaper 7.1 system in the future? Now I want to hear the full 16 speaker setup in Uster.

Input Formats
stereo
Lt/Rt, 5.1, 7.1
Aurophonie 6 (2+2+2)
Aurophonie 8 (2+2+2+2)
50 HDMI PCM formats

Output Formats
168 variations using from
2 up to 16 loudspeakers

Bass Management

16-channel bass management with several parametric cross-overs
unique bass coupling
high precision (32/64 bit float)
Calibration

delay and gain trim
80 fully parametric equalizers
high precision (32/64 bit float)

[NorthStar]

This is the kind of stuff I would be totally at ease exploring and experimenting with other surround sound aficionados.

Yes, Roger Dressler, ex-Dolby man, and now working with another company (I forgot the name right now) in surround sound exploration (very cool stuff). And I have the greatest respect for Roger. ...And also Kal Rubinson.

Very interesting post Norman, thank you for sharing.
I was at another forum earlier (diyAudio) and Markus just started a new thread on Parametric EQs, etc., so it relates on how to improve multichannel sound. ...Music and all. Markus is from Switzerland and he is also one the most knowledgeable in all things 'better acoustics' (stereo and multichannel surround sound). There are other members there too which I'm starting in getting to know, and of high caliber on that subject as well.

It's sad that I was banned from WBF. There are several members there for who I have the greatest respect and from who I can learn and with who I can exchange beneficial discussions. ...Roger, Kal, Ethan, among so many more.
...Just can't please everyone.

It's great what you do right now; that experiment with them friendly folks over there, I wish I can be there too.

Please, keep sharing your thoughts and experiments; you never know what surrounding greatness can ensue from it.

ILLUSONIC - Sounds illuminating.

Norman, I am not fully impregnated (state-of-mind) right at this moment now, but I will.

[wisnon]

Yes, I told them that the name is GREAT as well. Work in several languages as well.

[wisnon]

Bob, what do you think about DARBEE?

[NorthStar]

Darbee is a video 'vogue'. ...Meaning it's an old fashion video gadget (enhancement) in a newer fashionable 4K video world.
...Not necessary; more like a bandage for the blind.

That's just my own personal opinion from the various readings all over the Internet; I never tried one myself and I'm no more attracted by it now (at one point I was).
I make a solid balance of all my readings, and there are some people who can express themselves very well in describing the video truth through their own clear vision.

For many people it's a distraction, for others it's an equalizer for an inferior display. ...Or a likable enhancement viewed from their own eyes.
And accuracy is not Darbee's middle name. ...But then, what is? ...Most likely the real life outside our own window.
...And sometimes it is sunny, and other times it is cloudy. ...Even rainy.

But! Inside the Oppo 103D and 105D it only adds $100 to the overalll total cost over the original players,
and the original players were not accurate either. ...The HDMI-1 output had a softening of the sharpness control, and undefeatable. And a firmware upgrade couldn't fix that small issue, hence the new Oppo 103D and 105D with a new twist; different video processor for the HDMI-1 output (with a sharpness/contrast enhancement), and an added $100 to the cost.

___________

Back to SOUND (ILLUSONIC): You mentioned the flick 'Oblivion' ... great music soundtrack, good choice.
'Prometheus' and 'Captain Phillips' also have some great musical surround excerpts.

Many many good movies (well fabricated 'cinematographically' and 'sound mix' musically) have their best sound @ the end during the rolling credits.
...The three mentioned above included. ...Another soundtrack that I really like is the one from 'Gravity'.

* And I'm talking hi-res audio from Blu-rays here (except for 'Gravity' @ the IMAX 3D theater).