Hey Steve,
It sounds like you're asking what is the big deal about surround sound audio versus stereo music pumped through a surround system, right?
Most commercial music is recorded and produced for stereo (left and right speakers only). When played back through a surround system, the receiver "fakes" the surround sound by using internal karyoke-style DSP processing. But all you really end up with is just a copy of the stereo signal pushed to the back speakers (minus the lead vocals). Yes, you're "surrounded" in the sense that all your speakers are pushing audio signal, but it's not a true multichannel, surround sound audio experience.
With true multi-channel audio (ie. Dolby Digital 5.1), you can have entirely different sounds, effects, and even instruments emanating from the rear speakers than what is going on in the front speakers, resulting in a much more dynamic and exciting listening experience. Home Theater Ear Candy is a collection of such multi-channel recordings (an accompanying media content), where the music was composed and produced to take advantage of the fact that there would be front AND rear speakers available on playback.
For example, towards the end of the Pink Floyd-inspired track "Lighter Shade of Pink", I have two lead guitars playing bluesy, David Gilmour-style solos where one guitar is positioned (approx.) in the front right speaker while the other emanates primarily from the rear left speaker. The resulting effect provides a unique listening experience, kind of like hearing two guitarists communicating to each other from distant hilltops.
One of the most dramatic example of multi-channel audio is on the track "Stomp." This track features two drummers performing a similar John Bonham-sytle beat, where one kit is positioned in the front speakers while the other one plays behind you in the rears. Sometime they play the same beat, while at other times they play different, co-existing beats. The effect is like you're sitting between two drummers competing for attention.
With the track "Rain," I have a single nylon-string classical guitar performing in front, while actual recorded rain and thunder envelope the listener from all sides. The "surround theme" here is a mellow acoustic guitar performance performed in the midst of a summer thunder shower. My favorite part on this track is the "rolling thunder" which travels from front to rear speakers during the music.
The bonus clips are fun as well, as these allow me to share some of my surround sound studio "experiments" and uncompleted demo songs.
I hope these examples give you a better idea of the what to expect with true multi-channel audio and why it makes this app such a unique project. I am working on producing some video tracks which better explain and demo the project as well as give a full preview of the audio material. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Jeff
PS. I have a summer sale coming up. Big price reduction should take effect in the next day or two!
