Excellent introduction to surround sound. Tom is definitely more than a great teacher and legendary figure that I had the opportunity to meet at the IIM-Paris (Institut International du Multimédia)... hes also a very good writer ! Buy his book, its a great one !
It is true that surround sound is a topic that has only recently been resubmitted to the scholarly and professional community for reconsideration. A book on this topic, especially by an accomplished expert such as Holman, should be welcomed. It is somewhat disappointing therefore that his efforts fall short and his book reads like a direct outcome of introductory lectures on the subject. There is a certain lack of precision and lucidity in its structure and format. Scholarly references have been almost completely omitted despite the fact that the professional world has been concerned with surround sound for years now and there are many publications available in form of technical papers; instead there is a long list of soon to be outdated addresses and phone numbers of respective manufacturers of surround sound equipment. Many technical terms are mentioned -- often quite casually, but very few explained in detail; information tends to be scattered and redundant without ever reaching a particular depth. I would recommend this book to a novice in sound recording if it werent for the many terms that lack thorough explanation. It seems regrettable that what should have remained an introductory paper on the topic was artificially padded to become a book.
So, Ive finished to read this book yesterday. I think its rather good one (note that one can find not enough titles to get an information about improving of 5.1 channel surround sound). For me this book is what I need and think that it worth to buy it...
