I was aware of the MP3 Surround codec being developed for some time, however, this article on CNN.com brought it to my attention yet again. I got to thinking that if this codec actually got big it could be yet another road block for AAC to tackle. It's myt understanding that Fraunhofer was one of the developers of the AAC codec, so why would they want to continue on improving the MP3 codec? I'm guessing they probably make more profit off of MP3 than they'd get off of AAC. What do you think? Will MP3 Surround be a dud like mp3PRO or do you think it will gain enough steam to keep AAC from getting more popular with the masses?

Unlike mp3PRO, multichannel mp3 is actually in the official specifications I believe. Under MPEG-2 IIRC. I do believe licenses for mp3 are quite a bit higher than AAC so Fraunhofer would have more to gain from it.

As far as its success goes I simply have no idea.

Please see the other threads about mp3 Surround. It is just like mp3Pro: a proprietary halfway version of a technology that is still being standardized (MPEG Spatial Audio).

mp3 Surround is not the same as multichannel mp3.

Thanks for the clarification Garf