Bear in mind, with head tracking the whole game changes. The positional audio is as much about leaning in to hear a sound better, and having it move in the sound field appropriately. That's what surround sound will never be able to replicate in VR. Perhaps not as important right now in Elite, but for space legs or anything else like that it'll be the optimal solution.
Think, walking down a hall and hearing the klaxon right next to your ear, or someone walking up next to your chair and whispering in your ear. Can't to either as well with 7.1 as with headphones.
