Multi-channel audio has become mainstream and vendors have developed many types of basic and more sophisticated technologies including wireless surround sound speakers, virtual surround sound to simplify the installation of home theater kits. I will look at various of the latest technologies which were developed to make setting up home theater systems a breeze. I will illustrate what to look out for when making your buying decision.
The majority of today's TVs will be installed as a multi-channel audio system. While traditionally TVs would have built-in stereo loudspeakers, nowadays a number of external loudspeakers are used to allow the viewer experience surround sound. In case of 5.1 surround, 6 speakers are used: center, left and right front, left and right rear and a subwoofer. More recent 7.1 systems need a total number of 8 loudspeakers by adding 2 extra side speakers.
Consequently, home theater installations have become rather difficult. Running wires to remote loudspeakers also is often undesirable due to aesthetic reasons. Vendors have recently launched new devices and technologies. These devices were developed to help simplify the setup of home theater products. The first approach is named virtual surround sound. This solution will take the audio components which would typically be broadcast by the remote speakers. It then uses signal processing to those components and inserts special cues and phase delays. After that these components are mixed with the front speaker sound. The sound is next broadcast by the front speakers together with the front speaker audio components. The signal processing is modeled after the human hearing. It utilizes the information about how the human ear can determine the origin of sound. The signal processing has an effect that will deceive the listener into presuming that the sound is coming from an alternate location.
The first approach is named virtual surround sound. This approach will take the audio components which would ordinarily be sent by the remote speakers. It then utilizes signal processing to those components and inserts special cues and phase delays. Next these components are mixed with the front speaker audio. The signal processing is engineered based on how the human hearing determines the location of a sound. The sound signal is then sent by the front loudspeakers. Because of the signal processing, the viewer is tricked into thinking the sound is coming from virtual remote surround speakers.
Wireless surround sound products are one more method for simplifying home speaker installations and usually have a transmitter component that connects to the source and also wireless amplifiers that will connect to the remote speakers. Generally the transmitter component will come with amplified speaker inputs and line-level inputs. This offers freedom to connect to each kind of source. A transmitter volume control helps maximize the dynamic range and avoids clipping of the sound within the transmitter.
While some wireless speaker devices have a wireless amplifier that connects to two speakers, other products offer individual wireless amplifiers for every speaker. The most basic wireless devices employ FM transmission. FM transmission is prone to noise and sound degradation. More sophisticated systems utilize digital audio transmission to perfectly preserve the original audio. To make certain that all loudspeakers are in sync in a multi-channel application, be sure that you pick a wireless system which has an audio latency of just a few milliseconds at most. A high latency would lead to an echo effect. This effect would degrade the surround effect. A few wireless products work at 5.8 GHz which offers the advantage of less competition from other wireless products than systems using the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band.
Another approach are side-reflecting loudspeakers. These systems are also referred to as sound bars. The sound that would ordinarily be sent by the remote loudspeakers is instead broadcast by speakers at the front. These front speakers send the sound at an angle. Then the sound is reflected by the side and rear walls and appears to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. The result heavily depends on the interior, particularly the shape of the room and the decoration. It will function well for square rooms with no obstacles and sound reflecting walls. On the other hand, realistic scenarios often will differ from this ideal and reduce the result of this approach.
The majority of today's TVs will be installed as a multi-channel audio system. While traditionally TVs would have built-in stereo loudspeakers, nowadays a number of external loudspeakers are used to allow the viewer experience surround sound. In case of 5.1 surround, 6 speakers are used: center, left and right front, left and right rear and a subwoofer. More recent 7.1 systems need a total number of 8 loudspeakers by adding 2 extra side speakers.
Consequently, home theater installations have become rather difficult. Running wires to remote loudspeakers also is often undesirable due to aesthetic reasons. Vendors have recently launched new devices and technologies. These devices were developed to help simplify the setup of home theater products. The first approach is named virtual surround sound. This solution will take the audio components which would typically be broadcast by the remote speakers. It then uses signal processing to those components and inserts special cues and phase delays. After that these components are mixed with the front speaker sound. The sound is next broadcast by the front speakers together with the front speaker audio components. The signal processing is modeled after the human hearing. It utilizes the information about how the human ear can determine the origin of sound. The signal processing has an effect that will deceive the listener into presuming that the sound is coming from an alternate location.
The first approach is named virtual surround sound. This approach will take the audio components which would ordinarily be sent by the remote speakers. It then utilizes signal processing to those components and inserts special cues and phase delays. Next these components are mixed with the front speaker audio. The signal processing is engineered based on how the human hearing determines the location of a sound. The sound signal is then sent by the front loudspeakers. Because of the signal processing, the viewer is tricked into thinking the sound is coming from virtual remote surround speakers.
Wireless surround sound products are one more method for simplifying home speaker installations and usually have a transmitter component that connects to the source and also wireless amplifiers that will connect to the remote speakers. Generally the transmitter component will come with amplified speaker inputs and line-level inputs. This offers freedom to connect to each kind of source. A transmitter volume control helps maximize the dynamic range and avoids clipping of the sound within the transmitter.
While some wireless speaker devices have a wireless amplifier that connects to two speakers, other products offer individual wireless amplifiers for every speaker. The most basic wireless devices employ FM transmission. FM transmission is prone to noise and sound degradation. More sophisticated systems utilize digital audio transmission to perfectly preserve the original audio. To make certain that all loudspeakers are in sync in a multi-channel application, be sure that you pick a wireless system which has an audio latency of just a few milliseconds at most. A high latency would lead to an echo effect. This effect would degrade the surround effect. A few wireless products work at 5.8 GHz which offers the advantage of less competition from other wireless products than systems using the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band.
Another approach are side-reflecting loudspeakers. These systems are also referred to as sound bars. The sound that would ordinarily be sent by the remote loudspeakers is instead broadcast by speakers at the front. These front speakers send the sound at an angle. Then the sound is reflected by the side and rear walls and appears to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. The result heavily depends on the interior, particularly the shape of the room and the decoration. It will function well for square rooms with no obstacles and sound reflecting walls. On the other hand, realistic scenarios often will differ from this ideal and reduce the result of this approach.
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