Surround Sound
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New Technologies Make Building Multi-Channel Audio Kits A Snap
Multi-channel audio has become mainstream and vendors have created many types of basic and more advanced technologies like wireless surround speakers, virtual surround sound to simplify the installation of home theater products. I will look at some of the most recent technologies which were designed to make setting up home theater systems a breeze. I will highlight what to look out for when making your buying decision.
Traditionally, installing a TV would be fast because they would already provide built-in stereo speakers. This, though, has all changed with multi-channel audio. These days external speakers are used to create a surround sound effect. The most commonly used 5.1 surround sound format requires installing a total of 6 speakers. These are one center speaker, two front side speakers, two rear speakers and a subwoofer. The more recent 7.1 standard increases this number to 8 by adding two extra side speakers.
As a result installing a home theater has become rather hard and long speaker wire runs are often undesirable for aesthetic reasons. Component manufacturers have developed a number of technologies to simplify the setup.
One solution is reducing the number of loudspeakers by making virtual loudspeakers. This technique applies signal processing to the audio and adds phase shifts and cues to the sound that would ordinarily be broadcast by the remote loudspeaker. The sound is then broadcast by the front loudspeakers together with the front speaker sound components. The signal processing is modeled after the human hearing. It utilizes the knowledge about how the human ear can determine the source of sound. The viewer is in effect tricked into assuming the sound is originating from a location other than the front speakers.
This technology minimizes the quantity of required speakers and avoids long speaker wires but every human will process sound slightly differently due to the shape of the ear. Because the signal processing is based on a standard human ear model, virtual surround will not function equally well for every person dependant upon how much the viewer varies from the standard model.
Wireless surround sound devices are one more option for simplifying home speaker installations and normally come with a transmitter module that connects to the source in addition to wireless amplifiers that will connect to the remote speakers. This transmitter will normally have line-level and amplified speaker inputs. Ideally it should have a volume control to adjust it to the audio source.
Some wireless speaker kits are designed to connect 2 speakers per wireless amplifier. A better solution would have a wireless amplifier for each remote loudspeaker to avoid the cord runs between each of the 2 remote speakers. The most sophisticated wireless products utilize digital transmission to eliminate signal degradation. In multi-channel audio devices, it is essential to choose a wireless option with a latency of only a few milliseconds. This will guarantee that the sound of all speakers is in perfect sync. If the latency is higher than 10 ms then there will be an echo effect which will degrade the surround sound. Wireless kits frequently use the 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band. A number of products also use the 5.8 GHz band. These devices have less competition from other wireless gadgets than products utilizing the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz bands.
Another solution are side-reflecting loudspeakers. These products are also called sound bars. In this case the audio for the remote speakers will be sent by individual loudspeakers located at the front at an angle and reflected by walls as to appear to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. This solution works best in a square room with minimum interior design and obstacles. It will not work well in a lot of real-world scenarios with diverse room shapes though.
Alienware announces X51 small form factor gaming PC, starting at $699 (Engadget)
Alienware may have just upgraded its Aurora gaming rig, but that's not to keep
the company from giving more diminutive form factors some love. Just this
evening, the subsidiary of Dell announced the X51, a slim gaming PC that's
designed to orient itself either vertically or horizontally on the desktop --
complete with an Alienware logo that properly rotates depending on
positioning. The system includes both Core i3 and i5 options, and features a
slot-loading optical drive with an option for Blu-ray. While it's no shocker,
the X51 can be upgraded to 8GB of RAM and a full 1TB of storage. Further, the
case accommodates a single, full size graphics card and features an external
power supply, (available in 240W or 330W versions, depending on
configuration). Users can also expect HDMI 1.4, on-board WiFi, USB 3.0 and
digital 7.1 surround sound. As a nifty trick, the computer's accent colors can
be conveniently modified with the Alienware Command Center software. Touting
immediate availability, customers can place orders for the X51 right away,
with configurations starting as low as $699. For the complete set of specs
that make up this Mini-ITX gamer, just follow the break.
**Gallery: Alienware ...
Bass and surround sound test
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