Joonas Tuominen

SURROUND SOUND

WHAT DOES ”SURROUND SOUND” MEAN?

• A technique for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with additional audio channels from speakers that surround the listener

• Aims to produce a sound field with a 360° radius in the horizontal plane

HISTORY

• First documented use in 1940 for the Disney film Fantasia

• The first system was called “Fantasound”, three channels and speakers

• Only for experimental use, was excluded in later showings

• Returned in the 1950s as composers started experimenting with surround sound (Karlheinz Stockhausen, Edgar Varese)

HISTORY

• 1978: Max Bell’s ”Split surround” for Dolby laboratories

• Tested with ”Superman” and perfected with ”Apocalypse Now”

• The 5.1 in 1987 at the famous French Cabaret Moulin Rouge

THE BASICS

• A surround sound system consists of program sources (a television etc.), the amplification system, speakers and mounting accessories (cables etc.)

• Can be created with a minimum setup of two speakers

• Most common setup is the 5.1-system

NOTATION

• x.x notation style

• The first digit reflects the number of full range channels

• The second digit reflects the limited range of the LFE channel

• E.g. ”2.0”, ”5.1”, ”7.2”

TECHNOLOGIES

• Most important ones by two companies, Dolby and DTS

  Stored channels Audible channels Speakers

Mono 1 1 1

Stereo 2 2 2

Pro Logic (DD 2.0) 2 4 4 – 5

Pro Logic II 2 5 5

Dolby Digital 5.1 (DD 5.1) 6 5,1 6

DTS 6 6 6

Dolby Digital EX 6.1 6 6,1 7 – 8

DTS-ES 6.1 6 7 7 – 8

DTS-ES Discrete 7 7 7 – 8

POSITIONING

• Two speakers positioned to the front-left and front-right of the listener, form about a 30° angle

POSITIONING

POSITIONING

• 4.0-system: Two ways

• three speakers in front and one behind

• two speakers in front and two at the back

• A five speaker setup: three in front, two at the back, 110° angle

POSITIONING

BASS MANAGEMENT AND LFE

• Surround systems may make use of bass management = Not mandatory

• Means the directing of low frequency sounds to certain speakers

• LFE = Low Frequency Effects (channel)

• A separate channel to carry extremely low “sub bass” sounds

BASS MANAGEMENT AND LFE

• A subwoofer can be added to any setups

• Enables better production of low frequency sounds.

• Positioning: Anywhere around the other speakers, human hearing cannot distinguish the direction

FUTURE STUFF

• 22.2, surround sound for Ultra High Definition Television, developed by NHK Science & Technical Research Laboratories.

• 24 speakers arranged in three layers: A middle layer of ten speakers, an upper layer of nine speakers, and a lower layer of three speakers and two sub-woofers.

SOMETHING COOL

• Psychoacoustics!

• http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/guy-invented-system-boost-volume-without-pissing-your-neighbours-off-101

THANK YOU!