Multi-channel audio has become mainstream and vendors have developed many types of basic and more sophisticated technologies like wireless surround speakers, virtual surround sound to simplify the setup of home theater systems. I will take a look at a number of of the products and technologies which have appeared and give some pointers about choosing suitable components for a hassle-free setup.
Traditionally, setting up a TV would be swift since they would already have built-in stereo speakers. This, however, has all changed with multi-channel sound. Today external speakers are used to create a surround sound effect. In case of 5.1 surround, 6 speakers are utilized: center, left and right front, left and right rear and a subwoofer. More recent 7.1 systems require a total quantity of 8 loudspeakers by adding 2 additional side speakers.
As a result setting up a home theater has turn out to be fairly intricate and long speaker wire runs are often undesirable for aesthetic reasons. Suppliers have recently released new devices and technologies. These products were designed to help simplify the installation of home theater systems.
This technology reduces the number of needed loudspeakers and eliminates long speaker cables but each person will process sound slightly differently due to the form of the ear. Since the signal processing is based on a standard human ear model, virtual surround will not function equally well for each person depending on how much the viewer varies from the standard model.
Wireless surround sound devices are another option for simplifying home speaker setups and usually come with a transmitter component which connects to the source as well as wireless amplifiers that will connect to the remote loudspeakers. Customarily the transmitter part will include amplified speaker inputs and line-level inputs. This provides freedom to connect to every kind of source. A transmitter volume control helps take full advantage of the dynamic range and avoids clipping of the sound inside the transmitter.
Some wireless products come with wireless amplifiers that connect to two speakers. This still requires cable runs between the two speakers. Other products offer separate wireless amplifiers for every speaker. The most basic wireless devices employ FM broadcast. FM transmission is susceptible to noise and sound distortion. More advanced systems employ digital audio transmission to perfectly preserve the original audio. In multi-channel audio systems, it is essential to select a wireless solution with a latency of only a few milliseconds. This will guarantee that the audio of all speakers is in perfect sync. A high latency would lead to an echo effect. This effect would deteriorate the surround effect. A number of wireless systems operate at 5.8 GHz which offers the benefit of less competition from other wireless products than devices using the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band.
A third technology utilizes side-reflecting loudspeakers. This solution is known as sound bars. There are extra speakers located at the front which broadcast the audio for the remote loudspeakers from the front at an angle. The audio is then reflected by walls and appears to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. The result by and large is determined by the shape of the room and interior design and not function well in a lot of real-world scenarios because of different room shapes and obstacles in the room.
Traditionally, setting up a TV would be swift since they would already have built-in stereo speakers. This, however, has all changed with multi-channel sound. Today external speakers are used to create a surround sound effect. In case of 5.1 surround, 6 speakers are utilized: center, left and right front, left and right rear and a subwoofer. More recent 7.1 systems require a total quantity of 8 loudspeakers by adding 2 additional side speakers.
As a result setting up a home theater has turn out to be fairly intricate and long speaker wire runs are often undesirable for aesthetic reasons. Suppliers have recently released new devices and technologies. These products were designed to help simplify the installation of home theater systems.
This technology reduces the number of needed loudspeakers and eliminates long speaker cables but each person will process sound slightly differently due to the form of the ear. Since the signal processing is based on a standard human ear model, virtual surround will not function equally well for each person depending on how much the viewer varies from the standard model.
Wireless surround sound devices are another option for simplifying home speaker setups and usually come with a transmitter component which connects to the source as well as wireless amplifiers that will connect to the remote loudspeakers. Customarily the transmitter part will include amplified speaker inputs and line-level inputs. This provides freedom to connect to every kind of source. A transmitter volume control helps take full advantage of the dynamic range and avoids clipping of the sound inside the transmitter.
Some wireless products come with wireless amplifiers that connect to two speakers. This still requires cable runs between the two speakers. Other products offer separate wireless amplifiers for every speaker. The most basic wireless devices employ FM broadcast. FM transmission is susceptible to noise and sound distortion. More advanced systems employ digital audio transmission to perfectly preserve the original audio. In multi-channel audio systems, it is essential to select a wireless solution with a latency of only a few milliseconds. This will guarantee that the audio of all speakers is in perfect sync. A high latency would lead to an echo effect. This effect would deteriorate the surround effect. A number of wireless systems operate at 5.8 GHz which offers the benefit of less competition from other wireless products than devices using the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band.
A third technology utilizes side-reflecting loudspeakers. This solution is known as sound bars. There are extra speakers located at the front which broadcast the audio for the remote loudspeakers from the front at an angle. The audio is then reflected by walls and appears to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. The result by and large is determined by the shape of the room and interior design and not function well in a lot of real-world scenarios because of different room shapes and obstacles in the room.
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You can get further resources about wireless surround sound speakers at amphony.com.