NRG Acoustics HJ-17: Surround sound

NRG Acoustics HJ-17: Surround sound

Multichannel audio is a method of enhancing the sound reproduction high-quality of any audio source with additional audio channels from audio speakers that surround the audience (surround channels), providing sound from a 360 radius in the horizontal plane (2D) as an alternative to "screen channels" (centre, [front] left, and [front] right) originating only within the listener's forward arc.

Multichannel audio is portrayed by a listener position or sweet spot where audio effects performs best, and provides a constant or forward perspective of the sound field towards listener around this location. The technique improves the notion of sound spatialization by taking advantage of sound localization; a listener's ability to know the location or origin of a noticed sound in direction and distance. This typically is achieved through the use of multiple discrete audio channels routed to an array of loudspeakers.

There are numerous surround based formats and techniques, varying in processing and saving methods together with the number and positioning more stations.


NRG Acoustics SG-4: Domains of application

Though cinema and soundtracks signify the main purposes of surround approaches, its scope of application is expansive than that as multichannel enables creation of an audio-environment for all sorts of functions. Multichannel techniques may be used to recreate contents as various as music, speech, synthetic or natural sounds for cinema, television, transmissions, or pc's. Concerning music content as an illustration, a live performance may also use multichannel techniques in the context of an open-air event, of an musical theatre or for broadcasting; for a film certain techniques are adjusted to movie theater, or to home (e.g. home cinema systems).

The narrative place is also a content which could be improved upon through multichannel solutions. This applies mainly to cinema narratives, much like the dialog of the characters of a film, but can even be applied to plays for theatre, to a convention, or to blend voice-based comments in an archeological site or monument. By way of example, an exhibit may be enhanced with topical background sound of water, birds, train or machine noise. Topical natural sounds can also be used in educative programs.

NRG Acoustics A-70 - Additional fields of application include video gaming consoles, personal computers and other platforms.

In this applications, the material would typically be artificial noise maded by the computer device in interaction with its user. Significant work has also been done using multichannel surround sound for enhanced situation knowledge in armed forces and general population safety applications.