NRG Acoustics SG-4: Surround sound

NRG Acoustics SG-4: Surround sound

Surround sound is a way of enriching the sound reproduction quality of any audio source with additional audio channels from speakers that surround the audience (surround channels), providing sound from the 360 radius within the horizontal plane (2D) compared to "screen channels" (middle, [front] left, and [front] right) coming from only from the listener's frontward arc.

Multichannel audio is characterized by a listener position or sweet spot in which the audio effects performs best, and features a set or forward perspective of the sound area towards the listener as of this location. The technique enhances the notion of sound spatialization by exploiting sound localization; a listener's capability to get the location or origin of a detected sound in path and distance. This typically is achieved by means of multiple discrete audio channels routed to an array of loudspeakers.

There are numerous multichannel sorround sound systems based models and methods, differing in processing and saving solutions together with the number and location more stations.


NRG Acoustics SG-4: Domains of application

Though cinema and soundtracks represent the major purposes of surround techniques, its scope of use is much wider than that as surround sound enables creation of an audio-environment for all variations of functions. Multichannel audio techniques are useful to recreate contents as varied as music, speech, synthetic or natural sounds for cinema, television, transmissions, or computer systems. Regarding music content for example, an active performance could use multichannel techniques in the context of an open-air event, of an musical theatre or even for transmissions; for a film particular techniques are adapted 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 approaches. This is applicable mainly to cinema narratives, such as the speech from the characters of a film, but may also be utilized on plays for theatre, to a conference, or to integrate voice-based comments in an archeological site or monument. As an illustration, an exhibit may very well be improved with topical background sound of water, birds, train or equipment sounds. Topical natural sounds could also be used in informative programs.

NRG Acoustics SG-4 - Several other fields of application incorporate video gaming consoles, personal computers and other platforms.

In these applications, the content would typically be artificial noise produced by the computer system in interaction with its user. Significant work has also been done using multichannel for enhanced situation awareness in military and public safety purposes.