8:11 AM
Ratnarao
Multi-channel audio has become mainstream and vendors have created 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 some of the products and technologies which have appeared and give some pointers about choosing appropriate components for a hassle-free installation.
Whilst previously installing a TV has been rather easy, the emergence of multi-channel sound has made setting up home theater systems a great deal more challenging by requiring a number of external speakers to create surround sound. The most commonly used 5.1 surround sound format requires setting up a total of 6 loudspeakers. These are one center speaker, two front side speakers, two rear speakers and a subwoofer. The newer 7.1 standard increases this number to 8 by adding two extra side speakers.
As a result installing a home theater has turn out to be rather complex and long speaker wire runs are normally undesirable for aesthetic reasons. Manufacturers have lately introduced new devices and technologies. These products were designed to help simplify the setup of home theater systems. The first approach is generating so-called virtual speakers by applying signal-processing to the audio and introducing phase shifts and special cues to those audio components that would ordinarily be sent by the remote speakers. Since the signal processing is based on how the human hearing detects the origin of audio, the audio components which underwent signal processing can be mixed with the front speaker components and sent by the front loudspeakers. The viewer is in effect deceived into assuming the audio is originating from a location other than the front speakers.
The benefit of this technology is that only a small number of loudspeakers are required and no long speaker wire has to be run all through the viewing environment. The downside though is that each human will process sound differently due to the different form of every human ear. The signal processing of these virtual surround systems is based on a standard model which was measured with a standard ear. However, virtual surround will not work equally well for each person.
The benefit of this technology is that only a couple of loudspeakers are required and no long speaker cable has to be run throughout the viewing environment. The disadvantage however is that each person will process sound in a different way as a result of the different form of every human ear. The signal processing is based on measurements which are done using a standard human ear model. If the shape of the ear changes, sound will travel in a different way. For that reason virtual surround will not work equally well for every person. Another solution for avoiding long speaker wire runs is to utilize wireless surround sound kits or wireless speakers. A wireless kit contains a transmitter and one or several wireless amplifiers. The transmitter connects to the source. The wireless amplifiers connect to the remote loudspeakers. The transmitter will normally come with amplified speaker inputs and line-level inputs and come with a volume control to adjust it to the source audio level.
Whereas a few wireless speaker devices have a wireless amplifier that connects to two speakers, other products offer individual wireless amplifiers for each loudspeaker. The most sophisticated wireless products utilize digital transmission to eliminate signal degradation. Be certain that you pick a wireless system with a low audio latency, at most a few milliseconds. This will ensure that the audio from all speakers, including the non-wireless speakers, is in sync. Low latency is also vital for good sync with the video. A high latency would lead to an echo effect. This effect would deteriorate the surround effect. Most wireless products work in the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands. Some products utilize the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band and as a result have less competition from other wireless products.
A different method, which is often named sound bars utilizes side-reflecting loudspeakers. In this case the sound for the remote loudspeakers will be broadcast by individual speakers located at the front at an angle and reflected by walls as to seem to be coming from besides or behind the viewer. The result by and large is dependent upon the shape of the room and interior design and not work well in a lot of real-world scenarios as a result of different room shapes and obstacles in the room.
Whilst previously installing a TV has been rather easy, the emergence of multi-channel sound has made setting up home theater systems a great deal more challenging by requiring a number of external speakers to create surround sound. The most commonly used 5.1 surround sound format requires setting up a total of 6 loudspeakers. These are one center speaker, two front side speakers, two rear speakers and a subwoofer. The newer 7.1 standard increases this number to 8 by adding two extra side speakers.
As a result installing a home theater has turn out to be rather complex and long speaker wire runs are normally undesirable for aesthetic reasons. Manufacturers have lately introduced new devices and technologies. These products were designed to help simplify the setup of home theater systems. The first approach is generating so-called virtual speakers by applying signal-processing to the audio and introducing phase shifts and special cues to those audio components that would ordinarily be sent by the remote speakers. Since the signal processing is based on how the human hearing detects the origin of audio, the audio components which underwent signal processing can be mixed with the front speaker components and sent by the front loudspeakers. The viewer is in effect deceived into assuming the audio is originating from a location other than the front speakers.
The benefit of this technology is that only a small number of loudspeakers are required and no long speaker wire has to be run all through the viewing environment. The downside though is that each human will process sound differently due to the different form of every human ear. The signal processing of these virtual surround systems is based on a standard model which was measured with a standard ear. However, virtual surround will not work equally well for each person.
The benefit of this technology is that only a couple of loudspeakers are required and no long speaker cable has to be run throughout the viewing environment. The disadvantage however is that each person will process sound in a different way as a result of the different form of every human ear. The signal processing is based on measurements which are done using a standard human ear model. If the shape of the ear changes, sound will travel in a different way. For that reason virtual surround will not work equally well for every person. Another solution for avoiding long speaker wire runs is to utilize wireless surround sound kits or wireless speakers. A wireless kit contains a transmitter and one or several wireless amplifiers. The transmitter connects to the source. The wireless amplifiers connect to the remote loudspeakers. The transmitter will normally come with amplified speaker inputs and line-level inputs and come with a volume control to adjust it to the source audio level.
Whereas a few wireless speaker devices have a wireless amplifier that connects to two speakers, other products offer individual wireless amplifiers for each loudspeaker. The most sophisticated wireless products utilize digital transmission to eliminate signal degradation. Be certain that you pick a wireless system with a low audio latency, at most a few milliseconds. This will ensure that the audio from all speakers, including the non-wireless speakers, is in sync. Low latency is also vital for good sync with the video. A high latency would lead to an echo effect. This effect would deteriorate the surround effect. Most wireless products work in the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands. Some products utilize the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band and as a result have less competition from other wireless products.
A different method, which is often named sound bars utilizes side-reflecting loudspeakers. In this case the sound for the remote loudspeakers will be broadcast by individual speakers located at the front at an angle and reflected by walls as to seem to be coming from besides or behind the viewer. The result by and large is dependent upon the shape of the room and interior design and not work well in a lot of real-world scenarios as a result of different room shapes and obstacles in the room.
Posted in 
No Response to "Do Wireless Surround Sound Speakers Function Reliably?"
Post a Comment