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Single Speaker Unit Delivers Surround Sound
Makarand writes "A one-speaker home theater system that is able to deliver surround sound
has been unveiled by Nirotek America (Torrance, CA).
The single speaker unit actually contains five individual speakers packed
horizontally into a single case. The surround sound effect is achieved
by playing some sophisticated psychoacoustic trickery on the human brain.
Realistic surround sound from movies and stereo CDs can be obtained as long as listeners
are
at least six feet away from the speaker unit and the unit stands near the front edge of
whatever surface it is placed on. The unit is priced at around $799 and USA Today has a
review."
I disagree. Most people who would try to setup a midrange sound system are going to mess up the placement of the speakers. The point the article also makes is that it's much nicer to just have one speaker in one spot, rather than have to mess around with 6 different speakers that each have to be mounted in very specific positions. I would have loved to have one of these in my dorm in place of my traditional surround sound system.
Does this work for people with hearing problems in one ear? And if so, does it matter when the hearing loss started to occur? (i.e., congenital problem vs. problem that developed with age)
I'm asking this on the off chance that someone here is working on a PhD or something and can answer this...
Well, funny you should mention that because I moved house a year ago and lost the use of my 5.1 system as it belonged to a flatmate. So I was back to my Phillips TV which claimed to have virtual surround. It had never been any use but in my new place, which had bare walls behind the TV and behind where I sit it is excellent - the sound is all over the place, so under the right conditions it seems to work.
Only big ligs use sigs.
'all over the place' as in the intro to Saving Private Ryan...it's all over the place! The positioning isn't as discrete as a proper system, but I like the sound of it - it's a good effort on a 6 year old TV which I had no expectation would actually work (from that perspective). If I think a sound came from the back of the room and I didn't pay for a speaker there, I'm happy :)
Only big ligs use sigs.
Like all simulated surround, this one likely requires you to be in a very specific sweet spot (does anyone recall the Madonna CD of some 12 years ago or so that had "surround sound" on it? To actually experience it you had to be in an absolutely precise spot).
Having said that, it is hardly surprizing that this can be done -- we only have two ears. Our brain is determining location by phase between ears and tonal balance (sound hitting the ear from different angles, such as in front or behind, get different tonal characteristics). Presuming someone knew all of the functions involved it should be doable, at least with two speakers. I'm a little confused as to how they could manage left/right separation, though - using one speaker one would have to encourage a soundwave to hit one ear before it hits the other...
I'm surprised no one ever seems to mention the binarual method of recording and playback when it comes to surround sound.
The main techniques used by humans to locate the direction of sound are: the volume of the sound, the phase difference between the sound hitting each ear at slighlty different times and the effect that the head, ears, body have on altering the frequency makeup of the sound.
The way to recreate this is to use a dummy head with miniature microphones placed in each ear of the dummy to record whatever sounds you want and then to play that recording back over headphones.
The dummy head recreates all the subtle phase and frequency effects that a real human head would in the real environment and the headphones allow that recording to be delivered to each ear free of the distorting effects that loudspeakers are prone to have(room effects, cross channel problems, phase problems etc).
Checkout http://www.binaural.com/ for MP3 samples of this technique.
The realism of binaural is simply staggering when used with the right headphones. No multi-channel surround sound that I have ever heard comes anywhere near close. It is so realistic that it can have you looking around to locate the source of the sound to make sure it wasn't really something in your immediate environment. The problem is that most people don't want to wear headphones when watching movies I suppose.
...the size of the 'sweet spot'. In a regular 2 channel stereo recording, the only place where the recording sounds 'right' is in the middle. If you move to one side, the perceived middle of the stereo image moves as well. These speakers attempt to solve this by reconstructing the wave front of the original sound wave, so that it corresponds as much as possible with the original. In plain language, kinda like the difference between a regular stereo image and a hologram which can be viewed from different angles. Of course, using a regular stereo recording will *still* not give 'holographic' sound, so for now the manufacterers settled for attempts to increase the size of the sweet spot. And yes, the bose speakers that bounce sound off the walls are based on the same principle.
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I've read the review but I'm wondering. Sometimes I watch a movie together with friends. They are usually spread around the room hanging on different chairs and the couch. Will the surround sound experience be equally good for all of them, or is the person sitting directly in front of the set (far) better off than the rest?
-- Cheers!
First, to everyone who says "why would I want 5 speaker cabinets all over the place instead of one?". Simple, sound is largely effected by the shape of the room, not to mention what is contained in the room. With 5 drivers in one box the surround is simulated, bouncing the sound off the walls with different timings to simulate surround sound. Slight problem though, every room is not shaped the same so this box will only be optimally effective in a room with the dimensions it was designed for. In a real surround system you can make adjustments for the shape of the room. Try doing that with this box. Second, this is actually a 1 speaker system, 2 if you count the sub. The one speaker contains 5 drivers. Before you flame the poster, check the terminology. A speaker consists of all the drivers and the physical box. Third, If you really want to do yourself justice before you talk about how great a box like this is/would be. Take a visit to a local high-end audio shop. Compare a true surround system from say, B&W, driven by some nice amps through a good processor to this all-in-one box. The all-in-one wont sound so great anymore. In fact neither will that circuit-city bose crap. In short, as with most things you get what you pay for.
If you want to see a true "single point source" surround sound system. Check out Pioneer's Digital Sound Projector. I think this may also have been featured in a /. story a few months ago.