13.1 Surround Sound Coming to a Home near you?

An anonymous reader writes "Need to see the anatomy of a codec? Dolby Digital plus is starting to make inroads in the audio world and this article gives you the technical insight into the Enhanced AC-3 codec. Will consumers soon be getting the full 13.1 audio system that we hear in movie theaters?"

Comments

Wow

[Theo de Raabt]

I just can't imagine this. I've already got a mountain of wires, with my 7.1 home theater system. I've got about half of those speakers, biwired, with 25 foot length Monster Cables. That, in addition to the tangle of other wires needed to make this mess all work.

I keep looking at my room, and thinking about what it would look like with almost twice the amount of wires I already have, and almost twice the number of speakers. Maybe I'll have to move some furniture out. Heh Heh. And my Denon 7.1 reciever weighs in at around 62 lbs. Guess with a new 13.1 reciever, I might have to re-enforce the floor to hold the added weight. Heavy duty cabinet to. And with all the added heat this monster will put out, maybe some more air conditioning too.

I don't know what everyone else will think about 13.1, but it kind of seems like overkill to me. I already, at times, wonder if there is really that much advantage in a 6.1, or 7.1 system, over a 5.1 system.

I guess if you spend money to buy all those speakers, it BETTER sound better, or at least you've going to tell yourself it does. Heh Heh.

Re:Wow

[cayenne8]

"lol I was thinking the same thing. I don't even want to know how much his cabling cost and the funny/sad part is you can get vastly superior cables for less $$$."

Yup....I switched all my speaker wire to CAT5 plenum cable a couple of years ago...just opened up the wire ends...stripped the individual wires inside, and twisted all the stripped wires together for negative, and all the solid colored wires for positive.

I did one speaker at a time...and could definitely tell the difference....but, get the plenum coated CAT5...something about the dielectric property or shielding? I did this a year or two ago...can't remember all I read about it...but, it works.

yeah..

[mindwar]

.. but whats the deal with that huge ass banner on the link?

Re:Why?

[the_unknown_soldier]

Because ears gain perception based on direction. The more directions a sound can come from, the more immersive the experience for the end user. Thats why when The latest action is at the cinema you **feel** it, yet when playing it on your PSP you watch it.

that said, anything over 7.1 Is a bit of overkill

yes, but can you do an Omnitheater sound check?

[SuperBanana]

Sound tech 1:"Okay everyone, sound check!"

Sound tech 2:"Cue Leonard Nimoy"

Sound tech 3(quietly):"Leonard Nimoy!? Why?"

(LN):"Because he grew up a few blocks from here!"

It's small part of the Boston Museum of Science's Omnitheater sound check, and they even put lights on each channel's speakers behind the screen so you can see them as each channel is "checked". Then they do a driver through Boston traffic with an omnimax camera on the bumper of a car. And speed it up at least 2x. Even the most die-hard Boston taxi driver will grip his seat :-) Oh, and yes, Nimoy narrates the whole intro.

Then you do a helicopter trip over parts of New England, coming into a harbor in Maine...then on the docks. Ahhh, peaceful, quiet, much better you think.

"Hey CHaaaalie. They folks whanaaah seeah lobstah!" And then you get presented with a live lobster...full screen width, up close and personal, an inch or two from the lens, complete with squishy/squeeky noises :-)

New Infiniti M

[rubenmiranda]

The new Infiniti M already has 14 speakers:

http://www.infiniti.com/content/0,,cid-123089_scti d-32005,00.html

You'd probably be able to add the receiver using the optional towing package.

Irrelevant

[ithrax]

I worked as a projectionist and projectionist manager in a movie theater for about 5 years. I can honestly say that while the notion of 13.1 surround sound is all well and full of prospects, the economic figures do not support it. How many theaters have you seen with 13.1? Also, the space in a theater is scores more than that of the average living room. Isn't 13.1 going a bit overboard for home systems. Uber- rich afficinados go to hell thanks. :) Most movie houses I have been to on the east coast don't have the "full 13.1 audio system that we hear in movie theaters". Best I have experienced is 7.1 and that is plenty enough IMHO. Also, the exhibition part of the food chain (the theaters) is strained enough as it is. Most chains and not to mention independent houses can't afford to constantly upgrade the technology upstair in the booth. A lot of DTS or Dolby Digital theaters actually only have 2 or 3 units that they wheel between screens. Analog is still prevalent. Lastly, there is limited physical space on the film. The inner track is mono, then stereo, Dolby Digital is speckled on the film track. DTS is on a disc that is sync'd using a timecode marker on the outer edges of the film. Im still uncertain where they fit a 13.1 signal on the film surface? (Obviously this doesnt affect a HD-DVD at all.) So I again ask: Why?

Re:Why?

[Tiroth]

Try Googling "head related transfer function" for the difference.

Re:Why?

[poopdeville]

Note that you linked to "Binaural." There's a difference between that and "stereo."

Re:We don't need more speakers.

[MikeBabcock]

That's not true and any audio engineer knows it.

Accurate 360 degree reproduction of sound requires at least 5 or 6 speakers at semi-equal dispertions around you, with one centered directly in front and preferably one directly behind, at equal distances from the listener.

Its been tested over and over.

That doesn't account for overhead or under-foot sound either, or the fact that seperate sub-woofers should be used for low-frequencies.

Personally speaking, I wish I had the additional center-stereo channels to bring dialog closer to the screen as done in some theatre recordings instead of my 5.1 system since my front stereos are quite far apart (to allow for proper seperation for all in the room). The center is useful here, but the additional inside-stereo speakers would help.

You don't hear a 13.1 system in theatres

[Anonymous Coward]

The commonly available theatrical formats are:

- mono (1 channel, with Academy curve/early NR system)
- Dolby Stereo (2:4 matrix system with A or SR noise reduction, provides L/C/R/S information with optional crossover for subwoofer)
- SRD or DTS digital (both provide 5 discrete L/C/R/LS/RS channels, plus LFE/sub channel)
- SDDS digital (8 channel L/LE/C/RE/R/LS/RS/Sub)
- EX (digital sound with matrixed rear-surround channel, for 6.1 or 8.1 channels, depending on whether the digital format is SDDS or one of the other two)

I'm ignoring 70mm, magnetic, and other uncommon formats.

There is no 13.1 format, though DTS's current player (the XD10) is capable of reproducing 10.1 channels

Really, 13.1 channels is just silly, especially in a home environment. Speaker design and placement, room acoustics, and system setup (how many people set up their home systems with an RTA?) are far more important to good sound than adding more channels. Heck, even mono can sound great if the system is designed and installed by someone competent.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe the extra channels are used so that all the seats in the house will get good surround effects, similar to the way the centre channel in a 5.1 setup 'anchors' the soundfield to the screen for a viewer who is not seated directly in front of the screen. If you were seated directly in front of the screen, there would be no need for a centre channel, but you would have only one good viewing / listening position.

In a normal home theatre, in a smaller room and fewer seating positions, I can see no advantage to the extra channels.

Re:.1

[NerveGas]

yeah, i know low frequencies are omnidirectional.

The funny thing is that they're not really omnidirectional, at least not until you get to *really* low frequencies.

I have a pair of very nice 18" subwoofers in my home entertainment system. I've occasionally covered the eyes of a test subject, spun them around, played low frequencies through the subs, and asked them to point to where the sound is coming from.

Above about 25-30 Hz, every single person was able to point exactly to the subwoofers. Below about 20-22 Hz, then they can't - but at that point, you're not really hearing it, just feeling it, which is a lot less precise.

The good bit here is that precious few subwoofers are able to even go down to 25 Hz with any reasonableness, and quite a few never even make it down to 30 Hz.

steve