Setting up multi-channel audio such as a home theater system has always been fairly complex and vendors lately have come up with unique products and technologies such as wireless audio products or virtual surround sound to help simplify this process. I will have a look at some of the products and technologies that have appeared and give some pointers about selecting suitable components for a hassle-free installation. Traditionally, installing a TV would be fast since they would already have built-in stereo speakers. This, on the other hand, has all changed with multi-channel audio. Nowadays external speakers are used to create a surround sound effect. The most commonly used 5.1 surround sound format requires installing 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 raises this number to 8 by adding two additional side speakers.
Many of today's TVs will be set up as a multi-channel audio system. As traditionally TVs would contain built-in stereo speakers, nowadays a number of external speakers are used to let the viewer experience 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 more recent 7.1 standard raises this number to 8 by adding two extra side speakers.
As a result setting up a home theater has turn out to be quite intricate and long speaker cable runs are normally undesirable for aesthetic reasons. Vendors have recently introduced new products and technologies. These devices were developed to help simplify the installation of home theater kits. One solution is reducing the number of loudspeakers by creating virtual loudspeakers. This method applies signal processing to the sound and adds phase shifts and cues to the sound which would ordinarily be sent by the remote speaker. Because 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. Due to the signal processing, the viewer is deceived into believing the audio is originating from virtual remote surround speakers.
Virtual surround eliminates the remote loudspeakers and simplifies the setup and also avoids long speaker cable runs. Then again, it also has a disadvantage. The form of each human's ear is somewhat different. Consequently everybody processes sound in a different way. The signal processing of these virtual surround systems is based on a standard model which was calculated with a standard ear. However, virtual surround will not function equally well for every person.
Wireless surround sound devices are another method for simplifying home speaker setups and usually have a transmitter module that connects to the source in addition to wireless amplifiers which will connect to the remote loudspeakers. This transmitter will usually have line-level in addition to amplified speaker inputs. Ideally it should have a volume control to adjust it to the audio source.
Some wireless speaker products are designed to connect 2 speakers per wireless amplifier. A superior option would come with a wireless amplifier for every remote speaker to avoid the wire runs between each of the 2 remote loudspeakers. The most advanced wireless kits utilize digital transmission to eliminate signal degradation. In multi-channel audio kits, it is essential to pick a wireless solution with a latency of only a few milliseconds. This will guarantee that the audio of all speakers is in perfect sync. A large latency would lead to an echo effect. This effect would degrade the surround effect. A number of wireless devices operate at 5.8 GHz which offers the benefit of less competition from other wireless products than devices using the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band.
Another solution are side-reflecting loudspeakers. These kits are also called sound bars. There are extra loudspeakers positioned at the front which broadcast the sound for the remote speakers from the front at an angle. The audio is then reflected by walls and seems to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. This solution works best in a square room with minimum interior design and obstacles. It will not function well in a lot of real-world scenarios with different room shapes though.
Many of today's TVs will be set up as a multi-channel audio system. As traditionally TVs would contain built-in stereo speakers, nowadays a number of external speakers are used to let the viewer experience 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 more recent 7.1 standard raises this number to 8 by adding two extra side speakers.
As a result setting up a home theater has turn out to be quite intricate and long speaker cable runs are normally undesirable for aesthetic reasons. Vendors have recently introduced new products and technologies. These devices were developed to help simplify the installation of home theater kits. One solution is reducing the number of loudspeakers by creating virtual loudspeakers. This method applies signal processing to the sound and adds phase shifts and cues to the sound which would ordinarily be sent by the remote speaker. Because 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. Due to the signal processing, the viewer is deceived into believing the audio is originating from virtual remote surround speakers.
Virtual surround eliminates the remote loudspeakers and simplifies the setup and also avoids long speaker cable runs. Then again, it also has a disadvantage. The form of each human's ear is somewhat different. Consequently everybody processes sound in a different way. The signal processing of these virtual surround systems is based on a standard model which was calculated with a standard ear. However, virtual surround will not function equally well for every person.
Wireless surround sound devices are another method for simplifying home speaker setups and usually have a transmitter module that connects to the source in addition to wireless amplifiers which will connect to the remote loudspeakers. This transmitter will usually have line-level in addition to amplified speaker inputs. Ideally it should have a volume control to adjust it to the audio source.
Some wireless speaker products are designed to connect 2 speakers per wireless amplifier. A superior option would come with a wireless amplifier for every remote speaker to avoid the wire runs between each of the 2 remote loudspeakers. The most advanced wireless kits utilize digital transmission to eliminate signal degradation. In multi-channel audio kits, it is essential to pick a wireless solution with a latency of only a few milliseconds. This will guarantee that the audio of all speakers is in perfect sync. A large latency would lead to an echo effect. This effect would degrade the surround effect. A number of wireless devices operate at 5.8 GHz which offers the benefit of less competition from other wireless products than devices using the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band.
Another solution are side-reflecting loudspeakers. These kits are also called sound bars. There are extra loudspeakers positioned at the front which broadcast the sound for the remote speakers from the front at an angle. The audio is then reflected by walls and seems to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. This solution works best in a square room with minimum interior design and obstacles. It will not function well in a lot of real-world scenarios with different room shapes though.
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