{"id":454,"date":"2020-09-01T06:30:05","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T06:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/?p=454"},"modified":"2020-10-28T06:18:35","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T06:18:35","slug":"what-is-surround-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/tips-and-advice\/what-is-surround-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Surround Sound?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Surround sound has been in existence for almost a century,<\/span>1<\/sup><\/span> and is included in all sorts of audio visual systems\u2014from the latest in home theatre technology, to the best in car audio systems. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But what is surround sound, exactly? And when does it work best? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the ins and outs of getting the best surround sound setup for your home entertainment theatre.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does surround sound work?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Surround sound is a broad term that refers to a configuration of three or more speakers, creating an effect that \u201csurrounds\u201d listeners with sound. A surround sound setup makes you feel like you\u2019re in the middle of the action, with synchronised sound directed at you from the front, behind, and either side of you. Using the basic principles of surround sound, it would be easy to conclude that the best surround sound setup would consist of as many speakers as possible. But that\u2019s not always the case. As with most things, surround sound works best when you focus on quality, rather than quantity, which we\u2019ll address in a moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaker positioning for a surround sound setup<\/span><\/h2>\n

If you want to install a quality surround sound setup, your number one priority needs to be placement. And we don\u2019t just mean random placement in all corners of the room. Sound systems are sensitive to the acoustics of a space, so you\u2019ve got to think about how sound will react when it\u2019s coming from the place you install your speaker. The surrounding surfaces shouldn\u2019t be soft, otherwise they\u2019ll muffle the sound. On the other hand, they shouldn\u2019t be too hard or flat, otherwise the sound will echo and you\u2019ll lose the precision surround sound effect. And, it goes without saying, never face your speakers into a wall or hard surface!<\/span><\/p>\n

Ever wondered about surround sound headphones? <\/span><\/h2>\n

If sound systems come across as a bit complicated to you, you might consider surround sound headphones. But how do they work? After all, the whole premise of surround sound is that a minimum of three speakers are required. Well, thanks to the wonders of technology, that\u2019s no longer the case: virtual surround sound has arrived. Virtual surround sound goes to the source of the sound, rather than its output, and applies complicated programs that filter the sound, so that it seems to be coming from numerous speakers and directions. The effect is remarkably similar to \u2018true\u2019 surround sound, and surround sound headphones are well worth a try.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some other uses for virtual surround sound <\/span><\/h2>\n

Thanks to virtual surround sound, it\u2019s not only headphones that are improving. In fact, virtual surround sound technology now extends to all manner of products, including sound bars, and even conventional inbuilt television stereos. Of course, you need to take the good with the bad; not all virtual surround sound systems offer a comparable experience. But on the higher end of the spectrum, you can achieve a realistic surround sound experience with only two speakers, thanks to virtual surround sound.<\/span><\/p>\n

Get more bang for your buck with this surround sound setup <\/span><\/h2>\n

So what do we recommend? \u2018True\u2019 surround sound setups, or virtual ones? Well, it really depends on your budget and needs. Given that they only require two speakers, virtual surround sound setups might seem more affordable. But beware! Cheaper virtual surround sound units rarely offer a satisfying experience, and you\u2019d likely be better off using that money to buy a high quality soundbar. In our view, it\u2019s hard to beat the \u2018true\u2019 surround sound experience, but don\u2019t let that discourage you from trying out some virtual options too.<\/span><\/p>\n

References<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. 1.\u00a0The History of Surround Sound<\/i><\/span><\/a>, Fluance<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Surround sound has been in existence for almost a century,1 and is included in all sorts of audio visual systems\u2014from the latest in home theatre technology, to the best in car audio systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-and-advice"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":472,"href":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions\/472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aveverything.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}