Surround Sound Setup
With the PC's sound system becoming more and more important to PC users we look at the types of surround sound available and the best way to set these systems up. Plus take a look at some of the speakers available for these 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 systems.
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The PC is becoming much more than just a home computer. Its becoming the basis for the entire home entertainment system. The PC has the capability for you to do work play games, connect to the world, listen to music and watch DVD's. The idea that the PC could be the centre of entertainment in your would would suggest that its worth spending a bit on your sound system. The first step her is obviously to purchase a quality sound card. The second part of your sound system it what we will be focusing on in this article. With the introduction of DVD's to the PC system came the need for a proper surround sound. Dolby digital 5.1 was taken on board and many sound cards had the facility to distribute sound over 5.1 channel. Anyone with a 5.1 speaker setup could get cinema quality sound around the room with the correct setup. Since then the experience of sound has moved on even more to 6.1 and 7.1 channels.
In a surround sound setup you will find that different speakers will produce different sounds. There are four types of channel for the surround setup. The centre, front, the surround and the LFE (Low Frequency Effects). The centre speaker is used for the dialogue of the film etc. you will soon know if your centre speaker isn't working properly as you will only hear noises and no words. do note though that when a stereo audio source is used the centre speaker will not produce anything at all. The centre speaker only works with a true 5.1 source.
The Front speakers produce the action noises and create the effect of what sounds are coming from the right and the left. Anything that isn't dialogue will come out of the front speakers. It is usual to have the front speakers louder than the surround speakers.
The surround speakers are used to give the true cinematic experience by adding depth to the sound. with 5.1 surround sound you can hear things going past you and you can tell the direction of the movement. The surround speakers are generally quieter than the main front ones and are normally a little further away from you.
The final part of your surround system is the subwoofer. You will notice that with most mid range hi-fi's the speakers have two parts to them known as the tweeter and the woofer. The tweeter produces the higher pitch noises and the woofer the lower pitch. Satellite speakers for the PC usually come with only one speaker cone. To create the best overall sound you also have a sub-woofer. This piece of equipment can only produce LFE (Low Frequency effects). These LFE's don't seem to have a direction when you are listening to them so only one is required for a full effect. The subwoofer is very important to give the sound some feel. Try turning the subwoofer off or down to minimum and see the difference in your sound.
5.1 Channel Setup
This was the first true surround sound setup. There was a four point surround system but the lack of centre channel prevented the true cinematic sound experience. The 5.1 setup had 5 satellite speakers and a subwoofer (the subwoofer is the .1 as it doesn't provide anything more than the bass). The 5 satellite speakers were setup up as follows.
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To set up a 5.1 speaker system you should position them as above. The centre speaker should be position either on top or underneath the screen if your screen is on a stand. The front left and right should be set up on either side of the screen or mounted on the wall behind the screen on either side. The surround speakers should be setup approximately level with your seating position. Do not neglect the position of the surround speakers. Effectively these speakers set the 5.1 system aside from standard stereo formats. The surround speakers produce the ambient effects and special effects that cause the sound to fill the room. For example the 5.1 system allows you to hear a bullet whistle past you and cars roar along side you. The setup is crucial if you are to achieve this.
Surround Sound Formats
Surround sound comes in many formats, each with its own system of producing realist surround sound effects. Some specifically for the home and others started life in the Cinema. You will find many pieces of audio equipment will state all the types of surround sound they are capable of decoding. Here are the most popular ones.
Dolby Surround - One of the first systems to enter the home sound system market. Dolby surround allows broadcasters to merge 4 channels (left, right, centre and mono) and encode them into 2 channels of audio. Two channels can be used by a stereo system but a system with Dolby Pro Logic could decode the signal and produce the 4 channel audio once again. Dolby Surround is an analog system.
Dolby Digital - The first digital surround channel audio format and the first to offer the 5.1 format (left, right, centre, left surround, right surround and the LFE or Low Frequency Effects channel). This is the primary format for surround sound stored on DVD's
Dolby Digital EX - Designed for the cinema, Dolby Digital EX carries an extra centre channel produced by one or two speakers, while it was designed for cinema use it found its way to the DVD for films that were made with this format.
Dolby TrueHD - As media types moved on to Blu-Ray and HD-DVD more information was able to be stored on each disc. To this end Dolby TrueHD was developed offering 100% lossless technology, 18Mbps bit rate and 24-bit/96Khz audio quality. Dolby TrueHD also has support for up to 8 sound channels. TrueHD is also supported by the High Definition Media Interface (HDMI).
DTS - DTS stands for Digital Theatre Sound. DTS was developed by a company of the same name and is a rival technology to Dolby. It offers the same multi channel sound experience but is incompatible with Dolby sound tracks. You will find most decent Audio hardware can decode both DTS and Dolby sound tracks.
DTS-ES - Digital Theatre Sound - Extended Surround. DTS-ES is a 6.1 channel format. This system adds an extra channel for a rear surround channel. Audio encoded with 6.1 sound could allow for the experience of objects appearing to come from behind you.
TruSurround XT - Not a real surround sound format but a extension of the SRS TruSurround format. TruSurround XT is capable of taking multi channel audio 5.1 / 6.1 formats and can translate them in to a 2 channel format with virtual surround effects. Useful for systems with simple stereo speakers or headphones.