Chapter 15 - Surround Sound Microphone Technology

Abstract

While two-channel stereo has been the mainstay of consumer sound reproduction for nearly a half-century, surround sound as originally developed for motion pictures has technical roots that go back even earlier. For the consumer, surround sound as a central requirement in music-only presentation in the home has had a spotty history. Quadraphonic (four-channel) sound was introduced in the mid-1970s and failed, chiefly because the technology proposed for it was not sufficiently developed. During the mid-1990s, surround sound was reintroduced to the consumer as an integral part of the home theater revolution, with its five-channel loudspeaker array consisting of 3 loudspeakers in front and 2 at the sides slightly to the rear of the listener. The basic plan was patterned after the normal loudspeaker setup in motion picture theaters of the day. A primary performance benefit of the “new” video-based surround sound was the use of a front center channel, which anchored center-stage events accurately in that position — regardless of where the listener was located. The added benefit of global ambience as fleshed out by the back channels was equally beneficial.