Hi everyone, I've been lurking for only a day, but Sampo's note gives me the courage to go ahead and ask the first question I was hoping this group might help me answer.
I am interested in experimenting with periphonic sound synthesis using Ambisonics and (likely) Matlab, for research purposes. I've got a grasp on the software side of things to do this, and already can pipe multichannel sounds generated in Matlab to a standard 5.1 receiver. Now I would like to construct a higher-order sound system, ideally with consumer-level (and consumer-priced) components. I don't need a big dynamic range, high power, or the best sound fidelity possible, I just need a working prototype. This is the part I have found very little information on in my research… My understanding is that 8 channels is the minimum needed for stable 3-D Ambisonics (rather than planar surround). From my Mac, I can easily output up to 8 channels of lossless PCM audio over HDMI or optical Toslink. So it seems like it should be possible, in principle, to assemble a budget system -- the question is what kind of affordable receiver/amp would be appropriate? The home cinema/gaming market offers several 7.1 systems these days, but I imagine the subwoofer channel would likely be band-limited with different amplifier circuitry than the other channels. There are also some 9.2 receivers available. I'm not clear how to input more than 8 channels to these receivers, given that they all take HDMI/Toslink inputs, Dolby TrueHD etc are all 7.1, as far as I know, and they don't normally have discrete analog inputs. So I'm not sure if an 8-channel digital input would imply one channel is destined for a subwoofer as expected for a 7.1 system. And, otherwise, if these systems do funky in-receiver processing to generate 9.2 sound from 8 input channels, then that certainly seems incompatible with Ambisonics… Are any of these receivers an option? Any other suggestions? Of course, I don't care about the video switching capabilities, etc., the multiplexed digital input just needs to be decoded and sent to 8+ speakers somehow. Otherwise, if there's a Firewire or USB solution, I'd be happy to hear more about those as well. Thanks in advance! Sarang On Jul 29, 2011, at 1:06 AM, Sampo Syreeni wrote: > On 2011-07-28, Carsten Bohn wrote: > >> I usually don't comment very often cause most threads are "out of my league >> knowledge-wise" ;-) [...] > > It just came to my mind, I've been seing these kinds of comments alot > on-list. All too many, in fact. On most lists I've been on, they are a sure > sign that the list is less accessible than it could be. And usually not > because of the technical level of discussion, but because for one reason or > another, "it's difficult to get into the discussion". Because of the > perception that there's an established in-crowd that doesn't really want you, > or somesuch other sociological reason. > > So I hope I'm not too much out of line if I say, that's not how it works > around here. Please don't hesitate to participate, even by just asking about > what the hell all that ambisonic high priestess shit is about. I mean, I at > least didn't, and that's pretty much the only reason I ever got even this far > in understanding surround, or that high priestess shit. If you look a few > years back, you'll see I've made a total ass of myself over and over again, > often without even realizing it, before I finally started to grasp what this > stuff is about. And I've never seen a list more accommodating of such newbie > stuff (or the not-so-newbie) than this one. > > Surround sound is a broad and variegated subject, with altogether too little > easily accessed reference material lieing around. Ambisonic as part of it is > doubly so, since it's so poorly known. That's then precisely why these kinds > of lists are there: not only to discuss esoterica between those already in > the know, but also to keep up the culture. Not least by inducting new folks > into it. > > So again, and with due reference to the Real Practitioners and the Tenured > Gurus around here, I think people shouldn't apologize unless they royally > fucked up. Instead they should use those two lines to pose an interesting > question. And of course the next half a decade to become the guru in the > guru's place. ;) > -- > Sampo Syreeni, aka decoy - de...@iki.fi, http://decoy.iki.fi/front > +358-50-5756111, 025E D175 ABE5 027C 9494 EEB0 E090 8BA9 0509 85C2 > _______________________________________________ > Sursound mailing list > Sursound@music.vt.edu > https://mail.music.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sursound _______________________________________________ Sursound mailing list Sursound@music.vt.edu https://mail.music.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sursound
