Don’t worry. We are here to help you. In this guide, we will see all the basics of surround sound and the Multi-Channel Home Theatre Audio System.
Introduction
The term “Home Theatre” has different meanings for different people. Enthusiasts and movie lovers might dedicate an entire room to home theatre. They fill up the room with a screen and projector (usually this is the case but sometimes a large screen TV as well), a cool sound system, comfortable chairs, lighting, etc. But for some people, either due to budgetary or special constraints, the living room is itself a home theatre. Here, the display is usually a large flat-screen TV but sometimes it can be a projector as well. For sound, again they have different choices. Some might feel that a simple soundbar and a subwoofer are more than enough while some install surround sound systems for a Multi-Channel Audio experience. Irrespective of the setup of a home theatre, the display side has only a couple of options. Whether you can go with a pretty large LCD or OLED TV. Or install a good screen with a top-mount or short-throw projector. A good sound system is what makes the difference to get that “cinema theatre” experience. Nowadays, soundbars are all over the place. But many music and movie lovers feel that a good stereo sound system with a decent subwoofer is much better than a soundbar. If you want to go even further, then a Multi-Channel Home Theatre system is the best way to enjoy movies and football games in the comfort of your home. What exactly comprises of a Multi-Channel Home Theatre System? Before getting to know this, let us quickly understand some essential things in the world of sound systems.
Important Terminology
Stereo Sound and Stereo System
One of the simplest ways to record and reproduce sound is through Stereo Sound. Short for Stereophonic Sound, Stereo Sound consists of two distinctive and independent audio channels, which we often call the Left and Right Channels. A Stereo System consists of two speakers that produce the left and right audio from a stereo sound. Theoretically, it is one of the simplest ways to produce the 3D or surround sound but the reality is different.
Surround Sound
The home theatre experience is better when the sound “surrounds” the viewer. This is where Surround Sound comes into play. It is a Multi-Channel Audio System that consists of several loudspeakers to create a sound envelope around you. There are several ways to configure a Surround Sound System such as 5.1 or 7.1. But the essential thing here is that you need multiple speakers to create that immersive sound experience. Almost all music is recorded in Stereo. So are TV Shows (network TV and not streaming) and News Broadcasts. But movies on DVDs, Blu-rays, or any steaming media have support for multi-channel audio.
What is Multi-Channel Home Theatre System?
The aim of surround sound is to, well, surround you with sound. To do this, a Surround Sound System has to create three perceptions. They are:
Direction: Where is the sound coming from? Front, back, left, or right. Distance: How far are the objects that produce the sound? Spaciousness: This gives you a sense that you are inside the action and not in your living room or home theatre.
So, how does a Multi-Channel Home Theatre System achieve this? By using multiple speakers and placing them appropriately around or over the viewer. The main advantage of a Multi-Channel Home Theatre System is that you feel immersive in the sound from the movie, video game, or sports match. This is the best way to enjoy big action and science fiction movies. The Surround Sound from all these channels or speakers puts you in the center of the action. But all this “movie theatre” like experience comes at a significant cost. To control and power all the channels in a Multi-Channel Home Theatre System, you need proper AV Receivers or Amplifiers. The speakers themselves are costly. Add subwoofers, Home Theatre Power Managers, seating, projector, lighting, etc. to this, and the whole cost of the whole Home Theatre setup can put a hole in your pocket. Nonetheless, you can choose the components depending on your area, space, and budget. To understand more about the Multi-Channel Home Theatre System, we need to take a look at its different types or configurations.
Different Types of Multi-Channel Home Theatre Systems
Stereo System (2.0 and 2.1)
Technically, a Stereo System is a Multi-Channel Audio System, as it produces sound using two different channels. The two most popular Stereo Systems are 2.0 and 2.1. When we say 2.0, it means the stereo system consists of only two speakers for the left and right channels. The “.0” indicates there is no special speaker to produce the low-frequency effects or LFE (the bass frequency). A Subwoofer is responsible to produce the LFE Channel or bass. So, if you use a stereo system with a subwoofer, then it becomes a 2.1 Stereo System.
Three Channel Stereo (3.0 and 3.1)
If you add a Center Channel (C) to the Left (L) and Right (R) channels, then it becomes a Three Channel Stereo System. Depending on whether you pair a subwoofer or not. It becomes a 3.0 or 3.1 Audio System. While technically the 3.0 or 3.1 Sound Systems are Multi-Channel Audio Systems, they are similar to Stereo Systems where you don’t get the immersion. The advantage of a 3.0 or 3.1 Sound System is the Center Channel (C) deals with the vocal part of the sound while the Left (L) and Right (R) Channels are responsible for the music (instruments). These channels (L and R) can also provide a sense of direction to some extent. Both Two-Channel Stereo and Three Channel Stereo systems are basic Multi-Channel Home Theatre Systems but they fail to produce any Surround Sound Effects. For this, we need more channels. That being said, the 3.1 Sound System is the basis of all the advanced Multi-Channel Home Theatre Systems that can produce the “Surround Sound” effect. You will understand more as we will see some popular examples.
5.1 Multi-Channel Home Theatre System
We are getting into the good stuff now. One of the most common and most popular Multi-Channel Home Theatre Systems is the 5.1 Surround Sound System. In this, we have the three main channels, Center (C), Left (L), and Right (R), similar to the Three-Channel System and they become the Front Channels. Additionally, we have two more channels, which we call Surround or Rear Channels. Depending on their placement, they become the Surround Left (or Rear Left) and Surround Right (or Rear Right) Channels. As usual, we have the “.1” Channel, which is the Subwoofer. An important aspect of setting up a Multi-Channel Home Theatre System to produce Surround Sound is the position of the Speakers relative to the viewer (or listener). Assuming the listener is sitting dead center in front of the screen, the Center Channel (C) is also straight in front of the listener. The Front Right and Left Channels are located at +30° and – 30° respectively. Next, we have the rear two speakers, Rear Right and Rear Left. You can place them between +100° to +120° and -100° to -120° respectively. The 5.1 Surround Sound System is a well-established Multi-Channel Home Theatre System. It has some advantages and disadvantages and despite that, it is the most popular surround sound layout out there.
6.1 Multi-Channel Home Theatre System
Adding an extra speaker to the 5.1 Surround Sound System makes it a 6.1 Sound System. The additional speaker is the Rear Center or Surround Back Speaker. This is not as popular as the 5.1 System. Due to the addition of external speakers in the Rear or Surround Channels, the position of the three rear speakers changes slightly. The position of the front three speakers i.e., Center (C), Left (L), and Right (R) remains the same. The Surround Right and Surround Left speakers now move to +90° and -90° respectively. Coming to the new channel, the Surround Back, this speaker goes directly in the back of the listener (180°).
7.1 Multi-Channel Home Theatre System
Another popular Surround Sound System is the 7.1 Multi-Channel System. It adds two more channels to the 5.1 Surround Sound System. As a result, it gives an immersive sound experience when watching action and sci-fi movies. The two additional channels are Left Back and Right Back. This setup is much better than the single center back channel in the 6.1 Surround System. You need to move around some speakers to accommodate the two new back-channel speakers. As a result, the position of the Surround Right and Surround Left is now ±90°. The Left Back and Right Back Speakers take up approximately ±150° positions.
9.1 Multi-Channel Home Theatre System
If you have money to spend, you can invest in adding two more channels to the 7.1 System and make it a 9.1 Surround Sound System. All the Speakers and their position in the 7.1 Surround Sound System carry to the 9.1 System as well. The two new channels are Left Wide and Right Wide. These speakers go in between the Front Left and Surround Left in case of Left Wide and Front Right and Surround Right in case of Right Wide. Audio Channels in Multi-Channel Home Theatre Systems As a quick reference, here is a list of all the channels that you can find in a typical Multi-Channel Surround Sound System. Here is another table that contains some common Multi-Channel Surround Sound Systems along with their audio channels.
Multiple Subwoofers
Till now, we have seen 5.1, 7.1, etc. where the “.1” indicates a single subwoofer that produces the LFE. Can you use more than one subwoofer? Yes. You definitely can. Provided your AV Receiver Supports two subwoofers. You can use two subwoofers and place one on the front and one in the back to get an even more powerful and punchy bass. So, if you use an additional subwoofer with your 7.1 Surround Sound System, it becomes a 7.2 System. The naming scheme continues to other systems as well. Surround Sound Audio Formats Okay. We have seen different types of Multi-Channel Home Theatre Systems and also their speaker channel configurations. Another important thing you need to be aware of is the format of the surround sound or the Surround Sound Coding. It is a method to store and transmit multi-channel audio by converting the original audio channels into digital formats. These digital formats occupy very little storage space or require very less transmission bandwidth. Dolby Laboratories and DTS are two popular companies that developed several surround sound coding methods. Here is a small list of some popular surround sound coding formats.
Dolby Digital DTS Dolby Digital Plus Dolby Digital EX DTS-ES Dolby TrueHD DTS-HD
What About Dolby Atmos?
Nowadays, we are hearing the term Dolby Atmos everywhere. What exactly is it? Dolby Atmos is a new trend in surround sound technology that creates a true 3D sound with the help of overhead speakers. There are several ways you can configure and set up a Dolby Atmos system. For instance, if you take a standard 5.1 Surround Sound System and add four overhead speakers, then it becomes a 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos System. Similarly, you can add four overhead speakers to a 7.1 Surround Sound System and make it a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos System. An important point here is that your source such as a streaming service (Netflix, etc.) or Blu-ray Disc must have Dolby Atmos. In addition to this, the Blu-ray player, media Player, and AV Receiver must also support Dolby Atmos to properly enjoy the 3D Sound experience. Similar to Dolby Atmos, DTS also has a similar 3D Sound system in the form of DTS:X. Both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X use audio objects instead of traditionally fixed surround channels. The source contains the metadata of these objects which can be placed anywhere in the 3D Space. The audio decoders in the AV Receivers extract this metadata and assign the audio objects to respective speakers.
What Are The Alternatives?
Setting up a decent multi-channel Home Theatre System is a time consume and expensive job. So, what are the alternatives? Soundbars are one of the simplest alternatives to a dedicated multi-channel surround sound system. Some soundbars come with “Dolby Atmos” as they try to create a virtual 3D Surround Sound by using several speakers on the bar. Of course, this method won’t be as effective as a pure surround sound system but you can definitely consider this if you are trying to experience good audio in the living room or you are on a strict budget.
Conclusion
Home Theatres are a dream of many homeowners. They want to replicate the audio-visual quality of a movie theatre right in their home. We have good 4K Laser Projectors that can display crystal clear images on a decently large screen (100” to 150”). Coming to the sound, you have to invest in a decent Multi-Channel Home Theatre System to enjoy movies in the best possible way. In this guide, we saw the basics of sound systems that we use in our homes. After that, we saw different types of Multi-Channel Home Theatre Audio Systems. We also saw additional information regarding Multi-Channel Audio, Surround Sound Audio Formats, Pros and Cons, Dolby Atmos, and some alternatives. We hope that this guide could help you in understanding the basics of Multi-Channel Surround Sound Systems. If you feel that we missed something or you need some additional information, do let us know in the comments section below. Comment * Name * Email * Website
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