
With a 5.1-channel system, you place a pair of satellites slightly behind and both to the left and right of the listener. The satellite speakers enable more sound to come in from the side and behind you, for the “surround” part of surround sound. 5.1-channel surround: Sonos Arc (soundbar), Sub (subwoofer), and Ones (rear satellites) These are the most important channels for any mix because they handle the majority of the audio, including dialogue. The primary speakers-often part of a soundbar you can place in front of the screen-cover the left, right, and center channels. Very low frequencies offer minimal directional information because of how they spread and how you hear them-they typically cover the entire space (which is why you only need one subwoofer).ĥ.1- and 7.1-channel systems typically rely on a combination of primary speakers, satellite speakers, and a separate subwoofer. The second number is for the subwoofer channel, which handles the lowest frequencies and produces vibrations you’re just as likely to feel as hear.
#Dolby audio test 7.1 movie#
For this type of surround, the movie or show is mixed into six or eight channels: left, right, center, surround-left, surround-right, and subwoofer for 5.1 audio, and left, right, center, side-left, side-right, rear-left, rear-right, and subwoofer for 7.1 audio.įor media that supports this type of surround sound, the first number indicates how many directional audio sources it encodes and that can be individually played by driver groups. Surround systems generally fall into the 5.1- or 7.1-channel categories. The oldest and most established type of surround sound is based on channels. But the concept of mixing channels of audio still applies as you add additional speakers to the setup. Stereo systems still only use two sources (meaning two speakers), and therefore can’t produce sound that seems to emanate from all directions.

When frequencies from the the left and right channels mix in space, they create a sense of directionality. Like ears, stereo sound systems do more than simply present sound from two directions. In the simplest sense, our ears are essentially a pair of microphones, just enhanced with some incredible filters and audio processors. Our brains process those frequencies and the tiny delays between each ear capturing them, enabling us to recognize the direction of the source (in front of, behind, to the side, above, or below us). Each eardrum captures a wide range of frequencies, and the shape of the ear further refines how those frequencies hit it from different directions.

They enable us to hear sound sources from different directions, but in a much more complex way than just from the left or right. Like all mammals, humans have two ears located on opposite sides of our heads. Stereo sound isn’t surround sound, but it’s a fundamental concept for home theater systems.
#Dolby audio test 7.1 software#
