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Understanding
and Installing an Ambiophonic System
Les Leventhal & Ralph Glasgal
University of Manitoba / Ambiophonics Institute
Abstract: Recordings of music and film
soundtracks contain cues used by the ear/brain to localize
sound. Home or studio reproduction using conventional stereo,
5.1, 7.1, or 10.2 distorts these cues and creates false ones.
The result is localization distortion, which degrades horizontal
and depth imaging of direct and ambient sound, degrades clarity
of instruments, colors the sound, and greatly reduces size
and depth of the sonic stage. Localization distortion can
be reduced to very low levels by a technology called Ambiophonics.
Ambiophonics, at its simplest, consists of crosstalk-cancelled
playback by two closely-spaced, front speakers. The result
is that one can now hear at home what the recording microphones
hear - and what the microphones hear is greatly improved horizontal
and depth localization; solid, clear, three-dimensional imaging;
less colored sound; and a sonic stage that is very deep and
very wide - at least 150 degrees - compared to the 60-degree
wide stage of the stereo equilateral triangle. Ambiophonics
does not artificially increase the width and depth of the
stage. Instead, it reduces localization distortion to such
low levels that one can hear the width and depth of stage
that was actually recorded on the disc. The
paper discusses the psychoacoustic theory behind Ambiophonics
and discusses setting up Ambiophonic systems with 2, 4, or
6 speakers using the RACE PC processor (free download at the
Ambiophonics web site) and using the TacT Audio Ambiophonics
digital processor, TacT 2.2 XP, and TacT TCS.
What
is Ambiophonics? And how can I have it?
The short answers are: It's "speaker-binaural"
- and it's a better way to listen to stereo and 5.1 surround.
Ambiophonics is named to suggest that, for critical listening,
it is the ultimate replacement for stereophonics, just as
stereophonics replaced monophonics. Read
here how Ambiophonics unlocks worlds of sonic reality
waiting in your CD/LP/DVD collection.
Coming soon - RACEvG. In ongoing development
of free RACE DSP (download here tested
version F with optional MIDI remote control), version
G with Gerzonic shuffling for coloration control for DIY Ambiophonics
and PanAmbio surround on your PC is in final testing.
L
to R, Angelo Farina introduces invited panelists Dave Malham,
Robin Miller (representing Ambiophonics) and Markus Noisternig
at AES2007
Italia, Parma 11/23~25. Mr. Miller's 14-speaker demonstrations
of RACE, Choueiri BACCHv1, and full-sphere 3D using RACE were
enthusiastically received by more than 40 attendees. Photo:
A.Capra
New
York City's Ensemble Oasis performs for the PanAmbiophone
and 16 participants in perception testing, with ANOVA analysis
concluding that all listeners would hear significantly improved
timbral, spatial, and localization accuracy from 2-channel
recordings played using Ambiophonic methods.
John
Marks
in the August Stereophile following its HE2007
show wrote (p51): "A
special honorable mention goes to the noncommercial Ambiophonics
demonstration room, where my organ and carillon level-setting
snippet sounded eerily like the inside of the church it was
recorded in, right down to the echo signature of the transept
sidewalls. Huge Sound-Lab Majestic panel speakers coped effortlessly
with the full gamut of organ tones; rack upon rack of TacT
processing, room correction, and power amps crunched the numbers
and put into practice Ambiophonics' nonprofit promoter Ralph
Glasgal's dream of creating a stable surround experience."
In
other recent press - Attending HE2007, Robert
Deutsch
blogged "Most exciting was Ralph Glasgal [above left
with Boz Radomir of Tact Audio] and the Ambiophonics system.
I was quite blown away with the huge soundstage, precision
of imaging, and sheer ease of the sound."
At
CES in Las Vegas - The Audiophile Voice, Vol
12, No 3, Arnis Balgalvis said, "Ralph Glasgal's
presentation was ear-opening. What he managed to accomplish
from two very closely placed speakers was to create a very
refined soundspace that extended way beyond the outside of
these closely positioned speakers. I sat there astonished.
Switched back to normal, the soundstage contracted into the
two speakers with just about nothing in the way of soundstage
width."
The
Ambiophonics Institute, featuring Tact Audio RCS 2.2XP and SoundLab
electrostatic speakers, hosts demonstrations of Ambiophonically
reproduced legacy stereo, surround, and 24 channel convolved
ambience.
Ralph
Glasgal, above, and Robin Miller presented Ambiophonics at the
Tonmeisters Convention in Leipzig, Germany. Mr. Miller
also demonstrated binaural bass management and Pan-Ambiophonic
surround recordings.
Robin
Miller, right, of FilmakerTechnology
presented a paper at AES San Francisco on the PanAmbiophone
microphone and on a panel with (from left) Geoff Martin, Todd
Welti, Jonas Braasch, Bill Martens, & David Griesinger.
"The
Most Realistic System I've ever heard."
Clark Johnsen,
Positive Feedback
"I'm still incredulous"
Ken Kessler,
Hi-Fi News & Record Reviews 9/98
The Ambiophonic
method is applicable to the achievement of exceptionally realistic
reproduction of staged, acoustically generated music especially
from the existing library of unencoded, two-channel sources
such as CDs or LPs. Ambiophonic reproduction of most
such existing recordings will outperform any existing or proposed
surround, multichannel recording or reproduction system for
music.
What is Ambiophonics?
The Ambiophonics
method combines an exploitation of seldom applied,
but well documented, psychoacoustic principles with the basic
rules of good musical performance space design to create believable
concert-hall sound fields in dedicated home listening rooms.
Ambiophonics moves the listener into the same space as the
performers, by accommodating to individual external ear and
head characteristics, minimizing interaural correlation at
the listening positions, abandoning the traditional stereo
loudspeaker equilateral triangle, recreating early reflections
and reverberant fields via computer, eliminating front-loudspeaker
crosstalk, and reducing the home music theater wideband reverberation
time to less than .2 seconds. The completion and testing of
the first full-scale version of the Ambiophonics Home Concert
Hall has demonstrated that the Ambiophonic sound reproducing
technique is a worthy successor to both stereophonic or surround-sound
listening configurations, for staged music, in that it can
consistently generate a "You Are There" concert,
opera or pop sound field even preferably from standard LPs,
DVDs or CDs that the ear-brain system will accept as real.
Introduction
While much attention
has been lavished on the design and construction of home theaters
for reproducing television and motion picture sound tracks,
which need the surround imaging appropriate to those media,
the earlier audiophile goal of creating a realistic concert-hall
caliber sound field for staged acoustical musical events has
been all but forgotten. The purpose of the strictly educational
Ambiophonics Institute and this web site is to document the
Ambiophonic method, expand on the psychoacoustic principles
that underlie the Ambiophonic reproduction method, and also
to provide a central repository of data and experience for
those who would like to try their hand at configuring their
own domestic concert halls or who would like to make a contribution
to the perfecting of the Ambiophonic method.
The material below should
lead to a better understanding of some under-appreciated characteristics
of the human ear and provide a better sense of what concert-hall
sound fields consist of, so that listening rooms can be set
up to reproduce acoustically instrumented musical events with
consistent and unprecedented realism luckily still
using the vast library of unencoded, already existing two-channel
recordings. The authors anticipate that not every audiophile
will want or be able to implement all of the Ambiophonic paradigms
but even employing one of these suggestions will increase
the perceived realism of the reproduced sound. It is hoped
that, over the years, audiophiles, equipment designers, sound
recording engineers and audio magazine editors will come to
better understand the goals and acoustical principles involved
and apply them in the future to their own products, systems
and reviews.
Other Sites Related to Ambiophonics
Improving
5.1 and Stereophonic Mastering/Monitoring by Using Ambiophonic
Techniques
Ambiophonics
on a Budget
How to
use a SoundBlaster Live! soundcard's EMU10K processor to create
hall ambience using Live!Ware.
LE
MEILLEUR SYSTEME DU MONDE.
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pol.bct/exemples/Ambio.htm
French website with pictures
of a high-end Ambiophonic installation.
Arolio's
web site
French website makes good use of Ambiophonic principles
English | French
more>>
FilmakerTechnology
www.filmaker.com
5.1-compatible PanAmbiophone microphone and
High Sonic Definition HSD 3D/2D (Pat. pending) for music,
movies, gaming, & simulation
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