|
Sneak
preview
- TacT Ambiophonics
Tact-Ambiophonics
to-be-released addition to Tact Lab's family of room correction
processors this affordable 4-channel unit with two RACE DSP
engines for Ambiophonics from 2-channel stereo recordings,
or 5.1-compatible
PanAmbio surround
- see preview
Evaluating
Loudspeakers - a Non-Sentimental Journey
Far
from a repeatable scientific test, using favorite commercial
recordings in the process of selecting loudspeakers involves
other variables - listening acoustics, and one's emotional
response to the music. Whether by audio engineers or audiophiles,
this method uses a kit of non-sentimental noise makers
to compare live
v. speaker, with surprising results,
LEV
and the Money Seat
"Listener
envelopment" (LEV) is prized by concert-goers in the
finest halls, and sought by audiophiles, music-lovers, movie-viewers,
and gamers. A new white paper explores: How many audio channels
are required for LEV? How does Ambiophonics achieve LEV while
stereo cannot? How can 4-speaker PanAmbio surround have twice
as many "speakers" as 5.1 or 7.1 in prime LEV-producing
regions? Decades of research are behind the
answers.
Members
of New York RAVE, three at a time, experience PanAmbio
surround (5.1-compatible) at the Ambiophonics Institute, posting
comments
& photos (courtesy Mariusz)
Do
you need this website? - just answer 3 questions
Check
if any of these three situations fit you,
and you'll determine quickly whether to try Ambiophonics
audio technology:
1. I don't have a lot of money, but would
like a more realistic, immersive experience from my stereo,
laptop audio, or home theater - and my ears work;
2. I have a lot of money and would do anything to
get back the spark I once felt from my CD/vinyl collection
- and the performance of my system;
3. I am a scientist/engineer, moderately skilled
DIY-er (do-it-yourselfer), or open-minded audiophile who
enjoys experimenting - and good results.
If you identify with two of the above, you'll
risk little to read
this paper and discover Ambiophonics on this site. The
reward will be gratifyingly realistic sound for your CDs/vinyl
and surround DVDs.
Ambiophonics
on bookshelves and around the Web
Ambiophonics theory and tools have been available
to all, not just an elite few, open source and royalty-free
for personal use. On the Internet, interest is growing: Wikipedia
has several references, including a survey article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiophonics.
Google "Ambiophonics" and ~15,000 links are
reported (some referring to Ambiophony, introduced in 1960
by Parkin to electronically augment reverberation in concert
halls). The DIY Audio forum has stimulating perceptual
debate is at http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=36254.
The Audio Circle forum has comments and photos from
NY Audio RAVE's experience at the Ambiophonic Institute -
see http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?topic=65457.40.
Canadian Research Bureau and Harman/JBL scientist Floyd
E. Toole cites Ralph Glasgal and Ambiophonics in his new
book "Sound Reproduction: Loudspeakers and Rooms"
- see p277. Electro-Music forum lists links to sites
related to Ambiophonics at http://electro-music.com/forum/links.php?id=37
and members are engaged in a forum exploring Ambiophonics
for synthesized music at <http://electro-music.com/forum/forum-164.html>.
Ambiophonics is in essence "speaker-binaural"
- eliminating acoustic speaker-to-opposite-ear crosstalk,
like virtual headphones without the problems of in-head sounds,
inability to use small head movements as in natural localization,
and discomfort. Explore how Ambiophonics makes stereo better,
whether making decisions monitoring in the studio or enjoying
the results in the living room - see http://ambiophonics.org/papers/RM-sto_HowGoodCanStereoBe.pdf.
Crosstalk cancellation is not new, and improving stereo reproduction
using a physical barrier at the end of your nose still works
- see Don Keele's 1986 AES papers "The Effects
of Interaural Crosstalk on Stereo Reproduction..." at
http://www.xlrtechs.com/dbkeele.com/papers.htm.
For the well-healed, Tact Audio <http://www.tactlab.com/index.html>
introduced in 2006 in the RCS2.2XP the first commercial product
with Ambiophonic decoding for stereo content. (An affordable
PanAmbio 4.0 pre/pro is expected from TacT in 2009). And of
course this site is updated regularly to announce ongoing
development of affordable and DIY solutions - http://www.ambiophonics.org
- with a new Ambiophonics Glossary (coming soon).
Installing
an Ambiophonic System
This
paper discusses the
psychoacoustic theory behind, and setting up, Ambiophonic
systems with 2, 4, or 6 speakers using the RACE PC processor
(free download at the Ambiophonics web site), or using the
TacT Audio Ambiophonics digital processor, TacT 2.2 XP, and
TacT TCS. By Les Leventhal, University of Manitoba,
and Ralph Glasgal of the Ambiophonics Institute
In
the lab pipeline - RACEvG. In ongoing development of free
RACE DSP (download here tested
version F with optional MIDI remote control), version
G with 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
|
