The

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Surround sound prornises a theater in ertery horne
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he rock band The \Vho coined the soar frighteningly past you, from front to back. It
name for it, even if they didn't means that ambient audio such as traffic noises,
intend to, Quadrophenia-the state rainfall, and rattling casino chips can swirl behind
of addiction to quadraphonic (four- you while dialog plays up front. For anyone who's
channel) sound. Unfortunately, the seen and heard such home-video extravaganzas as
1970s version of "quad" failed so miserably that Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome or the surround-
quadrophenia quickly became quadrophobia. encoded percussion-fest Sheila E. Live: Romance
Today, just like The Vho, quad is back. And 1500, the difference between surround sound and
again like The \(/ho, it's back with some changes. conventional stereo is like the difference between
For one thing, we call it "surround sound," and stereo and mono.
it's established itself not on records or CDs, but on More than 1,500 video movies, TV shows,
video cassettes and videodiscs. And for another and long-play music videos are encoded with
. . . well, it works. It works so well, in fact, that the dominant surround-sound technology, Dolby
surround sound has become de rigueur in any seri- Laboratories' Dolby Surround. Not surprisingly,
ous home theater or media room. most makers of home surround-sound decoders
As the generic term for four'channel (or, in employ licensed Dolby Surround circuitry. But
some cases, for more than four-channel) audio, non-Dolby decoders from such established com-
surround sound uses rear-of-the-room speakers in panies as Aphex can also decode Dolby Surround.
addition to the usual left and right front speakers. And even Dolby licensees usually offer at least one
Surround sound also involvBs a milliseconds-long non-Dolby surround mode (with names like "hall"
time delay between the front and rear soprnds, or "matrix") since Dolby Surround's monaural rear
t preserving the proper time relationship between channel intentionally rolls off most of the high tre-
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sounds coming from behind and sounds coming ble frequencies-fine for movie soundtracks, but
z
Ic from the front. At its best, surround sound places undesirable for stereo concert-videos.
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i you in a 360-degree audio environment. Now add the latest wrinkle, a computerized
IF This means that with a surround-sound decoder sound-steering technology called "Dolby Pro-
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F
o and a pair of extra speakers in your media room, Logic," appearing in more and more mid-priced
fJ
! the roar of chopper blades in Apocalypse Nou can decoders. Proprietary non-Dolby steering cir-

AuDro/VtDEO Irrenrons 107

 types ofsound. Even TV sets have entered the sur-
round-sound fray, with models from Pioneer,
cuitry is also available, most'notably in equipment NEC, and Sony offering built-in decoders.
from Fosgate and Shure. Dolby-licensed or not, For simplicity, we'll describe three approaches
steering logic not only directs but automatically to a surround-sound setv1 living room, media room,
adjusts the level of sound going to every speaker, and home theater- The living room approach takes
and also decodes a front-center channel that your existing stereo amplifier or receiver and your
locks dialog firmly where it belongs. As Gary front speakers and adds a pair of rear speakers
Hoffman, owner-partner of San Francisco's Home powered by a basic amplified decoder; small
Theater Designs, says about the new technology, bookshelf or in-wall speakers suffice for the rear.
"lt's far more exciting than any other form of Next up the ladder, the media-room approach
surround sound." eschews the inevitable compromises of integrated
components. Here you opt for a dedicated, more
The Equipment powerful rear-channel amplifier and a decoder
Depending on your budget, programming pref- with a subwoofer output, which allows for the
erences, and hearing, you can bring your ears simple acidition of a powered subwoofer to bring
into the 1990s with a variety of surround-sound out those gut-wrenching cinematic lows.
gear chosen from an acres-wide price range. Denon, Finally, for purists with home theaters and their
Fosgate, Kenwood, NEC, Sansui, Shure, SSI, own popcorn machines, substitute a decoder con-
Sony, Teac, Technics, Yamaha, and others offer taining steering logic, and add: one front-center
stand-alone decoders. In addition, integrated amps, speaker for dialog; a monaural amp for the dialog
Aboue: Cdruer's
preamps, and receivers-available from Onkyo, channel; and a pair of side-channel speakers and
CT-17 tunerf
Philips, Kenwood, Mitsubishi, NEC, Toshiba, an amplifier to power them. (Only a few high-end
preamp with Dolby
Yamaha, Carver, and others-contain built-in decoders derive side-channel signals, particularly
Pro-I-ogic. Below:
surround decoding. Like the stand-alone decod- effective for filling out the sound in large rooms.)
NEC\PLA-710
ers, more and more of these come equipped with
amplifed Pro-
Pro-Logic. And then there's the ne plus uhra' Setting Up
I-ogic ilecoiler.
"audio environment processors" such as the \X/hile the challenge of connecting all the elec-
Yamaha DSP-3000 and Lexicon's Dolby Pro- tronics in a surround-sound system may send you
Logic model CP-1, each offering tremendous to an installation expert, the job does not end
customizing capabilities for different rooms and there. Most homes, after all, do not have the per-
fectly proportioned
spaces that in theory
make it easy to find
optimal speaker place-
ment. And with sur-
round sound, one has
to arrange four to eight
speakers while jug-
gling such rules-of-
thumb as'
. place front speakers
 at least six feet apart
. place rear speakers at ear level or higher
. the center-dialog speaker should be as close to
the screen as possible (in front-projection setups it
can be placed behind a flat, "acoustically trans-
parent" viewing screen custom-cut from movie- and parcel of installation. Unfortunately, some Aboue:

theater supply companies) architects and interior designers are still ignorant Mitsubishi's Home
. subwoofers should be placed along the same of surround sound, and they may design media Theater System

plane as the front speakers, although ideally their rooms without regard for equipment placement eomes in seueral

sound output is non-directional and optimal seating arrangements. If you want eonjgurations.

On top of all this, you have to adjust speaker- surround sound, insist they design for it with the aid Below: Proton's

leve! balance and front-to-rear time delay care- of a professional installer. The media rooms in this SD-1000 usa
fully. A 5- to 10-millisecond delay often seems magazine are proof that it can be done beautifully. proprietary
"shallow"; a S0-millisecond delay will be some- Many audio/video installers simplify matters of surround ilecoiling.

what echoey. A delay of lo milliseconds is consid- space by using "audio environment processors,"
ered "natural" in most cases and is, in fact, the space-age acoustic manipulators that shape room
amount designed into Dolby decoders lacking sound in almost infinite ways. Lexicon's highly
rated CP-t Digital Audio Environ-
u
) ment Processor, for instance, is not
L
E
{F only a surround decoder with Dolby
o
z Pro- Logic, but offers countless
J
I processing modes that create an
Y
almost limitless range of sound
G
G Itxicon CP-2 : Dolby Pro-Logic, digital processing
I
environments.
Another method for simplifying a
adjustable delays. Some better decoders emit a surround-sound setup is to choose a good one-
calibration signal that simplifies level and time- brand package. A perfect example, The Mitsubishi
delay adjustments. Home Theater System, a mix'n match affair with
Moreover, cautions Gary Hoffman, "you often a choice of a 3S-inch direct-view or a 45-, 50-,
find too little power for surround speakers. Rear- 60-, or 70-inch rear-projection stereo TV set;
channel amps in receivers lwith built-in surround and, among many other componentsr audio/video
sound] and in stand-alone decoders are frequently surround-sound receivers with built-in rear-
insufficiently powerful, especially on science- channel amplifiers.
fiction and adventure movies which bank on The Shure HTS Home Theater Reference
explosions and runaway trains. If you get what System is less mix 'n match than a building-block
sounds like lumber moving through a circular saw, approach, with one of each of several types of
then you know the amplifier has run out of power audio components. (Shure does not make televi-
and is distorting." sion sets.) The total system consisti of three
Fortunately, speaker placement is generally part, power amplifiers, five speakers, a subwoofer, and
 the highly regarded HTS 5300 Dolby Surround
Dolby Surround decoder with Shure's proprietary 'Acra Vector
procasing in a [steering] Logic." At nearly $10,000 completer
variety oJ packages, the Reference system aims to set a benchmark for
from top ta botum: home-theater-system performance.
Sony\ KV- No matter what you choose, remember that sur-
27FX10 TV set; round sound, like fine wine and escargot, takes an
SSI's 400U1 educated palate to appreciate. You'll need more How do you know which tapes and discs are
amplifed decoder; than a single visit to a store-especially since surround-encoded? That's a little tricky, and it'll
Kenwooil's KA- audio/video showrooms may be inadequately set continue to be until the video software companies
V7000 audiof up due to lack of space or initiative. Rear channels get their acts together. The preferred term, says
video amplifer. may be set too loud, or with an improper time Dolby Labs, is the trademarked "Dolby Surround."
delay. So go with an expert or, at least, a surround- Yet a diferenl trademark, "Dolby Stereo," typi-
sound-educated friend who can adjust the dem- cally appears in movie ads (as does yet another
onstration system properly. Then sit back and movie-theater technologyr "Dolby Spectral
Recording"; see sidebar.) And yet another,
"Dolby System," appears on video cassettes, but
not on videodiscs.
Here goes' On a video cassette or disc, "Dolby
Stereo" always neans there is Dolby Surround
encoding, even if a particular filmmaker or audio
engineer/producer chooses not to utilize it fully.
"Dolby System" means something entirely differ-
listen. Literally, it'll open your ears. ent and prosaic: that the additional "low fidelity"
Once you get your surround system home, once track of a Hi-Fi video cassette (put there for
your speakers have been carefully placed and compatibility with "low-fi" VCRs) has Dolby B
tested, once the decoder and the amplifiers are noise reduction, as on an audio cassette tape.
dancing in tandem like Fred and Cinger, remind Surround encoding appears on tapes or
yourself, Your audio/video environment is only discs marked either "Dolby Stereo" or "Dolby
as good as what you play in it. This is no time to Surround." Compounding the confusion is the
skimp on source equipment or software' Cet a fact that not all tapes or discs that contain sur-
videodisc player (optimal) or a stereo VCR (Hi-Fi round encoding are even marked as such.
type required). And though some say that sur- Vhy? Video software companies reason that
round sound makes your television screen seem since most people play video through tinny, tiny
larger, test out that theory with a big-screen TV- TV speakers rather than through their audio sys-
if it's true you'll feel like you're in a theater. tems, and since home surround sound is still new,
why bother to promote it?
Of course, this only con-
tinues to make surround
sound like a toy of the
cognoscenti-a self-defeat-
ing process if software
companies want to make
this marvelous technology
readily accessible and
make some money at the
same time. Since surround
encoding appears onlway on a film transferred to (MCA Home Video) are not surround encoded.
tape or disc, why not anticipate a time when hi-fi But the sedate British TV drama Upstairs, Down-
audio/video will be the norm, and begin labeling stairs (first l4 volumes, Thorn EMI/HBO) is-
tapes and discs properly now? though the tapes don't say so.
For the moment, the surest method to find out All this confusion will likely sort itself out as
what's encoded is to examine newspaper movie surround sound becomes as popular with the gen-
ads for films with the Dolby Stereo trademark, eral public as it is among audio/videophiles. And
and to jot down the information for the time when certainly, that will happen soon. Because now in
those movies come to video. For surround- our media rooms-just as in the outside world-
encoded TV shows and long-play music videos, we're surrounded by surround sound. I
however, it's still pot luck. For example, both the Frank Louece, a contributing editor of this mag-
pilot episode and the second-season opener of the azine, is a syndicatcd columnist and has written for
highly musical, often pyrotechnic Miami Vice Village Voice, Penthouse, and American Film.

lUhere [iil Surruunf, Snunfl fiume Frnm?

Take one part stereo film soundtrack (which including 6,000 in the U.S.-are equipped for it.
began to be used in the mid-1950s, with such Dolby Stereo always left filmmakers the option
movies as Around the World in 80 Days and The of encoding rear-channel surround information.
Role), and one part Sensurround (a sort of aural But untit recently, surround sound had been
Cinerama cooked up for Universal Pictures in actively utilized so rarely that Dolby Labs didn't
1974 andused for such films as Earthquake[tSz+), even give it a separate logo-it was just assumed
Midway lnzel, and Rollercoaster ft977f). Mix to !e part of any movie advertised as Dolby Stereo.
them with inventor Ray Dolby's namesake audio And eventually, techy home-video hobbyists found
noise-reduction system. Shake well, and you have they could make a few modifications to their sys-
Dolby Stereo-which replaces the magnetic track tems, hook up a rear pair ofspeakers, and retrieve
of early film stereo soundtracks with a matrixed surround information from video cassettes and
four-track, two-channel optical method that discs of Dolby Stereo movies. Small companies
$utroundsound
provides better sound with less wear on theaters' then started making surround-sound decoders,
film-projection gear. and by lg82t a company called, appropriately
The first movie with Dolby Stereo was Ken enough, Surround Sound Incorporated (SSI), was hrs beoome e$$onttol
Russell's r isztomania (tlzs),
although the British- marketing the first Dolby-licensed version.
spy drama Callan (1974), in mono, was the first to Today, a handful of theaters also offer "Dolby in ary mntemrurary
use Dolby noise-reduction. Actually, Monterey Spectral Recording," an evolutionary, non-digital
Pop, the 1968 concert film, included a rudimen- noise-reduction process first used on a couple of
songs on the Ruthlas People soundtrack. Since then, media room.
tary surround channel although, according to
director D. A. Pennebaker, the rtar-channel was it's appeared on Star Trek V: The Final Frontiu,
used for only about three minutes. Until the tre-, Chostbusters II, Great Balls of Fire, and other movies.
mendous showcase of Sur Wars (tszz), only 16 The process gets decoded before these films are
films were Dolby Stereo-encoded, and the pro- transferred to tape or disc, leaving a normal sur-
cess was little-known to the general public- round-sound soundtrack for home processing.
barely t00 theaters had the equipment to decode Meanwhile, music appears to be the next target
and offer it. Less than a decade later, Ileartbredk for surround sound. The first surround-sound
Ridge (Sae) became the 1,000th Dolby Stereo audio CD has arrived, Mr. Drums: Buddy Rich'Liue
film, and more than 10,000 theaters worldwide- on King Street' (Cafe Records).
-F.L.
AuDro/VrDEo lNrERloRS lll