Home audio
Encyclopedia
Home audio, essentially, refers to any audio electronics intended for home use, such as shelf stereo
s and surround sound
receivers, which are becoming the most popular piece of home audio equipment. Home audio generally does not include such standard equipment such as built-in television speakers, but rather accessory equipment, which may be intended to enhance or replace standard equipment, such as standard TV speakers. Since surround sound receivers, which are primarily intended to enhance the reproduction of a movie, are the most popular home audio device, the primary field of home audio is home cinema
.
, low fidelity
sound reproduction format. Early electrical phonographs as well as many other audio formats started out as monaural formats.
was invented as a means of creating a sound stage, a more realistic reproduction of the sound as recorded live. Stereo sound usually refers to two-channel audio, but technically it refers to anything better than monaural audio, as the term literally means "solid sound."
sound was a four-channel reproduction system, which is considered to be the origin of surround sound
. It was recorded on phonograph, tape, and a few CDs
, and required a quadraphonic player for playback. The format was released in 1970 and never gained much popularity.
formats were used in movie theatres dating back to Disney's Fantasia
, and became available to consumers in the late 80's. There are many formats of surround sound, differing based on the type of decoding processor they used. Dolby Pro Logic
is one of the oldest processors, creating four channels, and Dolby Pro Logic IIx is one of the newest, creating seven or eight discrete channels. Competing technologies have complicated the purchasing decisions of consumers.
Shelf stereo
thumb|right|200px|A Magnavox 2.0 shelf stereoThe term shelf stereo refers to any home stereo system that is physically suitable for placement on a shelf or other similar location. Shelf stereo systems are becoming more popular as their capabilities increase while size decreases. The price of shelf...
s and surround sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
receivers, which are becoming the most popular piece of home audio equipment. Home audio generally does not include such standard equipment such as built-in television speakers, but rather accessory equipment, which may be intended to enhance or replace standard equipment, such as standard TV speakers. Since surround sound receivers, which are primarily intended to enhance the reproduction of a movie, are the most popular home audio device, the primary field of home audio is home cinema
Home cinema
Home cinema, also commonly called home theater, are home entertainment set-ups that seek to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood with the help of video and audio equipment in a private home....
.
Monaural
Home audio dates back before electricity, to Edison's phonograph, a monauralMonaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
, low fidelity
Low fidelity
Low fidelity or lo-fi describes a sound recording which contains technical flaws such as distortion, hum, or background noise, or limited frequency response...
sound reproduction format. Early electrical phonographs as well as many other audio formats started out as monaural formats.
Stereo
Stereophonic soundStereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
was invented as a means of creating a sound stage, a more realistic reproduction of the sound as recorded live. Stereo sound usually refers to two-channel audio, but technically it refers to anything better than monaural audio, as the term literally means "solid sound."
Quadraphonic
QuadraphonicQuadraphonic
Quadraphonic sound – the most widely used early term for what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of one another...
sound was a four-channel reproduction system, which is considered to be the origin of surround sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
. It was recorded on phonograph, tape, and a few CDs
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, and required a quadraphonic player for playback. The format was released in 1970 and never gained much popularity.
Surround sound
Surround soundSurround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
formats were used in movie theatres dating back to Disney's Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
, and became available to consumers in the late 80's. There are many formats of surround sound, differing based on the type of decoding processor they used. Dolby Pro Logic
Dolby Pro Logic
Dolby Pro Logic is a surround sound processing technology developed by Dolby Laboratories, designed to decode soundtracks encoded with Dolby Surround. Dolby Stereo was originally developed by Dolby in 1976 for analog cinema sound systems...
is one of the oldest processors, creating four channels, and Dolby Pro Logic IIx is one of the newest, creating seven or eight discrete channels. Competing technologies have complicated the purchasing decisions of consumers.