Ambisonic Surround Sound

Go back in time to find the sound of the future

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Ambisonics is Dead: Long Live Ambisonics!

For a whirlwind tour of audio technology, read this article by John Whiting. It is reproduced with permission.


Frequently Asked Questions

If you want to know what is Ambisonic Surround Sound, read the FAQ. The latest version is 2.8, and was released on 21 January 1998.

You can also read the complete FAQ on one page. The complete FAQ is also available as an eBook (ePub) file, an eBook (Kindle) file, and a PDF file. Previous versions of the FAQ are available in an archive.


Why Ambisonic Surround Sound?

The three facets of a sound field and their reproduction.


An Experiment into Pair-Wise Mixing and Channel Separation

Equipment required: A stereo CD and something to play it on.


UHJ Discography

A discography of UHJ encoded recordings is available on Mark Anderson's Surround Discography Web page. The UHJ discography was originally compiled by Eero Aro and is being maintained by Mark.


Glossary

An Ambisonic glossary is available. This was written by Dr Geoffrey Barton and originally published in MultiChannelSound Review. It is reproduced with permission.


Spherical Harmonic Components

With Ambisonics, a sound field is decomposed into spherical harmonic components, termed W, X, Y and Z. These are collectively called B-Format. The Quantum Chemistry Group, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain, have produced some excellent images to illustrate these. They are reproduced with permission.


Ambisonic Bibliography

A bibliography of publications about Ambisonics and related matters compiled by the late Michael A Gerzon, the "Brains" behind Ambisonics, and others is available.


Want to sell?

If you have a used Ambisonic/UHJ decoder, in any condition, which you would like to sell then I would like to buy. This includes decoders from Audio+Design/Cepiar, Abacoid, IMF Electronics, etc.


Help for DIY enthusiasts

Design equations for people working on home build projects. Also, see the "Elsewhere" links at the bottom of this page.


Elsewhere

More Help for DIY Enthusiasts

Apart from my page described above, help for people designing or building their own Ambisonic equipment includes:

Resources

Articles and other resources on Ambisonics.

File Formats

File formats for downloadable Ambisonic audio files:

Research

Research into Ambisonic Surround Sound is being conducted by a few groups around the world, including:

Manufacturers

Manufactures of equipment and systems for professional and domestic Ambisonic processing include:

Ambisonia. ambisonics surround sound

Ambisonia. ambisonics surround sound

Ambisonia. ambisonics surround sound

Ambisonia. ambisonics surround sound


Links


Webmaster: / martin.leeseAT_SINGstanfordalumni.org