4  Multichannel stereo and surround sound systems

This chapter is concerned with a description of the most commonly encountered multichannel (more than two channels) stereo reproduction configurations, most of which are often referred to as surround sound. There is an important distinction to be appreciated between standards or conventions that specify basic channel or speaker configurations and proprietary systems such as Dolby Digital and DTS whose primary function is the coding and delivery of multichannel audio signals. The latter are discussed in the second part of the chapter, in which is also contained an explanation of the Ambisonic system for stereo signal representation.

Surround sound standards often specify little more than the channel ...

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