Ambiophonics - Roots & Research

Roots & Research

In 1981, Carver Corporation incorporated filtering to attempt to pre-subtract anti-crosstalk in their analogue Carver C4000 Control Console. This was called "Sonic holography".

An early hardware attempt to compensate for loudspeaker-ear crosstalk was to apply a little out-of-phase left channel to a separate driver in the right speaker cabinet, and vice-versa. This was marketed in 1982 by Polk Audio as "true stereo" in their SDA-SRS, SDA1 and SDA2 series speakers. Although the theory is questionable, the results were well received.

In 1991, Roland Corporation launched Roland Sound Space, a system that created a 3D sound-space using stereo speakers. It worked better for some listeners than others.

Ambiophonics is an amalgam of new research and previously known psychoacoustic principles and binaural technologies. This knowledge has enabled audio recording and reproduction that approaches the realistic soundfield at the ears of the listener that is comparable to what one would perceive in a concert hall, movie scene, or game environment. This level of high-fidelity was not realizable until human hearing and acoustics principles were thoroughly researched, and affordable PCs with sufficient processing speed became available. At the Casa Della Musica at the University of Parma, Italy, or at the listening lab at Filmaker Technology, Pennsylvania USA, ambiophonics, ambisonics, stereophonics, 5.1 2D surround, and hybrid full-sphere 3D systems can be compared for the abilities of these methods to convey the spatiality and tone color of real perception. Developers have provided many scientific papers and downloadable tools for implementing ambiophonics free of charge for personal use.