Beyond 5.1–Audyssey DSX Breaks the Surround Barrier
Audyssey Laboratories is announcing its latest technology, Dynamic Surround Expansion (DSX). DSX is a scalable system that adds new speakers to overcome the spatial sound rendering limitations faced by 5.1 surround sound systems. Since the release of its award winning MultEQ software in 2004, Audyssey Laboratories has performed extensive internal and university research to create technologies that improve audio playback quality. DSX follows in this tradition.
To perceive a truly immersive experience, human hearing requires more information than what 5.1 systems currently deliver. DSX creates additional channels to augment 5.1 systems with the correct direction, time of arrival and frequency response characteristics to achieve a seamless and expanded soundstage.
“DSX provides the necessary acoustical and perceptual cues for a more realistic reproduction of surround content,” says Chris Kyriakakis, Chief Technology Officer of Audyssey. The research, spearheaded by Audyssey Chief Science Officer, Tomlinson Holman and Kyriakakis showed that the properly controlled sound coming from a direction slightly wider than the front main speakers is the most important cue used by human perception of soundstage width. Following width, the second most important information comes from height channels that help define soundstage depth.
DSX is a scalable solution, which builds on a 5.1 setup by providing a pair of wide channels and a pair of height channels to render the additional information. DSX also provides Surround Envelopment Processing to improve the blend between the front and surround channels for a seamless and immersive soundstage. Current 7.1 systems can be adapted to DSX by moving the back surround speakers to the wide locations for improved envelopment.
Several receivers with DSX will be available from Audyssey licensees beginning in June 2009.
About Audyssey Laboratories™
Established in 2002, Audyssey Laboratories is the industry leader in research-based sound equalization solutions for the professional and consumer audio marketplace.
