When surround sound was first realised, it was in the realm of commercial cinemas, and it made us all gasp with excitement. Before surround sound, listeners would experience home audio only from the front centre speaker and the 2 front speakers, left & right. Now affordable for the average home, surround sound, as the name suggests allows the listener to be encapsulated by sound 360° on the horizontal plane. Surround sound gives the listener an enhanced audio experience as individual audio channels are expressed through the listeners various speakers.
Being able to hear a fighter jet roar from behind you, over your head and shoot the enemy in front, or hear birds chirping to the left and water rushing behind you to the right allows the listener to further sink into the moment. Combined with the visual elements in a home theatre, surround sound is a technique that has advanced the home entertainment industry.
Our expectations have also changed, and our ears have been trained to expect sound to come from every direction when we go to the cinema. Such is the influence and integration of surround sound, we now have similar expectations to our own home entertainment set-ups, and this has indeed become standard.
Surround is typically expressed as 5.1, which means: 1 x Centre speaker, Front left & right, Rear left & right, together with a subwoofer. You may also read about other versions such as: 7.1, which includes 2 extra rear speakers, and gives you an even greater depth of surround sound.
Surround sound systems are widely available and affordable, with various options on the market.
