Comparison
Multisonic Info
How does Multisonic® Imaging compare with discrete left-center-right mixing?
Multisonic Imaging:
l Supplies perfect stereo imaging for at least 80% of the audience.
l Provides an effective mix for those listening extremely close to a loudspeaker and those very far from the opposite loudspeaker. Sounds panned completely opposite will be 6 dB down in the nearby loudspeaker.
l Allows live mixes with prominent signals panned full left, full right, or anywhere in between, as desired for the soundstage. Loudspeaker coverage deficiencies do not dictate the mix engineer's signal placement in the sound field.
l Includes discrete center and surround operation.
l Allows the system to simultaneously and easily reproduce two-channel stereo sources, using all three loudspeakers, with perfect stereo imaging for the entire audience.
l Is very tolerant of imperfect loudspeaker coverage or poor room acoustics. l Is easy to use and cost-effective. |
L-C-R Mixes:
l In practice, all three loudspeakers cannot cover the entire listening area. Typically the left loudspeaker cannot cover the right-front audience area, and the right loudspeaker cannot cover the left-front audience area.
l Therefore, mix engineers will not pan any prominent signal components to the left or right. The signal would become weak, far away, or inaudible to listeners on the opposite side.
l The extreme left and right are typically used for effects only.
l There is no effective way to utilize a two-channel stereo program source without degrading the stereo sound stage.
l Often the left and right loudspeakers serve more to increase coverage than to provide a well-defined soundstage. l Discrete left-center-right mixing consoles are extremely expensive.
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How is Multisonic® different from Pro·Logic*?
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Multisonic Imaging:
l Provides a continuous, consistent, and solid stereo soundstage.
l Always Images all directions simultaneously.
l Always creates a completely stable sound field.
l Does not dynamically alter the sound field at all.
l Is clean, true high-fidelity stereo at it's best-no "processed" sound. It is suitable for audiophile sound systems. l Optimum setup is simple and is done by ear. |
Pro·Logic:
l "Now-you-hear-this-speaker now-you-hear-that-speaker" operation. Loudspeaker locations are emphasized.
l When a signal is steered, the rest of the sound field goes diffuse.
l Steering often causes instability of the sound field and muddies the sound due to its compressor-like gain control action with built-in time constants. l Requires instruments for optimum calibration. | |
l The surround
signal is derived from the left-minus-right difference signal.
This approach is intended in surround mixes and is fully compatible
with all video material and audio-only sources.
l The surround
signal is not dynamically altered with steering or gain riding.
A high-quality signal is maintained throughout the signal path.
l The surround
signal is split into two outputs using Miles Technology's proprietary
SpreadSoundÔ
process. It can be reproduced with two or more loudspeakers located
at the back and sides of the listening area.
l SpreadSound surround greatly reduces localization, while preventing "in-your-head" and "out-of-phase" effects. It also increases the depth and warmth of the ambient surround sound field. It is far more accurate and cleaner than digital decorrelation methods.
How does Multisonic Imaging work with "Dolby-encoded"
videos?
l Actually,
"Dolby Surround" video programs are not really encoded
at all. Dolby Surround programming is mixed like normal stereo
(with surround) while using a Pro·Logic decoder to verify
the results. Pro·Logic is a decode-only process. Mixes
are made (actually compromised) in a way that allows somewhat-predictable
Pro·Logic decoding, hopefully without extreme or unexpected
side effects.
l Programs mixed
for Dolby Surround still use standard panning and soundstaging
techniques. Therefore, they work perfectly well with clean sound
reproduction systems such as standard stereo or Multisonic Imaging.
How is Multisonic Surround different from Pro·Logic Surround?
l One difference
is the effect of steering. Pro·Logic will steer the surround
signal when no other localization is needed.
l Multisonic Surround
is an ambient-type surround; it is not intended to localize sound
directly at the rear loudspeakers (although it can do that with
full-surround panning and appropriate loudspeaker selection and
placement). Instead, Multisonic surround is more like commercial
theater or THX surround in that it creates an ambient sound field
which represents the intended and recorded acoustic environment.
It will work well with dipole, bipole, or conventional surround
loudspeakers.
l Of particular
note is that Multisonic Surround works extremely well with ALL types
of program material and is totally faithful to high-fidelity recordings
because it does not add dynamic, spectral, or delay distortion
to the signal. The character and dynamics of the original
recording environment are preserved.
How does Multisonic Imaging work with Dolby 5.1 or AC-3?
l The Multisonic
sound system concept is perfectly compatible with discrete setups
for Dolby 5.1 and makes full use of the system with normal stereo
program sources.
l Multisonic Imaging
optimally utilizes the same setup of loudspeakers and amplifiers.
l Multisonic Imaging
is the ultimate high-fidelity way to reproduce standard stereo
audio and video sources with a high-performance multichannel surround-sound
system.
l Because most
program material is not in Dolby 5.1, a compatible yet competent
alternative is needed.
How is Multisonic's 6 dB of separation better than the 25-30
dB claimed by Pro·Logic decoders?
Note: How many dB of "separation" is
pure specsmanship and does not indicate how the system sounds.
Much more important is the system's ability to localize specific
sound-source locations across the entire soundstage.
l Pro·Logic
achieves only 3 dB of actual separation between the center channel
and either side channel until steering is employed.
l During steering,
the sound moves to a single direction, producing a more drastic
separation. But in the process, the other directions are diffused,
and the result is a total loss of separation an directionality
except for the one steered direction.
l Multisonic Imaging
maintains the full 6 dB of separation for all soundstage locations,
with all sounds in the mix, under all conditions, simultaneously.
l The Multisonic
Imaging process, with 6 dB of separation, provides outstanding
audible directionality and focus of all sound directions across
the soundstage.
l Instead of
subjectively separating the channels for loudspeaker feeds,
Multisonic Imaging actually integrates the channels, creating
a continuous soundstage made of precisely-focused sounds. The
loudspeaker locations may actually "disappear", as precise
localization occurs at all points across the sound stage.
* Multisonic and SpreadSound are trademarks of Miles Technology Inc, Niles MI. Pro·Logic is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corp, San Francisco CA.