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The Ambiophonic Method

post #1 of 7
8/25/01 at 4:17am
Thread Starter 
Headphone listening is great... you get quality sound that is easy to set up and costs relatively little. Plus, it's usually portable and looks cool, too. There's only one drawback:

You will never sit in the sweet spot.

Unless you've got a binaural recording on hand, you will have to compromise with the soundstaging. This doesn't bother everyone... but for those of us who want a 'you are there' experience, it isn't going to happen. Not quite.

Perhaps we headphoners should consider a dual method?

Ambiophonics also delivers quality sound for cheap... but trades portability for realistic soundstaging. A dedicated (but small) room with treatments and reverb satellites is required to pull it off.

Ever tried it?

Check out audio.muddle.de for a one-page explanation of how to do a basic ambiophonic setup using not much more than your Sound Blaster and primary loudspeakers. The best part is that it works with regular recordings.

Headphones and Ambiophonics. Each has something the other does not. Tired of one? Switch to the other!

If I had an extra room I'd be setting up an Ambiophonic chamber right now.
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post #2 of 7
8/25/01 at 4:50am
ive tried it b4 but nothing that special
nothing too spectacular

hopefully the audigy will do a better job
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post #3 of 7
8/25/01 at 5:46am
Thread Starter 
Unimpressive? Could you describe the setup used? 95% of the feedback I get about the subject is overwhelmingly positive.
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post #4 of 7
8/25/01 at 5:56am
its setup to something similar to that pic but i got two "hifi" systems hooked up to the live card for the front and rear
the aiwa is very natural sounding where the sony r very very nice sounding (very old model though)

it might be the unmatched speakers hehe.
i just dont see that bigga deal
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post #5 of 7
8/25/01 at 10:25am
Quote:
it might be the unmatched speakers
I've had a Dolby Pro-Logic surround system hooked into one of my TV's for about 10 years now. It uses an older, top of the line Pioneer receiver as a pre-amp/decoder, four Bryston amps with a Bryston electronic subwoofer crossover for power, two subs, a center channel, front mains and rear surrounds all made by Paradigm. Until about 3 months ago however, the front mains were Export Bi-Polars while the rears were model 9se's.....both, pretty good speakers on their own. I know there are definately better ( and way more expensive) speakers out there, but for a television surround system in a living room, I always thought it sounded fairly good.

3 months ago I found a second hand pair of Export Bi-polars for sale at a very reasonable price, and having been told since day one that matching the front and rear ( and even the center channel if possible) speakers was important, I decided to buy them.

I can't believe the improvement in realism now that I have 4 matching front and rear speakers. The seamless transition between front and rear, is really noticable....or should I say the lack of a non-seamless transition is really noticable.

Now I'm trying to figure out a way to use a 4 foot tall bi-polar as a center channel. Laying it on it's side is no good as that would change the characteristics of the speaker. Plus, I don't think the bi-polars are shielded.
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post #6 of 7
8/26/01 at 8:09pm
I just tried this yesterday, with my speakers right next to each other and a large piece of cardboard. I was very impressed. It is, however, so unpractical. I am waiting for someone to make a good Winamp plug-in with active crosstalk cancellation, so I can enjoy the benefits of this without having to use a put my nose right up to a huge piece of cardboard whenever I want to listen.
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post #7 of 7
5/3/09 at 3:26pm
Don't mean to revive a REALLY old thread, but there is finally a practical PC based solution:

electro-music.com :: View topic - Mosc's Ambio VST
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