Spatial Audio

Preface

Since the early part of the twentieth century, perhaps even the last years of the nineteenth, sound engineers have been aware of the need for a spatial dimension to their art. For reasons mainly to do with commercial feasibility, a lot of mainstream approaches to this issue have been limited to only two audio channels, feeding two loudspeakers intended to be placed in front of the listener. This resulted in the need for a number of compromises and limited the creative options for rendering spatial sound. Although cinema sound has involved more than two channels for many years, most consumer audio has remained resolutely two-channel.

The later part of the twentieth century, particularly the last ten years, gave rise to a rapid growth ...