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Convention Paper

Ambisonic Loudspeaker Arrays

Authors: Benjamin, Eric

AES Convention 125 · Paper 7605 · October 2008

Abstract

The Ambisonic system is one of very few surround sound systems which offers the promise of reproducing full three-dimensional (periphonic) audio. It can be shown that arrays configured as regular polyhedra can allow the recreation of an accurate sound field at the center of the array. But the regular polyhedric shape can be impractical for real everyday usage because the requirement that the listener have his head located at the center of the array forces the location of the lower speakers to be beneath the floor, or even the location of a loudspeaker directly beneath the listener. This is obviously impracticable, especially in domestic applications. Likewise, it is typically the case that the width of the array is larger than can be accommodated within the room boundaries.

The infeasibility of such arrays is a primary reason why they have not been more widely deployed. The intent of this work is to explore the efficacy of alternative array shapes for both horizontal and periphonic reproduction.

Details

Published in
AES Convention 125
AES Convention
125
Paper number
7605
Publication date
October 6, 2008
Session subject
Loudspeakers
Affiliation
Dolby Laboratories (See document for exact affiliation information.)
Type
Convention Paper