Better 3-D Sound Coming to PCs

November 1997 / International Bits / Better 3-D Sound Coming to PCs

Rainer Mauth
Audio chip manufacturers such as Taiwan's C-Media and Japan's Yamaha earlier this year licensed Central Research Laboratories' new Sensaura Digital Ear 3-D audio technology. Yamaha says it selected CRL's algorithms be cause, for the first time, they provide spatially accurate sound perception using only two stereo speakers.
The Sensaura 3-D audio core digitally emulates human hearing. Music takes on a "bigger room sound," including the spatially accurate acoustic perception of the recorded environment. The Sensaura-compatible chips manufactured by Yamaha and C-Media are meant for PC-related multimedia applications such as computer games and virtual-reality applications. They can make any monophonic or multichanne l source sound like a spherical 3-D sound field by virtually positioning sound sources all around the listener, including above, below, and behind. Secondary processing provides sound effects, such as reverberation and Doppler shifting. The system also includes cross-talk cancellation that is critical for loudspeaker playback.
The chips will be compatible with Microsoft's Direct3DSound and the Virtual Dolby standards. Expect to see the first PCs including the new 3-D audio technology early next year from Taiwanese PC manufacturers such as Mitac.

Up to the International Bits section contents

Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it is theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.

more...

BYTE Digest editors every month analyze and evaluate the best articles from Information Week, EE Times, Dr. Dobb's Journal, Network Computing, Sys Admin, and dozens of other CMP publications—bringing you critical news and information about wireless communication, computer security, software development, embedded systems, and more!

Find out more

BYTE CD-ROM

NOW, on one CD-ROM, you can instantly access more than 8 years of BYTE.

The Best of BYTE
Volume 1: Programming Languages

In this issue of Best of BYTE, we bring together some of the leading programming language designers and implementors...

Copyright © 2005 CMP Media LLC, Privacy Policy, Your California Privacy rights, Terms of Service
Site comments: webmaster@byte.com
SDMG Web Sites: BYTE.com, C/C++ Users Journal, Dr. Dobb's Journal, MSDN Magazine, New Architect, SD Expo, SD Magazine, Sys Admin, The Perl Journal, UnixReview.com, Windows Developer Network