When you mention computer speakers it is hard to
speak without mentioning Dolby in some way shape or form. Dolby labs
have their hands well and truly within the audio sector. Dolby has
developed some great sound reproduction methods and Dolby 7.1 is one of
them. Dolby has come up with the naming scheme of the two numbers
separated by a decimal point. The first digit represents the number of
speakers, so in this case seven speakers. The second digit represents
the one channel for the sub woofer or the bass channel.
Dolby is
the brand name for the digital surround sound that is used on
entertainment systems, televisions and computers. The point of surround
sound is to place the sound where it is supposed to be. 7.1 computer
speakers use the seven speakers to place the sounds in the right place.
The 7.1 system is sometimes called HD sound because it has appeared
with the latest HD devices such as Play station 3 and HD Televisions
but Dolby were always going to develop new sound systems regardless of
HD technology.
As with other Dolby systems the 7.1 computer
speakers work by decoding all seven channels from just the left and
right audio channels. The standard 5.1 channels that are the most
popular currently will soon be phased out by the 7.1 speakers that
offer a much better sound depth.
In order to take the two audio
signals, left and right, and turn them into surround sound is quite
difficult. Dolby are a clever bunch and they knew that in order for
their system to be accepted they needed to integrate the new surround
sound into the existing technology and so they developed it to fit with
existing two channel systems.
To understand how the system works
requires some pretty hefty mathematical technology. The standard left
and right channels are extracted as they are, no signal processing
required. The center channel is obviously the difference between the
left and right. The back speakers are a little more complicated and
require the signals to be phase shifted from the front channels by 90
degrees. Does the addition of an extra two speakers mean much better
sound? It definitely makes a difference and the sound depth is
unbelievable. The sound appears exactly where it is supposed to be.
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