The dimly lit theaters have the best sound experience. As you step in, there’s an excitement to watch something new, the idea of exploring a new storyline and watching it with your favorite people around, is complete bliss. Wait a minute, will this excitement be the same without proper sound effects? Well, your answer is surely a resounding no.
The storyline, good music, and sound effects together make a good entertainment package to spice up your time. The prime reason to enjoy sound effects in theaters is the surround sound. However, not everyone can afford surround sound speakers. Here’s where virtual surround sound can help you simulate the feeling of multi-dimensional sound. Want to know how? Here are all the details:
What is virtual surround sound?
Virtual surround sound explanation in a word is modulating volume, and creating an atmosphere that simulates the experience of surround sound. When we think about home theaters, we picture a number of speakers surrounding ourselves. However, in a small space, too many speakers can make the space congested. And would you like cables and speakers all around your room? For a hassle-free experience, and if you have a small space, virtual surround sound is the right choice.
With two or three speakers (or sometimes just one!) virtual surround sound tricks the human brain into believing as if the sound is coming from all the different directions. With fewer cables, it mimics multichannel surround sound with some clever technology.
In short, virtual surround sound gives you the experience of multi-channel audio on your headphones and other devices. Keep reading to learn more about virtual surround sound.
How does virtual surround sound work?
As discussed above, virtual surround sound tricks the brain by creating an illusion of sound waves coming from multiple directions. It imitates multi-dimensional sound effects by subtly adjusting the volume of the left and right speakers. Let’s understand how virtual surround sound works:
For example, if someone is talking to you standing next to your right ear, you know the sound source is from the right side. However, you can also hear the sound from your left ear. The sound comparatively will be much clearer to your right ear, but as you can hear the sound from your left ear, it gives a sense of direction, where the sound is coming from. Now, if the person walks away, and talks to you, you can’t guess from where exactly the sound is coming, left or right. Moreover, if the person is very far away, you will have to strain your ears to hear the other person talking.
This technique is used by virtual surround sound to create an immersive experience. by adjusting the volume of left and right speakers, it tricks the brain into experiencing multi-dimensional sound.
Another technique is the head-related transfer function (HRTF). As sound waves reach a person’s body, it reflects on the head, shoulder and outer ear. These sound waves interact with each other, making them big or small by changing the sound’s quality or volume. This is known as HRTF, and it can tailor the sound to imitate the way multi-dimensional sound would sound to the ears.
Virtual surround sound also uses sound reflections, and spatial audio processing to create a multi-dimensional sound effect.
The way surround sound and virtual surround sound work has a huge difference. However, with this technique mentioned above, you will not be able to spot much difference.
Where to get a virtual surround sound experience?
You can get this experience with Boom 3D on your Mac or Windows PC. Instead of purchasing an expensive home theater system, you can go for Boom 3D. It has a host of features, such as a 31-band equalizer with handcrafted presets to match every genre of music. Equalizer will help to enhance audio quality. Moreover, there are audio effects, access to 20,000 plus radio stations, podcasts, and much more.
Enjoy the benefits of virtual surround sound using ANY ordinary headphones with Boom 3D. No big investment, it’s all about great sound with Boom 3D.
FAQs
1) What does virtual surround sound do?
It tricks the brain into experiencing sound from different directions. However, it uses 2 channels and creates an environment of multichannel audio.
2) Do I need expensive headphones to experience virtual surround sound
If you install Boom 3D, you can enjoy virtual surround sound with ANY headphones on Mac and Windows.
3) Does virtual surround sound improve sound quality?
It can simulate multi-dimensional sound and improve sound quality, giving a life-like sound experience even though you’re listening on headphones.
