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Article: Surround sound going portable Post-stereo technologies take music beyond two channels
- Article from:
- International Herald Tribune
- Article date:
- April 3, 2004
- Author:
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Sean Captain
International Herald Tribune
04-03-2004
Despite the ultramodern aura of devices that play compressed digital music files, from the Apple iPod player to the Rio Karma, they all share one anachronistic trait: They only have two audio channels. The basic stereo format used on vinyl records since the 1950s and carried over to CDs in the 1980s still defines most recorded music. By contrast, DVD movies come with Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtracks that can parcel the audio among five speakers (and a subwoofer for extra-low tones) to provide the illusion that you are inside the action, surrounded by sound. Such surround-sound or multichannel audio is making its way into recorded ...