Not too long ago, the only place you could find surround sound systems were at the cinemas. That strong, clear sound that really submerged you into the movie happening right in front of you. However, now you can this surround sound equipment everywhere, even in your own home.
That’s why today were going to talk about how to do a surround sound test for your very own home theater equipment, or for professional cinema speakers as well so that you can listen to the soundtrack of your movies as if it were a cinema thanks to IMAX Trailers or Other Trailers. But before we do that, let’s take a look at how these systems work.
How does surround sound test work?
When we talk about surround sound, we refer to the specific type of audio that makes it seems as if the sound you're hearing is coming from all around you. It is very different from the audio you'd usually get from your laptop, television or standard radio, since these ones only reproduce sound from one (or two) speakers.On the contrary, surround sound focuses on creating sounds that, as the name states it, surrounds the listeners and can be heard from anywhere, meaning the sounds comes from 360 degrees, and not just from the front or the back of the listener.
That being said, this is done through multiple audio channels speakers that are placed throughout the cinema (whether it is an at-home cinema or an actual movie theater). Keep in mind, old dated audio devices were monaural, meaning all the sound was coming from a single channel, meanwhile, in a surround sound system, you have multiple audio channels from where the sound is being played, logistically located both on the front and the back of the audience to create a “surrounding” experience.
The way these speakers work is very similar both in a cinema or at home. Basically, the front speakers will always reproduce stronger sounds, meanwhile, if someone or something is making noises on the right side of the screen, you’ll listen it to it on your right speaker, (same goes for noises on the left side). You can check these sound effects in the Distributors trailers download section.
This is through a “receiver” equipment, which decodes the surround sound information its receiving and then distributes it these signals, re-directing them to the correct speaker. This is when the surround sound test part comes in handy.
You see, in order to make sure your at home theater surround system is working correctly, or your professional theater speakers systems are working, you NEED to perform a surround sound test with special audio.
DOLBY, DTS and THX multichannel audio systems
Dolby Trailers, DTS Trailers and THX Trailers are all sections with downloads for testing surround sound systems receivers (they decode and encode the information for the speakers, acting as a processor for the audio), and are the most common types of audio systems and different formats like VOB, M2TS, MKV and WMV available in the WMV Trailers section.However, these systems are different from one another and process the surround audio in a different way, with some offering a much better experience (such as the THX listening modes) than others, which are meant for regular home theater equipment.
Regardless of what type of surround sound system you might have, performing a surround sound test with audio that’s specifically made to be played in this type of system will allow you to pick up any flaws or problems your system might have right from the start, and you can find those downloadable audios and Movie Trailers here! Make sure to check them out, we have different audios to suit different surround systems.