For a great many of us selecting a TV is a very important decision. While some people will prefer to watch TV on a normal LCD television, other will like to watch their programs on a plasma TV. Since you can find a large number of plasma TVs you will need to know how to choose the best plasma TV that you can afford.

As plasma televisions range in size you should look at the price and features that you will find with these televisions. The size of the plasma TV that you select will influence the amount of money that you need to pay.

The various plasma TVs in the market that are 42 inches and below are not that expensive. You can generally expect to pay in the region of $1000 to about $5000 for these plasma TVs. The plasma TVs that are large than 42 inches in size will have a high price for you to pay.

Once you have settled on the brand and the size you can concentrate on the other aspects of looking for the best plasma TV. The different features that you will find in plasma TVs will also influence your choice of plasma TV.

These different features will include how the color saturation looks. As most plasma televisions have a rich color look you can usually find well placed blocks of solid black that adds a depth to your viewing pleasure.

There are many other features that you can find in plasma TVs. As the plasma TVs has plasma gas cells to provide the color for the TV you will see that your plasma TV can give you a better true to life color and depth to your various programs. The ability of looking at high definition television viewing will give a smoother look to your picture image.

When you are selecting the best plasma TV that you can buy you should see if there are any terminals that are found with your plasma TV choice. These terminals will let you plug in accessories like a camcorder, DVD player, game stations like playstation and X-box. Sometimes you will be able to see another mini screen in the corner of your main viewing screen.

By looking at these different items you can choose the best plasma TV for your television watching pleasure. Knowing the main features and elements for choosing a plasma TV will reduce the field of plasma TVs that you have to look through. This way you know that you will choose only the best plasma TV that you can get.

Major movie houses, theatres, home entertainment environments, gaming, arcade and other public and in-house presentation areas today use surround sound systems for enhanced audio entertainment. Surround sound is basically when you increase the dimension of your sound (or sound waves), sort of like on the Twilight Zone. In other words you take the standard one dimensional audio production, referred to as mono / Left-Right, and turn it into multiple dimensions; two or three.

Sound Systems

To create surround sound, you can go any one of several different directions. The simplest and probably the oldest way, would be to set up a bunch of speakers surrounding the audience, so that the sound comes in to the listeners from all over, from the different directions.

A different method is to combine the use of headphones with localized audio production with psychoacoustics. The result is a simulated three-dimensional effect.

And another way to create surround sound is with ambisonics where you reconstruct the sound at a central point. However, you get a gradual decline in quality as you move outward.

Still another way is to use wave field synthesis (WFS), with multiple loudspeakers and a computer aid.

Popular today are everyday devices like stereo, PC soundcards, some camcorders and AV receivers. These feature digital signal or audio processors that create surround sound via stereo sources, or have add-ons, as in some camcorder cases.

Formats

Just as nothing stays the same, ditto with sound formats. Top ones have included

discrete 5.1 Surround sound format with DVD-Audio, also known as DVD-A and SACD which stands for Super Audio CD. Moving on you have ambisonics, quadraphonic then Dolby 5.1 Surround sound. And later are: DTS, DVD-Video or DVD-V and the latest MP3 Surround.

Surround Sound Specs

3.0 Surround (matrixed):

3 audio channels: 2 for speakers front – left, right; 1 rear

4.0 Surround (matrixed Quadraphonic):

4 audio channels: 2 for speakers front – left, right; 2 rear

4.1 Surround (matrixed Prologic):

4 audio channels: 3 for speakers front – left, center, right; 1 rear (.1 = subwoofer)

5.1 Surround (matrixed Prologic II):

5 audio channels: 3 for speakers front – left, center, right; 2 at rear or side (.1 = subwoofer)

5.1 Surround (discrete Dolby Digital, DTS):

5 digital audio channels: 3 for speakers front – left, center, right; 2 at rear or side (.1 = subwoofer)

6.1 Surround (discrete Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES):

6 digital audio channels: 3 for speakers front – left, center, right; 3 for the rear / side (.1 = subwoofer)

7.1 Surround (discrete SDDS):

7 digital audio channels: left, right, center, left surround, right surround, left rear, right rear positions (.1 = subwoofer)

In order for a broadcasted signal to get from the broadcasting building to your house, it must travel a long and windy path. There are several steps involved along with some sophisticated equipment for your favorite TV show or movie to get from point A to point B. In this article, I will be demystifying the components and processes involved and what exactly they do!

When you’re watching the newest flick on your big screen via a TV satellite dish, the goes through a process. Once the broadcasting service you subscribe to gets the show, it is uploaded and broadcasted to the TV satellite dish. Because you are a subscriber to the satellite service provider, you will have access to the uploaded videos. Depending on the type of cable you have (digital or analog); there are specific ways to get the channels.

Analog

Analog is becoming less and less popular. In some areas, this service isn’t even available – it’s digital or nothing! This is a good thing in my opinion. Let’s keep the quality standard high. Analog video quality is not as good as digital and is transferred using antenna and receivers (a.k.a. a bunch of junk that is outdated). If you’re watching TV that uses an analog signal, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Digital

Digital will make you want to cry after you see its clarity compared to analog. It’s the best quality video and is 10 times the quality of the best analog TV systems. In order to view this kind of signal, you will need a computer monitor or a High Definition TV (HDTV). The digital signal is better than analog because of the amount of pixels the screen can put into a space. The more pixels within one inch, the better the quality.

Just what is a TV satellite dish?

A TV satellite dish is a piece of equipment that is placed on top or along side of a house in a specific location so that it can receive the signal from the big satellite that is broadcasting the signal. Your TV satellite dishes will then receive the signal, assemble it, and slap it onto your TV screen to watch.

Other Components

What is a Receiver? A receiver is a box that will decode and translate the signal of the satellite television broadcast so that your TV can display it. High Definition (HD) channels are only available for those who have a HDTV. So basically, a receiver gets the signal from the TV satellite dish and delivers it to your TV set so that you can enjoy your shows.

How does the information get to the main satellite? When a television program is recorded it is then delivered to the network station that will broadcast the show. It is then sent to either the satellite or the cable system which brings it straight to your house.

What are broadcasting stations? A broadcasting station is a place that takes a recorded program and broadcasts it out to TV satellite dishes or analog cable TVs. This station can also be used to broadcast live news, the weather and other local channels that you see on your television every night.

Cable TV is the name given to a system which gives television to viewers through radio frequency signals transferred through fixed optical fibers or underground cables to television sets in peoples homes. Cable T-V is very similar to terrestrial TV. The only important exception is the fact that in terrestrial broadcasts the cable goes over the air whereas in cable programs it goes to the provider. The problem with cable programs is that there are virtually no basic free of charge cable services.

Providers of cable television make their viewers dependent on them in the sense that the viewers have to see what ever the providers show. Nowadays cable TV provides a much better picture quality with the help of digital cable which makes the condition of weather, the presence of hills and line of sight have no bearing upon the picture quality. Cable television also offers Subscription costs and availability prove to be problems with cable television. Satellite shows a much more impressive and much broader line-up of television channels is generally preferred over cable. It also explores free to air channels provided by many different satellites.

Satellite television can come in subscription packages and can also be custom built by the viewer. Broadband internet is available on both cable television and satellite TV systems. It is pay-per-view and premium content internet. It is also a one way broadband connection. It is amazing how internet makes its presence felt everywhere in ones life in todays times. No wonder then, that both satellite and cable T-V are now being discarded gradually for Internet television viewing. With Video On Demand and thousands of channels, the features of Internet TV are much more advanced than other systems such as cable programs, terrestrial television or satellite broadcasts. Now people can watch online whats already available on television but on their own time and their own choice. How many times have we wished that our favorite show would come at a time when we did not have to work or cook? That is made possible by Internet T-V.

A lot of content is shown which is only online, and thus cannot be viewed on regular television. There is so much to choose from music, movies, videos, news, sports and dazzling array of content that more and more viewers are tuning into every day. Fresh audiences are being found for pre-recorded shows while special-interest shows with specific subjects are economical, available and easy to access. New features like audience rating are also being developed and the whole idea is to make Internet TV much more interactive than regular television. It is viewer centered and multi-device i.e. it can be played in many devices your computer, cell phone, regular television and other portable media devices. Quality content is available and still more is being developed for users to access. The non essential mindless bit of television can be totally cut out by being able to choose what you want to view, and this is very symbolic of the kind of freedom and liberation that technological advances have made possible for us.

Time to get started on this topic. Take a few moments to read every aspect of this paper hopefully it will be of great help. For a great many of us selecting a Television is a very crucial decision. While some people will choose to watch Television set on a normal Liquid crystal display television, other will like to watch their programs on a plasma TV. Since you can find a large number of plasma TVs you will need to know how to select the best plasma TV that you can afford.

As plasma televisions range in sizing you should look at the cost and features that you will find with these televisions. The sizing of the plasma TV that you select will influence the amount of money that you need to pay.

The diverse plasma TVs in the market that are Forty-two inches and below are not that expensive. You can mostly expect to pay up in the region of $1000 to about $5000 for these plasma TVs. The plasma TVs that are large than Forty-two inches in sizing will have a high cost for you to pay.

Once you have formed on the brand and the sizing you can focus on the other aspects of sounding for the best plasma TV. The unlike features that you will find in plasma TVs will also influence your choice of plasma TV.

These another(a) features will include how the color saturation looks. As most plasma televisions have a rich color look you can commonly find well set blocks of solid black that adds a depth to your viewing pleasure.

There are many other features that you can find in plasma TVs. As the plasma TVs has plasma gas cells to provide the color for the Video you will see that your plasma TV can give you a better true to life color and depth to your diverse programs. The power of look at high definition television viewing will give a smoother look to your picture image.

When you are selecting the best plasma TV that you can purchase you should see if there are any terminals that are found with your plasma TV choice. These terminals will let you plug in accessories like a camcorder, Videodisk player, game stations like play station and X-box. Sometimes you will be able to see another mini sort out in the corner of your main stir up screen.

By looking at at these unlike items you can select the best plasma TV for your television watching pleasure. Knowledgeable the main features and elements for choosing a plasma TV will cut down the field of plasma TVs that you have to look through. This way you know that you will take only the best plasma TV that you can get.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article and found the data useful and interesting.

Anyone can watch satellite TV online without any satellite dish system nowadays. In case you do not know, this article would show you one time-tested and another new revolutionary way to watch satellite TV on the internet without having to set up a satellite dish.

Many of the older generation grew up in an era of satellite dishes, especially for those who live in the rural areas where cable don’t exist. The dishes are transmitters and together with receivers are conduits for TV signals to be displayed as visual images and pictures on our TV screens. However, they are not always pleasant. Set up can be tough and definitely not for those who are not good with their hands or have poor technical skills. Satellite dishes have grown smaller in recent years but they used to be huge larger than 6 foot monsters in earlier days. If that irks you, you would be relieved to know that you can watch satellite TV online just like many others without satellite dish system.

What are the hardware and PC requirements you need to set up your ‘satellite-dish less’ PC satellite online TV?

1. A Good PCTV Card

A PCTV card can be installed onto your computer to make your computer work like a satellite television set. Such cards come in the form of internal or external hardware. If you are familiar with the inside of a computer, then an internal card could be a good choice since they tend to be cheaper and more affordable. However, do not bother yourself when you find it too troublesome to fix it internally because there are external cards that work more like plug-and-play gadgets. They cost more and can set you back easily by a few hundreds. As long as your PC has a spare USB port, this option to watch satellite TV online is open to you.

2. PC Requirements

I would suggest you check your systems configuration before you start shopping for a PCTV card. Most cards require a minimum Pentium 3 333MHz system to run well but remember to note down the specifications like RAM, hard disk space, Operating System, etc before you head to the stores.

3. Ready Internet Connection

PCTV cards work well with both dial-up and broadband connections. However, I have a word of advice here. Dial-up transmission runs like a snail and is a really serious party spoiler. You can end up more frustrated than glad that you are watching the program. Go for broadband connection if you can afford to.

Okay, now that we have discussed about the older commonly accepted method to watch satellite TV online, we will look at another new revolutionary technique. This requires the usage of PC satellite TV software which can be downloaded easily. The setup is simple and all it takes is downloading the software and clicking a few buttons before you are ready to watch satellite TV online from more than 3000 channels. Awesome isn’t it?

For more information on this PC satellite TV software, do a read up at my satellite TV blog.

This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Shopping for a television can be a complex endeavor. Buyers have numerous technologies, all providing excellent viewing, from which to choose. Aside from pocketbook considerations, the impressive pictures and audio from a television can drive the purchasing decision for most shoppers. However, the quality of the viewing experience, as well as the cost of the television, is greatly influenced by the size of the television screen.

How should a potential television buyer determine which size television is the right one for their situation?

There are many methods of determining the screen size which would be recommended by those in the industry. In general, televisions less than 27″ are used in bedrooms and those found in kitchens tend to be 19″ and smaller. For living room use, most people tend toward screens 27″ and larger. Home Theater applications typically make use of television screens 32” and up. These aren’t rules of course, just “norms”.

Although there are many proposed methods of calculating the optimum screen size, one of the primary considerations is the room in which it will be viewed; or more specifically the distance between the viewer and the television. Using this distance, it is simple to determine which screen will produce the best viewing.

The calculation varies based on the type of television that will be purchased. If a buyer selects a widescreen, high definition (high resolution) LCD or plasma screen they can actually sit a bit closer to the screen because the scan lines and pixels are less visible. The picture remains clear despite viewing the screen in closer proximity.

For these televisions, the viewing distance from the screen to the seat from which they will typically view their television can be measured in inches. This measurement is then divided by 3 which results in a number that will be a rough estimate of the minimum size screen that should be purchased. As an example, if the distance is measured at 96 inches (8 feet); the minimum screen size that should be considered is 32 inches.

For a regular 4:3 television which is not high resolution, optimum television size could be grossly calculated by measuring the viewing distance in inches and dividing by 4.8. Being too close to a television that does not offer high resolution can result in a poor quality view as scan lines become visible.

Although selecting the display type/technology of a television can be a complex choice that is based more upon personal preferences, selecting a television that is the optimum size can be a simple decision that has a very direct effect on the quality of a buyer’s viewing experience and the ultimate cost of their purchase.

Despite the onslaught of new technologies and services in recent years, there are still only two primary means of obtaining premium television channels in the home. Consumers are faced with the decision as to whether digital cable or satellite television is the right choice for them. Most consumers ask five questions when making their choice.

How Does the Programming and Pricing Compare?

Both cable and satellite television services can offer hundreds of channels of programming. Both offer a wide range of packages that at the lower end should be affordable for most budgets. In general, satellite prices are approximately $5 less per month when comparable programming is considered. If local channels are important, consumers need to be sure packages are priced with local channels included. Cable and satellite television services both offer local channels in most areas. For those wanting HD programming however, DISH Network satellite television currently offers the most HD programming options on the market. For those wanting games and the largest selection of music channels, DISH also has a tremendous selection.

What is Availability Like?

Availability is greatest with satellite services. Cable is not in place in some remote and rural areas. Satellite television can even be installed in mobile homes and tractor trailers. Satellite television is also now available in personal vehicles via a more streamlined satellite antenna which can attach to the roof rack on larger vehicles such as SUVs and vans.

What Equipment is Needed?

As the world goes digital, more equipment is often necessary. For instance, a cable user might need to add a converter box. Receivers are also needed; many satellite companies now offer free equipment including receivers for HDTV. Obviously with satellite television a dish is required. Some satellite television providers offer the dish at no cost and it is relatively compact.

What Kind of Customer Service is Available?

Cable companies generally have stores in the local area allowing consumers to have face-to-face interaction with the provider of their service. On the other hand, local companies install dish systems and are available for one-to-one interaction for any related issues or questions. Satellite companies tend to have availability via the internet and phone 24 hours a day. It is important to consider that satellite television services have consistently ranked higher than cable services in customer satisfaction over the past 5 years as reported by JD Power & Associates.

How Does the Picture Quality Compare?

Satellite television offers better picture quality than analog cable. However digital cable and satellite are comparable. Like digital cable, satellite television provides DVD quality picture and sound. Both signals are capable of providing state of the art image quality.

Obviously, consumers have good viewing options for hundreds of premium television channels with both cable and satellite television. Cable television offers the advantage of living satellite dish free. On the other hand, satellite television appears to offer more HD programming options, greater availability in vehicles and in more remote areas, a slight price advantage, and in general, has demonstrated a history of better customer satisfaction. Consumers can make the choice between cable and satellite by determining which benefits are of most valuto them.

Televisions are the chewing gum for the eyes- Frank Lloyd Wright (1869 – 1959) and Satellites are the 1970’s lava lamps.

With the advancement of technologies, satellite television came in to existence. Satellite television is a revolution when compared to terrestrial and cable television, as it received signals from communication satellites in the space. In many places these satellite television supplement its conventional counterparts to get wide range of channels.

For years, satellite television is not an acceptable one as it had many disadvantages of fixing a very large satellite in a place and then lining it to the appropriate satellite. It even took months to set it by trail and error method. Bad weather is always a hindrance to this method of broad casting.

In the conventional method, the radio wave signals often disrupted and proper broadcasting was not possible as it was not inline with the antenna, which transmits these signals to the surrounding area. To get a perfect signal you should be very close to the broadcasting area.

Whereas satellite television, receives the signal from satellite dishes, which is in the geo-synchronous orbit of the space. It orbits in elliptical inclination or in geostationary orbit of 37,000 km above the earth.

Earlier in 1980’s the Consumer satellite television reception was highly were expensive and the dishes used were as large as 12-foot height. It had a motorized, multiple satellites reception. In 1995, easily usable small dish network came in to existence. Now, direct broadcast satellite (DBS) is usage to enable the satellite provider to select programs and broadcasts them to subscribers as a set of packages. It is a digital broadcast, which means transmission happens in Ku frequency range (12 GHz to 14 GHz).

Like other Satellite relayed communication, Satellite television uses an antenna, which is mainly located in uplink direction. These are mainly nine to twelve meters in diameter. These large structures are required for accurate and increased signals from satellites. These uplinked dishes placed in such a way that they receive to a particular frequency range from the satellite, which is in the space. Then these satellites in space, retransmits, or resend the signals back to these uplinked dishes in earth in a highly different frequency from the previous one. These kind of receiving the signals are termed as downlink. C-band and Ku band are used for uplink service. The signal, received from the space, becomes weak. Therefore, these uplink dishes do conversions of the signals to low noise block down converter. Then these radio waves get converted in to electrical signals from C-band and Ku -band to L-band. The L-band receives the signal through coaxial cable and converts in to desired output.

However, the process may look very complicated. These are the units, which are the eye of the satellite television, which helps in uninterrupted service of information and makes a pathway for everybody to enjoy the new access to the information age.

A few years ago 5.1 surround sound DVD video players looked likely to become standard kit in every living room in the technology friendly world.

So now a few years on, what has happened to the original promise of surround sound music? Well the answer to that is ‘lots, but not nearly enough.’

For those that don’t know already, 5.1 surround sound is basically five speakers and a sub-woofer placed around your room allowing you to listen to music or a movie soundtrack literally surrounded by speakers. The film industry pioneered it for theatres and it then became available as a DVD player add-on for home entertainment systems.

Now at least 100,000,000 people world-wide own systems, which can and should be used for all manner of surround sound music DVDs.

I hear you say, ‘but surround sound music on DVD hasn’t really caught on. All that wire in my living room’.

Even though the consumer can buy a DVD player and surround speaker system cheaply enough, surround sound music hasn’t really caught fire yet. Why?

There are reasons why we should all remain confident that surround sound music will become more popular, but at the moment it’s still an infant child.

The amount of different DVD and surround sound formats is confusing and can be offputting.

The consumer desperately wants an end to the confusing compatibility war between different surround sound formats.

Many music artists would start producing DVDs if it wasn’t so complex, just as there are many consumers that would purchase a surround sound DVD system for the same reason. They should be able to buy a DVD player and play any product claiming to play DVDs.

Consumer surround sound formats currently include sound on video DVDs encoded as Dolby 5.1 surround sound or DTS; the competing DVD-Audio (DVD-A) and Super Audio CD (SACD) formats and MP3 Surround.

There are 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 systems, four speaker systems, even one speaker systems and ’simulated surround sound systems.’ Phew! See what I mean?

They all have their uses, but the I feel the music business would be wise to embrace one format. Every time the consumer buys a surround sound music product they have to research whether it will be compatible to their particular system.

The good news here is that slowly, but surely things are improving. As long as there is no ‘new’ new format to rock the boat, the problem of incompatibility could become a thing of the past.

There are many great web sites to visit which do explain (in as much detail as you could possibly imagine) all the different formats and help you decide what to buy.

How about all that wire in my living room though?

There are wireless speaker systems available, but the cheaper ones are for mainly rear-channel wireless amplification. This doesn’t quite get rid of all the wires and limits people who have odd shaped rooms. But they are better than nothing.

It would be great for a ‘let’s make it fun revolution’ to occur with surround sound, like the iPod. Small wireless speakers one could place anywhere. The recommended configuration would still be in a circle, but you’d have a license to have fun by placing them in different locations.

Certain types of music would not really benefit from this unconventional approach, but other types mixed specially for surround sound might not suffer that much and it would release the consumer from the pressure to set their systems up in a way that would please an audio engineer or DVD manufacturer.

Not enough of an improvement on CDs and overall lack of interesting music DVD products.

The amount of compression used for music on DVD video is far greater than CDs. So stereo music on CD is generally of a higher quality than stereo music on DVD. However, add the extra speakers and a properly mixed 5.1 surround sound piece of music and all of a sudden the playback bit ratio seems much less important.

‘What is’ you ask, ‘a properly mixed 5.1 piece of music?’

Recreating real space is what seems to interest some surround sound pioneers. The chance to paint a more precise musical picture by placing you the listener deeper inside a musical ensemble or concert venue.

This approach has got its merits, but it’s reliant on people having their speakers in precise locations, and that they will sit dead centre amongst them. Pluses can turn to minuses at this point. If you don’t have a perfectly set up system it might just sound weird, especially if you are used to the stereo CD mix from the same artist.

Apart from all the technical considerations, I consider a great 5.1mix a strong alternative to the stereo mix. Let’s say the artist already has their stereo mix. Why not make the surround mix something that really explores that extra space and is different from the stereo mix.

Give the consumer a choice of two distinctly different sounding mixes. This might inspire more people to make the effort to set up those surround speakers which are still sitting unused in the attic.

Currently it is almost mandatory to include some type of visual content on a DVD.

In a way, it’s a shame that ‘audio only’ DVDs haven’t caught on…yet.

Depending on the level of production the artist is looking to reach, it can be both very expensive and time consuming producing enough visual material to accompany all the music for a competitive DVD release.

Most musicians have a hard enough time producing their music let alone having to produce hour’s worth of videos as well. So you could say that the need for visual content (as exciting as it can be) is holding back the growth surround sound music.

Live concerts are the most successful type of music DVDs, mainly because they are relatively cheap to produce.

For ‘audio only’ DVDs to catch on, consumer expectation will have to be ‘re-trained’ to expect what they might consider as less. I feel that the days of distributing film or music products on any type of disk is going to disappear fast.

What does the future looks like for surround sound?

The real turning point will come when the Internet becomes surround sound friendly. A new MP3 surround streaming module has just been announced that allows manufacturers to build web radios featuring true 5.1 surround sound.

Many people surf the Internet sitting at their desk, listening to music for hours at a time. Soon they will be able to surf and listen in surround sound. Small near-field computer monitors would work perfectly.(especially wireless ones).

It’s inevitable that 5.1 radio and TV broadcasts will soon become the norm. Even without the music business, embracing surround sound as anything more than a small niche, the amount of people with a 5.1 system is steadily increasing.

At this point, surround sound music becomes a viable ‘audio only’ product. If the surround sound community can simplify the production process even more allowing the average project studio to easily create surround sound content, we should all benefit.

I predict there will be a tipping point where all of a sudden the ‘need’ for surround sound music will exceed the amount of available products.

Live surround sound music can be amazing. I went to Berlin and mixed a gig by the experimental Electronic band ‘Warren Suicide’. Instruments and vocals flying around the room in surround sound mayhem. It was great, and opened my eyes to what I hope is ‘the future’ for certain styles of music.

Dance music is an area I really hope starts to explore surround sound. The drum/synth based repetition is perfect fodder to trigger a quantum leap in 5.1 music production. All the technology is now available to present surround sound mixes in smaller clubs or ’surround rooms’ in larger clubs.

I have to quickly point out that the 1 in 5.1 stands for sub-woofer (a dedicated speaker designed to carry just low frequencies). This on its own is a major step forward for dance music fans.

DJ producers in particular can take control of the ‘low end’ of their tracks and shake the furniture more than ever before. Because one doesn’t have to squeeze all that low end into the same speakers as everything else it allows for a more overall dynamic mix.

Music mixed in 5.1 surround sound gives us the opportunity to produce and listen to music in a completely new way.

Both as a composer and as a engineer, I personally feel liberated, set free from the confines of stereo. In this case more really is better. The extra speakers/channels give you more ‘room’ to put your music.

My hope is for ‘audio only’ surround sound music to take off. Music is, after all, the world of the invisible – it seems a shame to connect it at the hip to pictures. Your mind processes visual images first, then sound. So pictures can distract people who might listen more carefully without them.

There is room for both music videos and surround sound music without the videos.

‘What kind of gear do you need to start mixing in surround sound?’:

a) A reasonably fast computer

b) Music software package that supports 5.1 mixing (Logic Audio, Pro-Tools etc.)

c) Minimum 8 channel audio interface (Motu, Digidesign )

d) Five matched self powered speakers, and a sub-woofer

Mixing In Surround Sound:

When I first started mixing something in surround sound, I went out and purchased three sets of Sony Mega Bass self powered computer speakers. After connecting them directly to my audio interface outputs, I then assigned the surround sound out-puts in Logic Audio. I opened a song I was working on and spread the instruments out around the channels and hit play… Wow! The five mini speakers sounded great. Mixing in a tiny bit of subs from my Genelec sub-woofer, it sounded even better.

I know… I can hear engineers crying out.. ‘But what about…?’ Well, it’s unconventional but as a starting point this system does work. Now I own a full set of Genelecs, but I still use this approach.

The normal way to mix in surround sound is to have a matched system where the sub-woofer is driven from the speakers. A roll-off decides that everything below a certain frequency is sent on to the sub-woofer. I favour rooting the signal directly to the sub-woofer from a send on either my main out-put fadder’s or occasionally individual instrument fadder’s. This way I can choose which instruments to place in the sub-woofer and which not to.

I say to music mixers; ‘Approach the surround mix with a fresh concept, understanding that it can reflect a different side of the song/composition.’

I don’t recommend the approach of mixing both the stereo and surround mixes at the same time. It seems that one or the other will be compromised. You’re still ‘thinking in stereo’.

The effects needed and levels will be different in a surround mix. I find I use less processing overall especially compression, again it comes down to having more space to place the instruments.

So start fresh without any of your stereo effects haunting you. It’s one of those things that will save you time in the end, plus you will probably mix more creatively.

After a little guess work and experimentation I managed to figure out the right level to print my mixes. Again the sub-woofer channel was tricky, but after burning a few trial DVDs trying different levels I got the hang of it.

I played some mixes I had done in my studio at Real World and Metropolis Studios and they sounded right. It shows you can produce your own surround sound music at a reasonable cost, even in a project studio.

There are hours worth of surround sound production tutorials available from all the major music software companies. Just visit your software makers web site to get started.

Of course the absolutely best way to mix music in surround sound is to go to a top recording studio. If you’re just starting out with surround sound, mix a track with the guidance of a highly trained professional engineer, who has experience with surround sound mixing.

There are great audio engineers who would (for a smallish fee) come to your project studio and ‘consult’ with you on the technical elements of your mix.

If you are producing a DVD for commercial release, it’s still best to get your project professionally mastered. Any decent music mastering facility can (to a point) rebalance your surround mix, so if you are a little heavy or light on the subs they can deal with it then.

Tips on ways to create your own visual content:

The quality you want to achieve is normally connected to the expectations of your audience.

With enough time and energy you can make videos using a consumer DV camera and Final Cut Pro (or PC equivalent). DV cameras are generally just not quite good enough for any ’serious filming’, but if used creatively for certain situations it’s possible to pull it off. HD camera’s are much higher quality but still do cost a lot more to buy.

Live concerts and gigs can work well though. If you are doing a gig, ask around all the people you know and see how many DV cameras you could borrow. If you have four cameras set up around the club, one camera to roam around and some decent lighting on stage, you’re in business. Make sure the people operating the fixed cameras don’t mess around during the filming. No zooming and out or trying to track the movements on stage. Perfectly still videos are much better to edit. Then in your film editing software, you can cut between different angles and add zooms, even simulate camera movement.

There’s no guarantee, but if the actual performance is strong enough, some of the production values will be overlooked.

Done well enough, you can produce a DVD using still images, like a slide show – again a good film editing program allows you to animate still photos way beyond what one might think is possible.

There are some fantastic animation programs like Bryce 3D, and Cinema 4D that are worth looking into. Start producing convincing 3D text an logos.

Warren Suicide are a great ad-sample of a band who are embracing the audio – visual age. Their DVD was produced by them, and although they worked really hard on it, the finished DVD was not expensive to make, but is just as imaginative and entertaining as any big budget music DVD I’ve seen.

How do I get my mix on to a DVD?:

There are, as you can imagine, quite a few ways available.

The huge majority of DVD players in circulation use the DVD video format. So I recommend choosing Dolby 5.1 or DTS encoding, don’t worry too much about all the others. DTS sounds just as good to me, but I found more options were available with Dolby 5.1.

All you really need is Final Cut Pro and DVD studio Pro or the PC equivalents. DVD Studio Pro comes with a audio compression program called Apac. Apac allows you to compress your six channel mix into a single 5.1 file, ready to place on a DVD.

These programs are not cheap, but they are worth every penny if you’re considering commercially releasing your DVD. Between them you can edit and effect your video footage/audio content, add text, export the outcome in a format which is ready to be authored and finally burned on to a DVD. WOW! All in you back room – not bad.