AIMP and Sound HD with the new surround in Windows

[BienSoundPC]

in the post above the vandal amok once again

Fortunately, there are interesting things for using the new surround sound in Windows



A transmission line loudspeaker may, for example, be transparent

A transmission line loudspeaker is a loudspeaker enclosure design which uses the topology of an acoustic transmission line within the cabinet, compared to the simpler enclosures used by sealed (closed) or ported (bass reflex) designs. Instead of reverberating in a fairly simple damped enclosure, sound from the back of the bass speaker is directed into a long (generally folded) damped pathway within the speaker enclosure, which allows far greater control and use of speaker energy and the resulting sound.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmiss ... oudspeaker

Why not transparent BenSound PC for "La musique sonne bien avec cet ordinateur de bureau" and 4 Your Music. https://audiophilepc.blogspot.com/p/4-y ... order.html



Audiophiles don't have to limit the PC to a standard form
https://audiophilepc.blogspot.com/2023/ ... limit.html



The transmission line loudspeaker enclosure can also be cast concrete like the Rauna Leira from the early 1980s but it is expensive and bass reflex is now offered with this brand https://rauna.squarespace.com/about-rauna



Many Japanese built their own transmission line loudspeakers, also known as back-loaded horns. In the 1970s, they were a good alternative to the offer of audio salons with quadraphonics. Four such speakers have been optimally placed in the room so that all drivers are at ear level. It still matters when playing music from stereo recordings, and in the case of 4 speakers and surround sound, it is even more important to take care of it.



Fostex now offers slim 145(W) x 343(H) x 216(D) mm TL cabinets with the 4" coaxial FE103En, which does not require a powerful amplifier. Thanks to them and traditional amplifiers from the RTV offer, you can comfortably arrange a room for playing music from 4 speakers https://www.fostexinternational.com/doc ... 0-BH.shtml



The active Tannoy speakers with bass-reflex are also very interesting. See more: British proposals for new 4-ch-surround https://audiophilepc.blogspot.com/2022/ ... round.html



The reference are active APS Coax loudspeakers with closed-box enclosures, which are produced in Poland with 6 1/2"transducers from the Norwegian company SEAS https://www.aps-company.com/coax2-en/

[BienSoundPC]

4 small active speakers do not need much power to ensure full relaxation with music in many homes



3-inch full-range driver with back-loaded horn and built-in 2x50 W amplifier, which, when bridged, will give 100 from each speaker at home and will not be a terror for the neighbors. https://www.instructables.com/Kissing-t ... Speaker-F/



The Japanese Fostex has legendary offerings with a back-loaded horn https://www.fostexinternational.com/doc ... ures.shtml

Being one of the systems where sound radiated from the back of drivers is utilized to enhance bass, including bass-reflex and double bass-reflex types, back loaded horn type enclosures make the most efficient use of such back sound. Back-loaded horn system enclosures work in such a manner that, as bass comes out of a horn mounted on the back of a driver, the rest of sound spectrum, e.g. mid- and high-frequency ranges, is radiated directly from the driver. Enclosures of this system are highly efficient by actively utilizing sound output from drivers, and respond well to the subtlest componentsof music signals.

The Japanese are the most active with such projects and widely present their concepts and relevant descriptionshttp://telavox.web.fc2.com/backload.html

The design points for backloaded horn enclosure are the cubic capacity of an air chamber, the cross-sectional area of its throat,
the horn flare rate, the horn length and the horn-opening area. Fold up the horn and crate it.

One of the things it is highly-efficient system. In other words, it has a high output sound pressure level; the backloaded horn system is an energy-efficient design. So it allows the driving by low-power amplifier, too. Low-power amplifier is good from the point of view of sensitive sound.

It plays the fine sounds because the driver diaphragm can move easily by backward opening of the speaker driver, like open back type cabinet. So, it plays the realistic sound with overwhelming high quality if its sound source is good, but that's not how it works if its sound
source is poor. Therefore, you may have trouble finding a good sound source.

You might hate the backloaded horn sound, but everyone will be surprised at the difference between the sound of backloaded horn and others. Furthermore, you will never believe the magnificent bass, the powerful sound and the instantaneous force for small-diameter driver.

Fostex offers a DIY kit with a small back-loaded horn housing https://www.fostexinternational.com/doc ... 0-BH.shtml



A loudspeaker from a 3D printer gives more possibilities



For listening to music from 4 channels, a tiny $1 bluetooth module is useless and there is no better alternative.



The power supply is external - plug for 220 V with transformer and appropriate electronics. This provides the amplifier with 12 V DC to drive the electro-acoustic transducer and it is not worth saving too much on VA here



In music stores, the cheapest Fostex offer for 4 channels at home is the PM04.c https://www.fostexinternational.com/doc ... 0.4c.shtml



However, these are not active speakers. This is an offer of an amplifier and a pair of traditional 2-way speakers.



They were active in the earlier PM04.d version, which was more expensive and is still on offer for the Japanese market https://www.fostex.jp/products/pm04d/



The most interesting version is no longer available. They had amplifiers operating in class AB. Basreflex opening in the front makes it easy to set up at home.

[BienSoundPC]

APS has a subwoofer with a Closed-box (sealed) enclosures

The Polish manufacturer has introduced a new solution to the market to complement active studio monitors with a coaxial electro-acoustic transducer from the Norwegian SEAS. https://www.aps-company.com/coax-2-bass-extender-en/

COAX 2 is first and foremost – a point sound source, full control, naturalness, precise localization of vocals and instruments. It is a reliable device for the realization of sound in the near field. Coax 2 is an extreme precision, universal tool that significantly facilitates the work of experienced sound engineers.

Audio Pro Solutions bass extender and 5 active monitors Coax create a reference set for 5.1 sound

The bass multichannel extender of the Coax 2 studio monitor – as the name suggests, it complements the Coax 2 active studio monitor in reproducing low frequencies. The bass from the extender is fast, dynamic, detailed, clean, transparent, and multi-channel

The manufacturer has already considered the use of active subwoofers and has to offer 10" (105 dB) and 12" (110 dB)



They are very powerful, but they do not have a Closed-box enclosures and and therefore are not as fast, dynamic and detailed.

More @ blog https://audiophilepc.blogspot.com/2023/ ... music.html

[BienSoundPC]

New speaker settings at home have been done for years.



The first tests were already with Windows XP sv SP3 and Microsoft system driver 6.1.7601.17514 from November 19, 2010 for the sound processor built into the motherboard. There was also support for Windows Audio Session Application Programming Interface and Room Correction



Tests with this configuration on the laptop are still performed with a Samsung TV, which serves only as a monitor, although according to the manufacturer it has an acoustic power of 40W (left - 10W; right - 10W; Woofer - 20W)

[BienSoundPC]

This loudspeaker can be purchased for less than PLN 300



IIt's a closed-enclosure speaker that's offered under $100 as center speakers for home theater amplifiers. Three of them placed vertically at the front and one horizontally at the back can create a very practical Microsof surround set. They are easy to match at home because they are small and come in different colors: white, white and black, black, walnut, wenge.



For this, you also need a 4-channel power amplifier and you can buy one quite cheaply, but you also need to provide it with optimal power supply, which may be a bigger challenge. It is worth remembering the basic laws of physics. A 12V power supply for an amplifier with a specific wattage requires a specific amount of amps. The advertised amp power suggests that a lot of ampears needed. In practice, less is enough, but at the same time you cannot skimp on them in the power supply. In this case, it can be estimated that 4 x 40 W. will be enough to freely drive these speakers and a 20 amp power supply will work quite well, i.e. with a declared 240 W or VA.

[BienSoundPC]

A Swedish magazine with a 70-year tradition in the field of image and sound recently tested the new iMac with a 24-inch screen. This review makes frequent references to working with sound, but these are general statements that should please Apple fans who plan to invest in new equipment. It is clearly indicated that there is an Atmos function, but active studio monitors will provide better listening. This means that this offer does not focus on the number of functions, but on their quality.



Neumann, the most famous brand of studio microphones, may be interesting here. The suite from this iconic brand in the world of music production allows you to perfectly calibrate music playback in a specific room and can be used with an all-in-one PC or iMac.



However, an all-in-one PC gives greater opportunities to ensure that the money invested gives optimal results with the help of software. https://audiophilepc.blogspot.com/2024/ ... -imac.html



An even more interesting alternative is a desktop PC and 4 active Tannoy monitors. https://audiophilepc.blogspot.com/2022/ ... round.html

[BienSoundPC]

New 4-ch recording with a traditional quadraphonic configuration.



They were created in north-eastern Poland in February 2024 as two separate 24-bit wavs in traditional stereo, one for the front and one for the rear.



This is audio from a performance for broadcast via Facebook in an mp4 stream with Advanced Audio Coding.

It was saved in wav for comparative tests and will now be used for tests with 4-channel playback.

[BienSoundPC]

Playback with 4 speakers and 192 kHz/32 bit oversampling.



Many years ago, the reproduction of stereo recordings with 4 speakers was called ambiophony.



Now it is especially worth listening to EBU recordings in the FLAC 48 kHz format.

More https://audiophilepc.blogspot.com/2024/ ... steam.html

[BienSoundPC]

The PC4uMusic configuration assumes the playback of files with 4 channels of audio. There is no problem with playing them with AIMP.



The topic didn't require any special attention, because many years ago tests were done with files created in a simple and advanced editor. Now, however, it turns out that it is not so easy to find a simple editor that can save a 4-channel recording.



Editors have other functions and e.g. Goldwave can only save up to the mysterious 3.1 format, so you will need tests with it, which may turn out to be very interesting.

[BienSoundPC]

PC4uMusc tests with quadraphonic speaker arrangement



In the sound processor manufacturer's driver, the Room Correction was manually set for 4 speakers according to their arrangement during tests. The image above only illustrates the function, not the settings made.



A reference motherboard was used in which the bus speed is set to 384 MHz and optimally selected values ​​for RAM memory



Tests with the PC4uMusic configuration for 4 speakers in a traditional quadraphonic arrangement were carried out with 24-bit stereo Waveform Audio File Format recordings from NIE teatr (NOT a theater) in north-eastern Poland. There were 3 people on stage in the theater. Playing back recordings of their voices was also compared to how they sounded in a regular conversation. This allowed us to precisely find nuances in the capabilities of these two motherboards for music playback. However, the most important thing was listening to the pianist's playing.

More: 384 MHz PC Bus Speed with quadraphonic playback https://audiophilepc.blogspot.com/2024/ ... honic.html