The Digital Living Room: The Sound Surrounds!
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Welcome to a new weekly - weekend feature here on Fused Film, where our newest contributor, MK, talks about all things tech and how it fits into your movie watching experience. We call this column - The Digital Living Room. Sound good?
The Sound Surrounds
By: MK
These days everyone has surround sound. I rarely enter a living room that doesn’t have that tangled mass of tiny speakers swarming around the entertainment center like tie fighters defending the death star. Being known for my snarky attention to detail I would be remiss if I failed to mention that those speakers have as much business vacationing at their current locale as a rogue squadron of x-wings in imperial airspace.
So with respect to the post-production studio engineers that spend months mixing for your favorite film and television I offer this quick primer on proper speaker placement. The most common surround sound setup in the digital living room is the 5.1 channel surround system so named because it contains 5 speakers with the .1 signifying a low frequency effect subwoofer. This setup, when properly applied is able to distribute Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic II and a lengthy discussion with the wife as to why an electrician is running cables through the living room ceiling. When improperly applied it makes for a really loud full frontal audio visual assault not to mention mild frustration from a true “videophile” who happens to be visiting for the holidays.
When sound is mixed in the post production environment it is done in a finely “tuned” room through exactly placed, precisely calibrated speakers to ensure that the mix engineer can put a given sound where it is best suited within the surround field. They are very anal about this so lets all be good consumers and imagine our home theatre as a clock with our viewing/listening position being in the center where all the internal
oompah loompahs make the gears turn the hands around the clock face. To ensure that our home theatre clock doesnʼt end up like that Salvadore Dali painting we need to adhere to the following;
The center speaker (that is usually the long, skinny one that looks like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey) should be placed at 12 oʼclock either directly above or below the screen. When picking between the two it is best to determine which of the positions puts the speakers in a direct plane with the ears. This speaker is responsible for the dialogue and narration which is why spoken words seem mumbled when the rest of the speakers are placed around it. The front left and right speakers should be placed along the edges of the screen and toed in toward the listening position. These speakers should also be ear height and will fall somewhere between 10 oʼclock and 2 oʼclock to 11 oʼclock and 1 oʼclock depending on your screen size. These front speakers contain a mix of soundtrack, ambient effects and dialogue that provide a smoothing effect between the spoken word and octane fueled Michael Bay explosions. Finally, the rear left and right surround speakers are the Chewie to the front speakers Obi-Wan. They add reality to the sound field, keep foley artist employed and are the preferred speakers of Ben Burtt fanboys everywhere. These speakers are generally placed high on the rear wall between 8 oʼclock and 4 oʼclock to 7 oʼclock and 5 oʼclock. Usually the room itself will dictate this as they are placed in the upper rear corners behind the listening position. The LFE or sub woofer can be placed almost anywhere since it is hard for humans to distinguish the source of low frequencies, but be sure to place it in an area where it does not create an overly noticeable room vibration. Finally for those wishing to add the 7.1 experience becoming increasingly popular on Blu-Ray Disc simply add two more surround speakers at 9 oʼclock and 3 oʼclock at the same height of the rear surround speakers. I hope this better helps you immerse yourself in a 3-D aural experience and remember that sound is half the picture.
