Lucasfilm And Dolby Unveil Surround EX

Lucasfilm THXÆ and Dolby Laboratories Inc. have introduced a co-developed and jointly owned 6.1 channel theatrical surround sound format, DolbyÆ Digital Surround EX. The announced introduction was made at last Octoberís ShowEast convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Curiously, the format was inspired by Gary Rydstrom, Lucasfilmís Academy AwardÆ-winning sound designer and Director of Creative Operations for Skywalker Sound (Lucas Digital Ltd.) ìI wanted audiences to be completely encircled by surround, as well as hear sounds played directly behind them.î Rydstrom says. ìI wanted to develop a format that would open up new possibilities and place sounds exactly where you would hear them in the real world.î That, as our long time readers know, is exactly our philosophy which we have termed as ìholosonicôì soundfield creation. For years now, we have reproduced a phantom center back channel derived from the left surround and right surround discrete channels in a 5.1 mix or from the Fosgate/Citation Six-Axisô or Lexicon matrix systems that produce independent decorrelated surrounds. The two ìdiscreteî surrounds are fed to a joining box with level control then to a dedicated power amplifier (mono block, the six channel of a multichannel amplifier). We typically use this feature for our own gratification but do not review soundtracks off DVDs and LaserDiscs using this enhanced soundfield method as no manufacturer to our knowledge provides for such a feature on their processor/controller. Ideally, this would be a discrete channel, though a matrix encoded back center channel would do a credible job as well (just as matrix PCM Dolby Surrounds does a credible job at producing a ìdiscreteî sounding centre channel). While this method when applied to a theatrical setting cannot be optimized for the entire audience the end result can be quite effective and exciting. With Dolby Digital Surround EX, center surround information is reproduced by the speakers at the rear of the theatre (typically two to four depending on the size of the auditorium), while left and right surround information is reproduced by the speaker arrays at the sides. In a home theatre setting, where full-range matched loudspeakers can be positioned at equal distance from the primary listenerís ìtwo ears,î the resulting holosonic soundfield envelopment can be quite realistic. That is assuming optimally that the sound design supports such and the mix is monitored and created on a matched near-field system to emulate the home theatre. This is why there should be a optimized speaker placement standard supported by manufacturers wanting to create the best home theatre experience possible.The Surround EX format is fully compatible with all existing 5.1 digital systems, including DTS Digital Sound and DTS Digital Surround (the home version) and SDDS. It requires the addition of a Dolby SA-10 surround adapter and wiring the speakers into left, right and center groups with the addition of a channel of amplification for the center group of speakers.With this new method the sound designer can create true ìfly-overî and ìfly-aroundî effects and side wall phantom imaging that sound smoother and are much more accurately placed, either directly behind or directly beside the audience.The Dolby Digital Surround EX format makes its debut with the May 21, 1999 release of George Lucasí new Star Wars: Episode 1-The Phantom Menace. Other upcoming film soundtracks will also be mixed with the new format, including DreamWorksí The Haunting Of Hill House and Sonyís Memoirs Of A Geisha.Look to Widescreen Review for an upcoming article describing the technical features of Dolby Digital Surround EX. As well, we are pursuing integrating the Dolby SA-10 surround adapter into our reference systems.