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AudioGames.net Forum → General Game Discussion → types of audio ?
Hello,
I do not understand what the difference is between:
Stereo Sound, 3D Sound and multichannel sound
This is what I know: Stereo Sound has two channels, left and right. The Audio can come from left, both (middle) and right.
Multichannel is i.e. 5.1, 5 channel and 1 bass.
Sandra
Okay here it is -
Stereo is two channel - left and right
Multi channel can also mean the ability to play more than one sound at once, for example playing music while playing sound effects or more than one sound effect at once. Windows XP does this itself, previously I believe sound cards had to handle this.
3D sound is either using surround sound to make it sound like things are coming from any position in 360 degrees, or else using stereo to imitate this. Stereo alone does not necessarily mean 3D sound, it is more than simply left and right but adjustments to make it sound like it could be coming from behind you. I suppose it's more accurately 2D sound, but people have funny ideas about 3D with games.
Hope that helps.
Not a problem. Any more questions feel free to throw them in.
Hi,
I think the reason why 2d and 3d sound is used interchangeably so much is because the DirectSound3D API can work across either stario or surround speakers, so you can translate full surround sound into just stario sound. In other words, they're both "3d sound" from the program's point of view, but the sound card adapts it to fit the speakers, so the end result could be simply stario if the player doesn't have a surround sound system.
3D sound is either using surround sound to make it sound like things are coming from any position in 360 degrees, or else using stereo to imitate this. Stereo alone does not necessarily mean 3D sound, it is more than simply left and right but adjustments to make it sound like it could be coming from behind you.
This difference is called physical 3D sound (using more than 2 speakers - often a 5.1/6.1/7.1 system, but also includes a quadraphonic setup or more exotic speaker setups) and virtual 3D sound (using stereo speaker setup but with phase algorithms that use Head Related Transfer Functions, Interaural Time Differences and such).
On headphones, you also have both. 3D on headphones with two speakers is always virtual 3D audio (made virtual either by the system running the audio, or made 'spatial' by the headphone itself), while a multispeaker headphone (with more than 2 speakers) is a physical 3D headphone.
Greets,
Richard
My point with 2D is simply that what we call 3D sound only rreally has 2 dimensions. Stereo has left and right, which effectively places sound along a line which is 1 dimensional. To be truly 3 dimensional the sound would need to include a vertical element.
I suppose "3D" sound could even be considered as 1 dimensional along a circular axis since it isn't always great at conveying distance.
It's like people call games like Shades of Doom and Tank Commander 3D games, when they're truly 2D. There is no or little vertical element involved. This is what I find something of a strange quirk.
2D has 2 dimensions
3D is the same, with te exception that with hardware or software 3D is simulated. For example, the sound is changed in that why, that is seems someone is behind you. But technically there are only 2 dimensions.
Is this right ?
Surround Sound has more dimensions. "True 3D Sound"
Here is basically what it is -
Stereo is where the sound is simply more left or right, sort of like if you placed a ruler in front of you and measured along it. It has only more left or more right. In effect there is only an X axis.
Virtual 3D or surround attempts to use stereo in order to make it seem like sounds are coming from different true directions such as behind you, or anywhere along a circle around you. This is only a trick however and it is only truly using stereo. This is essentially using an X axis and tricking your brain into thinking there is a Y axis as well.
Real hardware 3D is where you use speakers in a surround sound arrangement, and the speakers actually make the sound come from the direction it is intended to be coming from. This is where the sound would have both an X and a Y axis, no trickery.
The reason I have trouble with the term "3D" is purely a technicality, that 3D implies the use of a Z axis which there is not.
Glad it helped, if you hadn't mentioned axis to begin with I would have found it somewhat more difficult 
I haven't got any documents myself. If you mean stuff on the main audiogames.net site that isn't any of my doing, I'm just a member of the community that was asked along with Dark to help keep the forums clean and hopefully tidy up the games list.
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