BBC to trial surround sound through headphones

December 23, 2011 — Article

BBC Radio has announced a new experimental broadcast to trial surround sound through standard headphones.

A Christmas service from the BBC archives will be available on the Radio 3 website from Xmas Eve in a ‘binaural’ format which is designed to create realistic surround sound through ordinary headphones.

The ‘Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols’ from 2007 will be available until the New Year, and was recorded in surround sound as an experiment by BBC engineers and processed to create binaural audio by BBC Research and Development.

You can hear the specially processed audio by connecting your standard headphones to any computer with a stereo output and there are six different surround settings to choose from, to suit different types of headphones and head shape.

Tim Davie, director of BBC Audio & Music, said: “We have stepped up our innovation within the BBC so that listeners can enjoy an even better experience of radio. If successful, our intention is to offer surround sound on a whole range of BBC programmes. This is part of an exciting series of trials such as HD Sound, and personal control of crowd versus commentary audio during events such as Wimbledon.”

Rupert Brun, Head of Technology BBC Audio & Music, added: “This experiment is an attempt to enhance the standard ‘stereo’ sound headphone users have had for over 50 years and, although it is only a trial at this stage, if listener feedback is positive it could offer a significant improvement to audio quality in the future.”




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