An Introduction to Ambiophonics

[Ambio]

Vijwilso,

If the setup is correct, an orchestra should have a sound stage about 150 degrees. Yes, everything will be different. It is like watching 3D movies for the first time. Spend more time and you will never want to listen to stereo anymore. The strength is in materials made with proper recording technique.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

You should be prepared to be blown away

I got blown away by the Grateful Dead in my misspent youth: left a smoking crater of my mind!

I'll investigate Ms Chapman. Youtube is wonderful

 

[Kannan]

Finally i got some success using the free vst plugin from here .

electro-music.com :: View topic - Mosc's Ambio VST

I am using this with the foobar in windows .

Sound is 3d , some instruments like piano and string instruments projected way out of the speakers and bouncy also , voice mostly in the same pane . I could experience the difference in most of tracks old and new .

I am not sure yet if I like this kind of virtual 3d presentation for music .
I am sure this should be really good for movies in a stereo setup , need to figure out how to integrate with the video player

It will grow over you. Instead of allowing your ears to focus, let your mind float. You will start hearing notes and strings and cymbals that were hitherto hiding and overlapping in the stereo image.

 

[Ambio]

It will grow over you......

You are absolutely right, my friend. Listening to Tracy Chapman after a very long time and asking myself why I rejected it earlier. Going second round. Moving speakers and without Ambiophonics......

 

[vijwilso]

In the current state , i feel the precise positioning is lost in the 3d holographic space and the definition is also lost a little / smeared , but not for all songs . Looks like it will take more time and effort to understand and fine tune it . It is weird state to accept it wholeheartedly at this state .

I also tried the foobar plugin and ambioone vst plugin which did not work for me.

 

[Ambio]

In the current state , i feel the precise positioning is lost in the 3d holographic space and the definition is also lost a little / smeared , but not for all songs . Looks like it will take more time and effort to understand and fine tune it . It is weird state to accept it wholeheartedly at this state .

I also tried the foobar plugin and ambioone vst plugin which did not work for me.

We do not know what is the precise location of the instruments unless they provide the information. In ambiophonics, the location is precise because it reproduces exactly what the microphone hears.

If you share your speakers and sitting distance, I can calculate the correct parameters for you. Since the VST is not working , which program did you use?

 

[Kannan]

In the current state , i feel the precise positioning is lost in the 3d holographic space and the definition is also lost a little / smeared , but not for all songs . Looks like it will take more time and effort to understand and fine tune it . It is weird state to accept it wholeheartedly at this state .

I also tried the foobar plugin and ambioone vst plugin which did not work for me.

Precise positioning as you hear in stereo is not necessarily as it was mixed in the studio.
If you however actually want to test it, then get hold of any IASCA / EMMA car audio SQ competition CD which will have a chart with precise location of the instruments and vocals for each of the recorded song. You can even try Chesky records or the Focal USAIC discs. These have some of the best recordings for tuning a will installed car audio system.

 

[Kannan]

In the current state , i feel the precise positioning is lost in the 3d holographic space and the definition is also lost a little / smeared , but not for all songs . Looks like it will take more time and effort to understand and fine tune it . It is weird state to accept it wholeheartedly at this state .

I also tried the foobar plugin and ambioone vst plugin which did not work for me.

The foobar xtc plugin offers tweaks which can take the stage as high as the ceiling and width to almost 180 degrees, however there will be lots of echo and overlap so you should adjust accordingly.

The free mosc transcoder which you tried with Winamp is a well tweaked one and best advised for a starter to venture into ambiophonics.
Speaker positioning is very critical here. Keep the combined speaker angle between 10 to 15 degrees to the sweet spot when you use mosc plugin.
For my listening space a 1.4 ratio works well. Which means for a speaker separation [calculated from center of cones of both the speaks] of 50 cms the sweet spot should be close to 200 cms.

 

[vijwilso]

We do not know what is the precise location of the instruments unless they provide the information. In ambiophonics, the location is precise because it reproduces exactly what the microphone hears.

If you share your speakers and sitting distance, I can calculate the correct parameters for you. Since the VST is not working , which program did you use?

My issue is in some of the tracks voice is loosing the focus which is better in stereo , and in some cases i feel like bit of echo , hmmm ... not really a echo , don't know how to term it , a hollow tunnel like soundstage instead of a expansive sound stage and in some cases kind of overlapping sound from left and right channels or a moving sound which is confusing . I think it may not be suitable for modern pop , electronic music .

In certain acoustic ( old folk rock and some jazz ) tracks it played really good without any of the issues listed above . I tried varied the listing position from 2-3 times the distance between the speakers .

Currently using cPLay ->Mosc VST plugin . This Mosc VST plugin does not have much option to tweak . Reducing the width parameter seems to help overcome the above issues .

 

[rsud]

Hello to all,

This is my first post and would like to share my humble "audiophile" journey and the discovery of Ambiophonics. I would like to share and invite others to try it out and provide your feedback.

Basically, Ambiophonics is a method to prevent the crosstalk between speakers which distorts the sound. Once you get the hang of it - the only thing matters in your system is the speakers.

I hope you guys would give it a try and experience a 150 -180 degrees soundstage that our stereo setup would never ever possible to achieve. You could try with your PC speakers by moving them closer about 10 to 20 degrees and place a thick divider ( like a mattress) between the speakers right up to your face. What you would hear is is the amazing soundstage and all the hidden information that were buried in stereophonics setup.

Good luck!

p.s. My Harbeth speakers are placed just 62 cm apart and I sit about 8 feet away. Instead of a divider, I use RACE to cancel the crosstalk.

You appear to be making the assumption that the signal source, all electronics (cartridge/arm/turntable or dac, preamp/amp), and cables sound the same.

As this is entirely untrue in reality but certainly the majority have no clue about this as espoused in the endless all amps sound the same debates.

So is this all just marketing? Is this the next Bose?

Tell us more on what the hardware is?

 

[Ambio]

Precise positioning as you hear in stereo is not necessarily as it was mixed in the studio.
If you however actually want to test it, then get hold of any IASCA / EMMA car audio SQ competition CD which will have a chart with precise location of the instruments and vocals for each of the recorded song. You can even try Chesky records or the Focal USAIC discs. These have some of the best recordings for tuning a will installed car audio system.

Just noticed that you were using the old experimental plugin. The proper plugin is Electro-Music.com

I have Chesky and they sound excellent. Please use the proper plugin to hear the real difference.

 

[Kannan]

No paypal account to buy the plugin

 

[Ambio]

Just noticed that you were using the old experimental plugin. The proper plugin is Electro-Music.com

I have Chesky and they sound excellent. Please use the proper plugin to hear the real difference.

Sorry Kannan. The reply was meant for Vijwilso.

Vijwilso, I have read the SQ judging guidelines. The pictures in the guide book provides clues of the microphones placements and recording engineers manipulation to create the virtual artificial position in what appears to be dead centered recordings. http://www.emmanet.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/SQ-Judgebook-2014-v1-01.pdf


The pictures show how it was recorded. All microphones were placed directly in front of the source. Essentially, the sound should come from the centre without any panning. Anyway, I may get hold of 2003/2004 EMMA CD and give it a try. Thanks for bringing it up. BTW, Chesky/ Sheffield and Amused to Death passes the Ambiophonics test. Chesky also sells the binaural recordings which are similar to Ambiophonics' Ambiophone recording technique.

 

[vijwilso]

No paypal account to buy the plugin

Looks like no paypal is required . Could buy it using a credit/debit card . Paypal is just their credit processing gateway.

 

[Kannan]

Looks like no paypal is required . Could buy it using a credit/debit card . Paypal is just their credit processing gateway.

Maybe they added the open gateway lately. Not been to that site in a long time. Will check it out.

 

[Kannan]

Amused to Death passes the Ambiophonics test.

Are you referring to the Roger Waters album?

 

[Ambio]

Are you referring to the Roger Waters album?

Yes. The placement effects is not as dramatic in stereo. I used this cd to demonstrate my stereo setup. It matches every description in Postive Feedback. In Ambiophonics, it is more enjoyable musically. The missile launcher in track 9, start from your seat straight to the ceiling infront and explode shaking the room. Some changes from the stereo presentation.

AMD is Q-Sound processed and probably going to turn off many people in Ambio but it is a different experience. The genie in track 12 reverberates the room and your chest. Chilling...

AMD is the best demo Cd for stereo to show how well your system and room perform. The horse cart track will sound differently in every system to reflect the Room's uneven reflection. Great Cd.

 

[Kannan]

Yes. The placement effects is not as dramatic in stereo. I used this cd to demonstrate my stereo setup. It matches every description in Postive Feedback. In Ambiophonics, it is more enjoyable musically. The missile launcher in track 9, start from your seat straight to the ceiling infront and explode shaking the room. Some changes from the stereo presentation.

AMD is Q-Sound processed and probably going to turn off many people in Ambio but it is a different experience. The genie in track 12 reverberates the room and your chest. Chilling...

AMD is the best demo Cd for stereo to show how well your system and room perform. The horse cart track will sound differently in every system to reflect the Room's uneven reflection. Great Cd.

Have not been a great fan of Waters in the post PF era, purchased this album when it was first released many aeons ago ut do not remember much of it now.
Will have to dig onto my digital archives to hunt it out.

By the way, check this one out in your audio setup from the movie anwar

Tose Naina Lage - Anwar_HD_1080p_BluRay_Music_Videos_Songs - YouTube

 

[Ambio]

..

By the way, check this one out in your audio setup from the movie anwar

Tose Naina Lage - Anwar_HD_1080p_BluRay_Music_Videos_Songs - YouTube

I am sure you like to see Kannan in the song...

I like the song. A little too slow. It seems the song isn't listed in Wikipage and I couldn't find it in iTunes either. The songs listed are as follows:-
1. "Maula Mere Maula" Mithoon Roop Kumar Rathod 6:04
2. "Javeda Zindagi" Mithoon Kshitij Tarey, Shilpa Rao 8:22
3. "Bangla Khula Khula" Pankaj Awasthi Megha Sriram 5:18
4. "Dilbar Mera" Pankaj Awasthi Pankaj Awasthi 4:53
5. "Jo Maine Aas Lagayi" Pankaj Awasthi Pankaj Awasthi 2:05
6. "Anwar's Confession - Into The Black" Pankaj Awasthi 3:17

Thanks.

 

[Ambio]

Compliment - Best Upgrade.

This is the feedback after about one week of Ambiophonics.

Hi XXX,

I have got the setting changed and saved it to the miniAmbio which I did not when doing my initial listening. Sure the default setting by the manufacturer was far from the standard.

Now, this has in fact made things alot more refine. The whole positions have been fine tuned. Most recordings sounded very good indeed especially those well recorded ones (audiophile).

Most amazing is you don't experience fatique for long listening session. Notably, the sound spectrum across the range is neutral. There isn't thing like the singer is upfront. It is very much like wearing a headphone but the stage is in front instead of in your head.

There are some recordings that emphasised certain instruments. Hence, I would presume that the engineer might have the intention to focus on certain areas.

To reconfirm that it is not another 'snake oil', I compared it with stereo side by side. I would confess that it is an improvement, an upward improvement and not sideway.

For a mere US145, you may in fact find your 'nirvana' in ambiophonics.

xxxxxxx. Real good things don't come easy.

And your 'first step' could be the final in search of 'heaven'.