Building a full-fledged surround sound/3D audio system

• Main Author: Lum, Chee Chuen.
• Other Authors: Gan Woon Seng
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/17961
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In today’s auditory market, technology has enabled us to manipulate sound in 3D space. Using head-related transfer functions and reverberation, the changes of sound on its way from the source (including reflections from walls and floors) to the listener's ear can be simulated. These effects include localization of sound sources behind, above and below the listener. With a more complex and modern reverberation model, the 3D audio experience can be greatly enhanced, bringing the listener one step closer to reality. This project aims to integrate a modern reverberation model with 3D audio, enabling the listener to enjoy a wider, more realistic range of acoustic experience. In this project, the Feedback Delay Network (FDN) artificial reverberation model is being combined with an existing 3D audio program that digitally reproduces a realistic sound field, along with four different environmental settings to simulate various ambience of sound within an enclosed space, such as a large hall or in the sewers. The techniques being used in this project ranges from simple mixing, filtering to Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTF) and various other signal processing algorithms The project is built on Analog Devices Blackfin BF-533 Ez-Kit DSP Board, using VisualDSP++ software for the implementation of the different techniques and algorithm. Steps from design to the development and finally the implementation will be presented in this report.