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Nature 252, 534-538 (13 December 1974) | doi:10.1038/252534b0

Ambisonic reproduction of directionality in surround-sound systems

P. B. Fellgett*

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In both the technology and the aesthetics of extending high fidelity reproduction to surround-sound, reproduction of natural ambience is crucial. The 'quadraphonic' attempt to reproduce four stereo-blended tracks, derived from multi-microphone mix-down, cannot provide this. Complete spherical directionality can however be encoded on to a minimum of two audio channels to produce acoustically acceptable surround-sound systems. Limitations are set both by the number of available loudspeakers and by the number of channels.