greens :
TechyInAZ :
Have you tried virtual surround yourself?
Yes, but it doesn't matter because anecdotal evidence isn't evidence at all!
Um, complete non sequitur. He's asking if you've had any experience with virtual surround. Your response suggests that you've noticed a difference when using it, but you don't want to admit it because you don't know how to explain it. If you'd tried it and didn't notice any difference, why not just say that?
greens :
There is no physical difference between the vibrations created by surround sound versus a single driver.
Would you care to actually explain what you're trying to say with this? It makes no kind of sense.
greens :
It is still a frequency in the audible range.
That's like saying one electrical current is the same as another simply because they're both flows of electrons. It says nothing about all the other measurements of them ( voltage and current for electricity, amplitude, intensity, frequency, and offset for sound waves ), therefore is a pointless statement.
greens :
Everything is in Stereo (unless your headphones actually have line ins for each speaker, which it doesn't)
Actually, no. Stereophonic simply means replicating sound by dividing the microphones ( when capturing it ) and using two speaker channels. Regardless of how many inputs are going to the speakers, if you only have two drivers it's still stereophonic.
greens :
artificially separating stereo sound into multiple streams, whether you're using an analog crossover or a digital USB device makes zero difference in the end result.
Completely false. The human brain interprets audio direction in large part due to delay in hearing a sound between right and left ears. Virtual surround software analyzes the audio streams and then does its best to properly emulate this property as well as other effects to trick your ears and brain into thinking a sound originated in a direction it actually didn't. Now, if the original source audio is only two channels, trying to mimic direction can be very hit and miss since you're trying to create a soundstage from data that doesn't exists.
However, many games these days ( pretty much all of them that would actually benefit from surround ) are actually rendering audio with directional data, so the necessary information to emulate surround sound with only two speakers is already there. It's simply up the hardware or software to do it correctly.
greens :
When filling a volume like a car or theater speaker positioning and sizing plays an important role.
Of course, where has anyone said otherwise? The speaker placement is what virtual systems try to replicate with the delay and volume offsets.
greens :
When it comes to headphones there is ostensibly zero difference, other than that multiple small speakers produce a lower quality sound then a single high quality driver.
Not necessarily. if the individual drivers are specifically designed for a particular sound range and shape, the sound quality can be quite good. How many premium home theater speakers have only a single driver on them? Next to none. They have combination of tweeters, horns, and woofers to have a wider sound range.
greens :
Having multiple speakers that close together can introduce phasing and noise canceling issues,
Again, it can, but it's not a given. It's just as likely that the engineers specify the exact distance and alignment of all the drivers and timing in the controller to produce the best sound possible for the setup.
greens :
this is why surround sound systems in your home explicitly state to have a minimum distance between the speakers.
Which minimum distance is also typically much smaller than the average TV room, so it's rarely an issue anyone encounters. But even without ideal speaker placement, you can get good sound by properly measuring your cables and setting your receiver timing accordingly. The reverse is not true, as ideal speaker placement cannot overcome improper software configuration.
In short, you're making blanket statements all over the place which don't hold true for every product. Please stop acting as such.
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