Frank Foti to Speak on 5.1 at Surround 2004
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24 August 2004, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Omnia President Frank Foti has been invited to speak on the subject of
5.1 audio for FM radio at the Surround 2004 International Conference in
Hollywood, the premier international event for musicians, producers and
audio engineers working in the surround sound arena.
“5.1
Surround has taken the audio industry by storm. You can’t even buy a plain
old ‘stereo’ receiver anymore. It’s no surprise that audio professionals are
excited by the prospect of bringing 5.1 audio to FM broadcasts,” says Foti.
At this
year’s NAB, Telos / Omnia and Fraunhofer Institute (FhG), the developers of
MP3 and MPEG AAC audio coding, announced a spatial audio coding system that
takes advantage of the most recent research in aural perception and enables
transmission of 5.1 channel surround audio for FM broadcasters using HD
Radio™ technology. Called “Coded-Discrete”, the FhG system works with the
existing HD Radio codec and transmission equipment and is fully compatible
with stereo broadcasts.
Distinct
multi-channel audio is audibly superior because individual channel
information is retained throughout the encode/decode process. This technique
gives listeners clearer, better-defined spatial imaging than multiplexed or
“matrix” surround systems, which can suffer from channel mixing and audio
which “bleeds” into adjacent channels.
“We’ve let
broadcasters at the Radio & Records Convention and The Conclave here what
distinct multi-channel FM radio could sound like, and they were blown away
by the enormous creative possibilities,” continues Foti. “We have no doubt
that the industry professionals at Surround 2004 will welcome the creative,
competitive and commercial opportunities this technology could open up for
them.”
Mr. Foti has
authored a position paper entitled “Radio’s Field Of Dreams.” “Multi-channel
Surround Sound for FM is truly exciting,” he writes; “For the first time
since 1961, when FM went stereo, we have a new technology that will blow
your socks off.” The paper may be downloaded from the Omnia Audio website at
www.OmniaAudio.com/tech/ .
Mr.
Foti’s Surround 2004 Conference session will take place Wednesday, September
1st, at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, California. For
details, visit
www.entertainmentmediaexpo.com or contact Caroline Dorsey at +1-216-
241-7225.
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Omnia, a Telos company, is world-renowned for its digital
audio signal processing expertise. Omnia audio processors for FM, AM, TV, HD
Radio & DAB, Internet, and audio production are setting new standards for
professional audio quality.
Telos Systems, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio with offices
in Europe and Canada, is a leading manufacturer of ISDN, coded audio and
telephone interface products for talk-shows, teleconferencing, audio
production, remote broadcasts, and intercom applications.
HD Radio is a trademark of iBiquity Digital Corporation.
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