Axon and SoundField partner for 5.1 up-mix and down-mix
Published: PRODUCTS
Developed in co-operation with TSL Professional Products Ltd’s recently acquired SoundField, Axon Digital Design has announced a new addition to its Synapse modular A/V signal processing system. Designated DSF66, the device is a dual hardware stereo-to-5.1 up-mix and down-mix processor, and has been designed for HD broadcasters using archived stereo material that wish to generate high quality 5.1 broadcast mixes from these stereo soundtracks.
Based on SoundField algorithms, the manufacturer claims that this compact and energy efficient module offers ‘a new and radically different solution to a long standing archived audio challenge’.
Axon points out that whilst most software and hardware up-mixing tools create material for the extra three channels in a 5.1 mix by employing processing, the DSF66 differs by generating the material for the extra channels by closely analysing the source stereo signal over time. Using the SoundField algorithm developed for the purpose, the DSF66 can detect reverberant content in the stereo signal, differentiate it from the direct sounds in the mix and then separate it out.
Users can then adjust the details of the processing directly from the DSF66 GUI in Axon’s software-based monitoring and control platform, Cortex. This offers control over a variety of different parameters including the level of the direct and ambient components in the front and rear channels, as well as the divergence of the centre channel in the generated 5.1 mix. Output level controls are also offered for each of the channels in the final 5.1 mix.
Meanwhile, the I/O configuration of the DSF66 can be changed to allow for convenient connection of external inputs, outputs or a combination, and if embedded audio from a master card needs to be processed, the unit can be used without physical I/O, and all channels are routed from and to the Quad Speed Audio bus.
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