3D sound from the ordinary stereo using Ambiophonics method
My audiophile journey to achieve perfection in playback. You don't need expensive equipment for that!
Apologies to all previous commentators. During the edit I lost the comment section. Hopefully, this will be more reliable.
Ambiophonics method guarantees to improve any standard stereo playback to sound as natural and more detailed than any other audiophile stereo system. Here is a video where I recorded the best of 2019 KLIAV Show and compared them with my system. You can do A/B comparisons in them. Ideally, use headphones for lisening since the recordings were made using Roland CS10-EM microphones.
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Edit (10 Sept 2019): I have found a more robust way to do the cancellation whcih sounds much better than in the video below. I will update the video below to reflect the newer version of the crosstalk where the tonal balance is far more accurate than all the rest of the videos.
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Sounstage! Review of Ambiophonics Institute's founder Ralph Glasgal's system.
I have also heard numerous high-end, multichannel systems, all of which couldn’t hold a candle to what we heard.- Howard Kneller (https://www.soundstageglobal.com/index.php/blogging-on-audio/201-howard-kneller/858-a-day-with-ralph-glasgal-founder-of-the-ambiophonics-institute)
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Visitors' impression of my system.
Kind words of Sharil who is also a reviewer of audio equipment. Unfortunately, it did not get into one of his audio sites. Here is one mini review of system by one of the the few reviewers in my country. You may also find others comments in the forum.
Quoting verbatim "After a a few months of chit chat over Whatsapp, I finally found time to visit STC's den to experience first hand what ambiophonics sounds like. Spent about 3 hours or so experiencing various musical genre and also a few 'settings'.Ir was 3 dimensional experience where music just envelopes around you in a very reliastic manner. Layer bu layer was of the music was exposed in such detail. The drum rolls on track like Black Magic Woman was presented in a manner that I could actually imagine how the drum set was configured. The soundstage was full but at the same time, the vocal was set smack in the middle and did not loose any prowesness. Bass however, was little shy to my preference. It was extended and not thud thumping bass. But I can do with a little bit more of a dive in the lower frequency.I can see why (but I dont understand why) audiophiles can reject this ambiophonics idea but experience it and let your emotion or hearing decide it. I certainly enjoyed it and if I ever have my own hifi room back, I may look into ambiophonics.Thanks STC for the demo and also the murtabak kambing hehehe.
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TLKoo
Many thanks to STC for the warm hospitality, it was truly an evening which had me intimately embraced by virtue of the achievements of his Ambiophonics!
I couldn't visualise the abilities of such setup with speakers apart for <2feet but true enough, I have been convinced of being transported directly to the music venue be it studio recording or live. In very a quick manner, I may humbly opine that my stereophonics (as I have barely achieved) could churn out/reproduce imaging, soundstaging and even soundscape extension into listening room to mislead me to feel that I have been transported to the music venue while ambiophonics goes straight to have directly sent me to the music venue!!! Being last night a joyous session with few long known friends (no one is old though long known), it wasn't conducive for knowing more about ambiophonics let alone music appreciation. Mr STC, I will knock at your doorstep again and I assume the invitation without any right of refusal huh!
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Kong Seng Chee
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Hi-fi is fun. Why else are we in it? After hearing how Mr. Koo enthused over Mr. Chelvam's set-up, I decided to check it out. Ambiophonic did deliver a convincing portrayal of musical reality. This is not to be confused with live music but it certainly can thrill. Impressive. I don't know whether you'll ever get used to it. You not only will amaze yourself, but will be musically rewarded. The ambiophonic player is in public domain. My suggestion is simply to audition it. Now I can relate to Koo's enthusiastic endorsement. Let me not forget to thank Mr. Chelvam also. Ambiophonic is fun. Aren't we supposed to have fun?
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Syadi
I had a listen to STC's ambiophonics recently. Have to say that it was very, very impressive. The soundstage, the depht were amazing. Need to learn more on this. Would recommend it to everyone to experience. Salute you STC!
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Pick your favourite classical recording, place your speakers closer so that it is around 20 degrees or less. Place a divider in between the speaker extending all the way to your face. It is easier to experiment this with small speakers with PC. In my case, I was using a mattress with my main system during my early experimentation. I knew about Ambio in early 2000s but did not fully implemented them because being a a hardcore audiophile, I simply refused to use any form of DSP. It was only in 2011, after attempting everything to recreate lifelike playback with stereo, I reconsidered the ambiophonics DSP . It was a long lonely journey. I stumbled a lot and alone in this attempt. Ralph Glasgal was always there to guide for more than 6 years with hundreds if not thousands of email exchanges between us. Even then, the transition wasn't easy as I erred in the proper method of the implementation.
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There are two types of recordings that we are familiar with. One is the regular stereo, and the other one is the binaural recordings where all the localization cues are captured in the recordings. Unfortunately, binaural recordings can only be heard with headphones to perceive the full effect of natural sound. A binaural recording will not reproduce the localization cue correctly when played over the loudspeakers and will sound just like ordinary stereo recordings due to crosstalk. In order to retrieve the localization cues that already have been embedded in the recordings, the crosstalk error needs to be cancelled. The easiest way to understand the principle behind the crosstalk cancellation is prevent the sound from the left/right speaker reaching the right/left ear. AND, the easiest way to experiment this effect is to put a divider between the speakers reaching right up to your face. The 3D sound will emerge when you could isolate the opposing speakers sound reaching the ear.
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This is also the reason why binaural recordings can work with headphones only. I use Ambiophonics method to retrieve the hidden cues in stereo recordings so that they would sound like binaural recordings when played over the loudspeakers. The sound-stage will increase to about 140 degrees or even more. You will hear more depth, separation, and natural sound. There is a research centre called Ambiophonics Institute where you can experience the 3D sound from the ordinary stereo recordings. It is open to public and serves as a research centre for academicians and researchers. This can be implemented for free or with simple plugins that are available under various names sold by third parties under different names. You may find more information at Ambiophonics website.
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Ambiophonics method is a true 3 Dimensional sound with existing stereo sound. None of the videos here represent the actual 3D sound as all true ordinary stereo setup cannot reproduce the effect. Just like it is impossible to represent 3D TV image with 2D TV. Experiment real 3D sound to understand the difference between stereo and Ambiophonics. Ideally, use headphones to listen to my videos. The best way to experiment 3D sound is to implement them in your system. If you are keen to learn more, I will send you a preprocessed music that you can play in your main system. The only catch is - the speakers should be moved about 2/3 closer to each other so that it will form a 20-degree triangle. It may be mind-boggling to you that narrower speakers spread can produce a 140 degrees soundstage but that 's the real stage in a typical classical recordings that no stereo system could reproduce accurately.
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RACE Delay and Attenuation Calculator
Please contact for an excel sheet calculator (as shown below) where you can use to find the delay and attenuation values for the Ambiophonics RACE plugin. The values are just a suggestion and should be varied according to your system for fine tuning. It is strongly suggested that you samples from Linn, 2L Linberg or Chesky during the initial setup so that you can familiarize with the delay and attenuating.
