Experiencing Theater-like Sound Through Surround Sound Headphones

If you were born in the late 60's or early 70's, you are one lucky person. Why? Because you can compare the quality of the sound in movie theaters today and during those years. Over the years, the audio quality in theaters has drastically changed. When you watch movies in those days, you can hear only monaural or monophonic audio coming from one or a few speakers located behind the theater screen. The sound quality of monaural systems is simply dull and muffled--by today's standards, at least. Today, the listening experience in theaters is a little bit more realistic because theaters employ surround audio techniques. What's even more amazing is that the same surround effect can be and is being replicated in surround sound headphones.

When you use surround sound headphones to listen to music or any audio recording, the audio is more realistic, clearer, sharper, and cleaner to the ears. The secret lies in the headphones' use of a technology that reproduces a surround or 3D audio theater setup or system. In such a setup, you hear different audio channels through various speakers or amplifiers arranged around you. The location of the speakers create an environment that makes it appear as if one and the same sound is coming from different directions. The sound "envelopes" you.

With ordinary headphones, the audio that you hear appears to be coming from your head and only from one direction. This makes the sound somewhat unrealistic and not natural to the ear at all. But, with 3D audio headsets, the sound is distributed to different sides of the head--particularly the front and the sides. The technology used in theater-sound headsets replicates the distribution of the speakers in a surround or 3D sound theater.

It is still possible to experience the surround effect even if you use only regular or ordinary headphones. However, you will need to plug those headphones into hardware or a player that is capable of Digital Sound Processing (DSP) technology. The processing is done by the hardware or player, not by the headphones. The case is different with surround sound headsets. These headphones can produce 3D sound regardless of whether your hardware or player is capable of DSP. Needless to say, the listening experience gets better if you usesuch headphones with hardware or a player that is capable of Digital Sound Processing.

Such headsets are able to simulate the 3D or multidimensional sound effect. The trick is in using principles and methods from psychoacoustics. Psychoacoustics is the scientific field that studies how human beings subjectively perceive sounds. Many manufacturers of these headphones employ scientific findings from psychoacoustics when they design their various headphones. Integrating psychoacoustic principles into the design of the headphones result in more accurate simulation or reproduction of the original sound that has been recorded.

Although theater-sound headsets usually have only two speakers or earpieces, with the help of psychoacoustics they are able to alter the sound waves so that your ears will perceive the sound as if it was coming from several directions. This results in sound that has the surround effect.

Indeed, sound experience and quality have gone a long way from the monaural or monophonic quality of the earlier decades to the high-fidelity surround or 3D sound of recent years. What's better, too, is that surround sound has permeated not just commercial and home theaters, but also private user spaces through surround sound headphones.

By: Kyle Laurent Friedman

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Kyle Laurent Friedman, an audio engineer and audiophile, frequently publishes reviews about various surround sound headphones brands and models to provide expert opinion to his readers. Head over to Friedman's website to find the best deals on and read more about surround sound headsets.