Orbitsound T12 soundbar
Stereo sound from one speaker? That's just crazy talk
Review The T12 stereo ‘soundbar’ represents a totally unique take on the category; it goes back to the dawn of stereo technology itself to deliver a genuine revolution in sound reproduction.
Using technology developed by its sister technology Airsound, the Orbitsound T12 is designed to give a boost to TV audio as well as act as a music system for an iPod (via its own dock) or other peripherals by way of a line-in jack and stereo inputs. Whilst the unit is not the highest specified you will ever come across, what it does in terms of the sound is extremely impressive.
T12: can reproduce wide stereo fields from a single speaker
The unit’s ace in the hole is that it can reproduce wide stereo fields from a single speaker. "Impossible!" we hear you cry. By definition stereo is two speakers. Actually, that's not necessarily true, but we have to go back in time to the beginning of stereo reproduction for an explanation.
Airsound explains its technique is based on the theories of inventor Alan Blumlein, who in 1931 described a method of recording and reproducing 'stereophonic' sound. His theories centered around the notion that (as we have two ears) the ability to recognise where a sound is coming from is to do with how the sound reaches our ears - if one side is louder than the other, then the sound is located on the loud side.
Alan thought that it might be possible to record and reproduce 'spatial' sound, using a principle called 'sum and difference' or 'middle and side' (M/S). This involved using an omni-directional microphone to record the main signal information, and a figure-8 response (or 'dipole') microphone set across the 'field of sound' to record the spatial information.
COMMENTS
behind small speakers are small minds
And ALL speaker systems use the rooms surfaces to extend the soundfield via "the surface effect"; also known as "reflected sound"> ring a bose bell? (Ever heard a Klipschorn?), All speaker systems are affected by "the surface effect" whether they like it or not > either positively or negatively...with the exception of course of those used out of doors! That is why the best speakers are tested in an anecolic chamber, to map the true output of it, without interaction from the surroundings.
I do not think they hold a candle to my NS-10M's, or NS-1000's, or JBL's, or Klipsch's, or my MP Ribbons..., and well...
"the bass is ???LOW BANDWIDTH???...
...whatever that means...perhaps "LACKING!"
Small minded people get small sound from small speakers.
"And We Did'nt Listen To It
Through Three Inch Speakers...
But It's Still Rock-N-Roll To Me" >Billy Joel
A bit of clarification
Adrian: All things are relative: This product does have good Bass performance for its price range and configuration. I have never and would never describe myself as an Audiophile.
One speaker: Clearly year we are talking about one speaker enclosure here. Stating the article is inaccurate because there is more than one driver in the array, misses the point, you get stereo sound from the one enclosure, which means less positioning issues.
Ben: We try to use a wide variety of content to test kit, obviously this gives us a good idea of the unit’s all round capabilities. I am a bit confused as to why you think the clip we ended up highlighting has anything to do with who the item might be suitable for. It might be suitable for the type of person you describe, it might also be suitable for my Granny to enjoy her copy of Brief Encounter on. The point is it produces sound well.
Also just for the record I have no idea what 'absolute fantasy' is, some sort of computer game presumably, personally I never made it past Galaga. I also do not have smelly socks or live permanently in a bedroom. If it’s important to you to imagine the person writing a review, then you will have to do a lot better than that to get even close. I think maybe its back to the intuitive drawing board for you?
Lewis.
Praise indeed........
"it made much of the sacrifice scene from Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto, with every sickening thud and squelch delivered over an engaging sound field with real accuracy"
So the target market would be goulish adolescent males with an interest in (imagined) realistic violence ..........great review mate , so relevant to those of us living outside the city of tiny lights you inhabit ( bedroom , lingering smell of sock , the sensual fog of absolute fantasy , etc, you KNOW that huh? ) ?
On your downers and your wine , your so big its so tiny , every cloud is silver liney , the great escape for all of you....."
Scuse me , i have to rush off and re-invent the elastic band powered trouser press ( dont fret , we factored in the iPod dock at the first meeting with the accountants , i will be minted , yeah?).
This speaker may play the hose on Bose but it is NOTHING . Compared to the new Creato Mythic Flange 9.1 platinum surreal , a "must have" for , well , simply everyone , but especially for those with a head like a fucken ( that's the irredeemably past tense ) potatoe , or at the very least , more than two ears .
Gah ! my Kef 4 way transmission line bins cannot be bought anywhere
and my ears love them , move along nothing to see here , file under fog plaiting , smoke , mirrors , podcast and the travesty codec .
Bass extension was particularly good
Was it? Was it? I didn't see any reference to speaker housings made of osmium-coated depleted uranium! No mention of hyper-conducting magnetically suspended cables made of atomically pure copper, blessed by the Dalai Lama himself, and subjected to 75,000 hours of burn-in in the Queen's chamber of the Khafre Pyramid? And you, sir, call thyself an audiophile! Where are the diamond-nanotube suspension filaments? The pure gold with mahogany-dielctric interconnects? Not one mention of of whether the sound quality is good enough to discern the quantum spin of the electrons in the bow of the third violinist during the second movement of Bach's Goldberg Variations during Glen Gould's famous 1955 performance? No mention made of measures to reduce bit-drift in digital recordings. No way of connecting to an 1899 Edison cylinder phonograph!
All in all, a useless piece of equipment for the true audiophile! Shame! Shame!
Thank you, mine is the audio-phonically pure cloak made of purest shimmering samite.
Nothing new
L+R, L-R encoding has been in use for a while. It allows the mono and stereo components of a signal to be compressed into limited bandwidth differently. FM stereo radio uses it. Some surround sound formats are based on manipulating the dynamic range of a L-R signal then playing it behind the listener. The old "Stereo Wide" trick removed midrange audio from the L+R component to make boom boxes sound bigger.
And why is a Bose a standard unit for comparison? Peaks in the mid-treble and mid-bass are used to mask an overall poor frequency response. It makes a decent first impression but it grows tiring, even headache inducing, after about half an hour. There's actually science behind the old saying, "No highs? No lows? Must be Bose." Want to see pictures of the premium Bose speakers in my car? They're cheap junk; worse than what you'd get from factory speakers.
