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Foreword For the last 8.5 years, I've worked for QSound Labs, Inc. helping to develop and package 3D audio solutions for markets from professional sound recording to inexpensive end-user software and hardware products. My work has been diverse, taking me to many world-famous sound studios in places like London, Sydney, Los Angeles and New York. It's also taken me to big honkin' trade shows like Comdex in Vegas, kept me up all night many times building prototype demonstration units, and given me the opportunity to exercise my gift of the gab in newsgroups and other public forums. Along the way, I've seen and heard just about everything out there in the world of 3D audio, since way back before most people had even heard of it. One of the problems I've seen with 3D is that the subject is very new for a lot of folks and there's a lot of confusion about it. Some product marketers have taken advantage of this situation to foist a lot of goobledeegook on unwary consumers. I've devoted a good chunk of my life to 3D audio and I think it's pretty cool, so when people are getting confused, and worse yet, hoodwinked, I get steamed. ALive! has asked me to put together an edited version of some of my more recent public postings in lieu of a full article on the subject (because I'm too busy for the latter at present!) so here it is... a 3D Audio FAQ from QSound. Although it jumps around a bit (OK, a lot) and may contain repetitions (because it comes from different source documents) I hope it clears a bit of the fog surrounding this fascinating technology. If the facts presented seem to be weighted a little heavily towards QSound products, my excuse is simply that I know them best of all, and some of the questions I’ve dealt with are directed squarely at QSound and how we compare to some alternative technologies.
3D audio is new to most people, and a lot of the "information" available is from folks with an axe to grind. I have to urge you not to believe everything you read, regardless of the source (including me). Take it all with a grain of salt. The conventional press is unfortunately pretty clueless about 3D audio as well. Heck, when it comes to gaming, you're lucky if product reviews mention sound at all, much less 3D sound. If they do mention 3D audio, check the issue for ads from 3D audio companies to lend some perspective to the conclusions made in product reviews.
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