What is stereo audio?

                                             What is stereo audio? 

Stereo audio has been the dominant format for analog or digital audio in the music industry for decades. It's a relatively simple format that does a good job of simulating the way we naturally hear the world around us, and is one of the most important audio formats.

So what is stereo audio? Stereo audio is a two-channel format with left and right audio channels. When played on a proper and correctly positioned system, stereo audio provides depth and width because the left channel reaches our left ear first and vice versa.

That's a brief description, and next we'll discuss stereo audio in detail, touching on its relationship to our hearing system, how it differs from other popular formats, and how we make stereo recordings.

audio and sound

The main difference between sound and audio is their form of energy. Sound is mechanical wave energy (longitudinal sound waves) that propagates through a medium, causing changes in pressure within the medium. Audio consists of electrical energy (analog or digital signals) that represents sound.

sound

Sound is tangible. Sound waves propagate through air (and other media), causing oscillations in the particles of the medium. Small changes in pressure and displacement within these media are caused by the peaks and troughs of sound waves. To the particles of the medium, sound waves cyclically exert maximum rarefaction and compression.

The frequency of these cycles is measured in Hertz (cycles/second). Sound waves are often made up of many overlapping frequencies, and when these frequencies sound together, they create the characteristics of the sound itself.

• The audible sounds we hear range in frequency from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.

• Infrasound waves are inaudible sounds below 20 Hz.

• Ultrasound is an inaudible sound with a frequency above 20,000 Hz.

Audio

Audio, on the other hand, is a representation of sound, which can be potential or kinetic energy. That is, audio signal waveforms mimic the waveforms of the sound waves they represent, and in an ideal system the reproduced sound would be identical to the audio.

Audio can be analog or digital in storage. However, in order to be played back, the audio must be analog so that the alternating current can be appropriately amplified to drive the transducer (speaker or headphone driver) that ultimately converts the audio into sound.

So sound waves are actual longitudinal waves interacting in an acoustic environment, while audio is an electronic (analog or digital) representation of sound.

audio and sound

The main difference between sound and audio is their form of energy. Sound is mechanical wave energy (longitudinal sound waves) that propagates through a medium, causing changes in pressure within the medium. Audio consists of electrical energy (analog or digital signals) that represents sound.

sound

Sound is tangible. Sound waves propagate through air (and other media), causing oscillations in the particles of the medium. Small changes in pressure and displacement within these media are caused by the peaks and troughs of sound waves. To the particles of the medium, sound waves cyclically exert maximum rarefaction and compression.

The frequency of these cycles is measured in Hertz (cycles/second). Sound waves are often made up of many overlapping frequencies, and when these frequencies sound together, they create the characteristics of the sound itself.

• The audible sounds we hear range in frequency from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.

• Infrasound waves are inaudible sounds below 20 Hz.

• Ultrasound is an inaudible sound with a frequency above 20,000 Hz.

Audio

Audio, on the other hand, is a representation of sound, which can be potential or kinetic energy. That is, audio signal waveforms mimic the waveforms of the sound waves they represent, and in an ideal system the reproduced sound would be identical to the audio.

Audio can be analog or digital in storage. However, in order to be played back, the audio must be analog so that the alternating current can be appropriately amplified to drive the transducer (speaker or headphone driver) that ultimately converts the audio into sound.

So sound waves are actual longitudinal waves interacting in an acoustic environment, while audio is an electronic (analog or digital) representation of sound.

However, it is important that some information between the left and right channels is the same (equal but opposite polarity signals will effectively cancel each other out). The same information between the two channels constitutes the "center" of the stereoscopic image, while the different information between the two channels constitutes the "center" of the stereoscopic image.

During playback, the listener should set the playback system to stereo priority.

Stereo vs. mono audio

The main difference between stereo and mono audio is quite simple – it’s the number of channels.

Mono audio has one channel.

Stereo audio has two channels.

Mono audio does not utilize the two ears of our auditory system and cannot create a sense of width. Stereo audio, on the other hand, is the most basic way of creating a sense of width and overall dimensionality because it utilizes our dichotic hearing system, with one channel for the left channel and one channel for the right channel.

But that's not to say mono audio isn't useful. In fact, there are many use cases for mono audio, especially in applications where the audio does not care about width, such as audiobooks, phone or video chat, intercoms, and single-driver playback systems.

Additionally, since mono only has one channel, there is no partitioning of bitrates in digital audio. This means that all else being equal, mono digital audio is of better quality than stereo digital audio, although this is less of an issue with modern computers and digital storage.

Of course, the main advantage of stereo audio is enhanced directionality, especially in terms of width. It is the preferred standard for music and is still used in radio and television, although the surround sound format is more popular in movies.

Stereo vs. Surround Audio

The term stereo is defined as “a recording or reproduction system that uses two or more independent channels to produce a more realistic effect by capturing the spatial dimensions of a performance (the position of the performers as well as their voices), especially for high-fidelity True recording and reproduction system.”

By this definition, both stereo and surround sound formats are stereo because they both produce stereo sound when played back.

What's the biggest difference between the two? Stereo audio strictly has two channels, while surround sound has more than two channels.

The definition of “more than two channels” is quite broad. The smallest is the 2.1 format, which effectively adds a low-frequency channel (".1") for the subwoofer to the basic stereo format ("2"). On the larger side, we have the popular Dolby Atmos format, which allows for up to 128 audio tracks (each with its own associated spatial audio description metadata (positional or acoustic)). Like automation data, data about sound movement, type, intensity, speed and volume) ).

Not only do surround sound formats require more speakers (for each dedicated channel) to be fully experienced, but those speakers must also be placed correctly, and the listener should be positioned correctly on the surround sound playback system.

Stereo sound remains popular due to its relative simplicity - it offers excellent spatial characteristics while being easily reproduced through a pair of speakers or stereo headphones.

Surround sound formats are more involved, require more effort to mix, and require better equipment to play adequately.