Dolby Virtual Speaker FAQ

Dolby Virtual Speaker technology is a highly sophisticated audio virtualization technology that makes it possible to enjoy natural, realistic 5.1-channel surround sound from just two stereo speakers. Dolby Virtual Speaker transforms TV, movies, and music into a thrilling surround sound experience, bringing surround sound to anyone with a two-speaker system.

Dolby Virtual Speaker technology utilizes a powerful algorithm that can duplicate multiple, complex sonic signatures in their entirety, from the initial impulse to the final decay, including reflections that naturally occur in a 5.1-channel environment. Also, Dolby Virtual Speaker employs crosstalk cancellation to keep the surround cues for each ear from being cancelled by cues from the other speaker.

This makes Dolby Virtual Speaker different from most other virtual systems on the market today. Other systems limit their processing to direct sound, ignoring 99 percent of what is needed to deliver an accurate, natural home theater experience. As a result, these systems don't begin to approach the realism achieved by Dolby Virtual Speaker technology.

Dolby Virtual Speaker is perfect for anyone who wants to experience full, rich surround sound. Dolby Virtual Speaker is ideal for the new flat-panel displays and for any system in an apartment, dorm room, or other small space where the cost or installation of multiple speakers and wiring is impractical.

Dolby Virtual Speaker technology can be used with any pair of stereo speakers, including speakers made specifically for PCs. Of course, a powerful amplifier and high-quality speakers will give you better sound.

Dolby Virtual Speaker technology can be used with any pair of stereo speakers, including speakers made specifically for PCs. Of course, a powerful amplifier and high-quality speakers will give you better sound.

The speakers should be placed in a normal stereo arrangement, equidistant from the listener.

Dolby Virtual Speaker technology works very well with your TV’s built-in speakers, especially those in widescreen monitors and HDTV sets. In fact, Dolby Virtual Speaker’s Wide mode makes the speakers sound further apart than they actually are.

Yes. Dolby Virtual Speaker technology can be used with both stereo and multichannel program content. Dolby Virtual Speaker works with Dolby Pro Logic® II decoding to transform stereo content into multichannel 5.1 surround, and with Dolby Digital decoding to process native 5.1-channel content. Dolby Virtual Speaker enhances the playback of any program material, from 5.1-channel DVDs and satellite programming to stereo music CDs and MP3 files.

Dolby Virtual Speaker technology brings true-to-life 5.1 surround sound playback to DVD players, TV sets, PCs, DBS/cable receivers and set-top boxes, personal speakers, desktop stereo systems, and home theater systems. Not only can Dolby Virtual Speaker technology be incorporated into devices that connect to a stereo system, it can be built into the stereo system itself.

Older virtual speaker technologies deliver only a fraction of the crucial sonic cues necessary to reproduce a 5.1-channel listening environment. In fact, most other solutions are simply “sound sweeteners.” While their surround effects can seem dramatic when switched on and off, they’re not nearly as precise as Dolby Virtual Speaker.

Dolby Virtual Speaker technology is advanced enough to convey the complex sonic cues necessary to provide a convincing illusion of a precisely placed 5.1 surround speaker system. This enables the listener to hear a multichannel soundtrack the way its producers intended it to be heard.

No. While other Dolby virtualization technologies don’t deliver the same 5.1-channel listening experience as Dolby Virtual Speaker, Dolby technologies such as Virtual Dolby Surround and Virtual Dolby Digital still provide more spacious and involving sound over two speakers than regular stereo.

Only Dolby Virtual Speaker technology is based on a next-generation, proprietary form of signal processing. It is advanced enough to convey the complex sonic cues needed to provide a convincing illusion of precisely placed surround speakers. It is also the only virtualization system that reproduces a full 5.1 surround sound environment. Unlike other solutions, Dolby Virtual Speaker reproduces the entire sonic signature—from the initial response to the final decay, and every related reflection in between. Plus, with crosstalk cancellation, every sound will be heard exactly where it was meant to be heard, without interference from other sonic cues.

Yes. Dolby Virtual Speaker technology can be easily added to a PC via a DVD software player.

Generally speaking, yes. A DVD player equipped with Dolby Virtual Speaker can be connected to the analog audio inputs of a TV set (or other playback system) to create surround sound.

Many devices incorporate Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic II to deliver a seamless surround sound experience.

A product with a Dolby Pro Logic II/Dolby Virtual Speaker logo uses the Dolby Pro Logic II technology to expand stereo content to 5.1 channels of surround sound, then processes this through Dolby Virtual Speaker. This way the listener can experience 5.1-channel surround sound from a stereo source through two speakers.

A product with a Dolby Digital/Dolby Virtual Speaker logo decodes 5.1-channel Dolby Digital soundtracks, then applies the Dolby Virtual Speaker process to the multiple channels. Because the soundtrack has already been encoded with Dolby Digital 5.1, each channel is discrete. Adding Dolby Virtual Speaker gives the listener a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound experience from two speakers.