French classical music station Radio Classique is simulcasting its programming in stereo on FM and in 5.1 surround on the Web.
In collaboration with German technology developer Fraunhofer IIS and systems developer Zenon-Media, Radio Classique launched its 5.1 surround-sound Webcasts using a solution based on an MP3 Stereo eXtended (MP3 SX) encoder.
The advantage of MP3 SX is that standard stereo systems can decode and playback the file, making the stream compatible with standard MP3 players. As the MP3 SX encoding can be decoded as either stereo or 5.1, depending upon the needs of the listener, there is no need to offer separate stereo and surround streams.
All In One Audio software from Zenon-Media is used to play out audio files as six discrete digital mono outputs.
