Neural: ’06 Is Year of Surround Sound

Neural Audio Corp. says it is getting surround sound noticed in more places. It helped NPR air a portion of its New Year’s Eve broadcast in surround sound; the company also is displaying its technology with XM Satellite Radio here on the show floor at CES in Las Vegas, and it says Neural Surround technology will be introduced into more than 50% of the home receiver market in 2006.
Neural said its 5225 Surround Sound System was used to provide 5.1 surround sound for the live broadcast from a nightclub in New Orleans for NPR’s New Year’s special “Toast of the Nation.” The broadcast marked the first live national music broadcast from New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. The broadcast began in New Orleans, and that portion was recorded in 5.1 surround.
New Orleans Venue Producer Mike Pappas used Neural’s 5225 DownMix to capture musical content in 5.1 and downmix it for transmission to NPR in Washington, where it was broadcast to the NPR audience. Listeners with surround systems could hear the broadcast in surround; and those with analog receivers heard the show in analog.