Hardware Fusion�s 7.1 feature looks at today�s surround sound technology for the PC home user and receives input from Creative�s European Brand Manager for audio products, Darragh O�Toole. Hardware Fusion also has an in-depth look at Creative�s latest 7.1 audio card, the Audigy 2 ZS, a full interview with Darragh O�Toole and a Audigy 2 ZS Giveaway!

7.1 is the latest surround sound format to hit the home consumer PC market. For years sound experts have inspired to bring the full effect of cinema entertainment into the home. With the release of Creative�s Audigy 2 ZS, Creative�s first 7.1 THX certified sound card, the reality of home cinema entertainment has been taken a step further.

The new 7.1 format introduces two additional channels, which have been given the placement of left and right side speakers. With the incorporation of two extra channels the user will be able to enjoy a 360 degree audio environment, which will further add to the immersive atmosphere that surround sound entertainment has to offer, and will bring home users a step closer to the reality of modern day cinema.

�Darragh O�Toole: Cinema technology has been an obvious leader in defining the channel standards moving from 5.1 to 6 .1 and now 7.1. 7.1 nicely fills the gap in the sound field where you can now hear sounds in pretty accurate 360 degrees without having to wait until they have moved fully to the rear before you realise they have passed you. For Movies, we have added support for Dolby Digital Surround EX and DTS-ES with speaker replication to take full advantage of the 7.1 configuration for 5.1 titles without affecting the original mix.�

For gamers the 7.1 sound format means increased realism when it comes to playing today�s games. Creative�s Audigy 2 ZS incorporates the use of API�s, such as DirectSound3D and OpenAL, which are capable of rendering full bandwidth, 7.1 TRUE surround sound. Creative�s Multi-Environment� engine moves the reverberation effects away from just being the listener's reverb to being able to tie reverberation effects directly to the sounds themselves, which in practice allows a sound source to carry a reverb with it into the next environment of the game. This technology is highly useful for creating seamless transitions of environmental effects whilst moving from one environment to another, therefore greatly enhancing upon realism. With the addition of Creative�s latest EAX 4.0 and Multi-Environment� technology the harnessing power of 7.1 audio becomes clearly apparent, for it introduces a more realistic audio experience with smoother panning.

�Darragh O�Toole: If you take Jedi Knight Academy and Colin McRae 4, developers from Creative have worked closely with the audio development team for the games to assist with the implementation and have been to hand every step of the way. Colin McRae, while sounding like an unlikely candidate for EAX 4 is an excellent example of how even we were blown away by how real it made the in-car experience. With distinct regions of the car representing a specific environment you really do get in touch with every nuance of the car�s movement as you�re hurtling around the tracks.�

Today�s DVD releases commonly use the Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES encoding formats for movie soundtracks. Dolby Digital EX, also known as THX Surround EX, is a jointly developed technology by Lucasfilm THX and Dolby Laboratories and is a trade name specifically marketed for home theatre entertainment products. Its actual origin derives from a technology named �Digital Surround EX��, which is commonly used by state-of-the-art movie theatres. DTS uses much higher data rates (1.5 Mbit/sec or 754 kbit/sec) over Dolby Digital (448 kbit/sec or 384 kbit/sec) which can be up to four times higher, this significant gap in encoding rates prompts many home theatre enthusiasts and industry experts to claim that DTS is superior to the Dolby Digital format. Because of the high capacity consumption of DTS soundtracks many film companies were deterred from using the technology on DVD releases. Those companies who did had to face sacrificing additional DVD features, such as Bonus footage and audio tracks, all in the effort to save space. Thanks to the lower DTS data rate of 754 kbit/sec certain film companies were able to add both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks to their DVD�s, as seen in today�s DVD releases. Creative�s Audigy 2 ZS incorporates both the Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES encoding technologies. Whilst these technologies do not provide TRUE 7.1 surround sound, Creative has devised an up-mix technology to simulate 7.1 surround from any 6.1 audio source. This up-mix technology, which has been modified to provide smoother panning between channels, enables users to receive a more realistic 7.1 experience.

�Darragh O�Toole: The Audigy 2 ZS itself is a true 7.1 card with 8 discretely addressable channels for gaming, music playback and surround music mixing. For Movies, while we provide a 7.1 playback system, the Dolby Digital EX movie soundtrack format itself is 6.1 with the rear channel signal being duplicated across the two rear satellites.

The Audigy 2 ZS is certified by THX and we include the THX control panel for accurate configuration. Also, in addition to the standard surround decoding, we also allow you to replicate 5.1 rear channels to the sides so you can take advantage of a full 7.1 setup.�

Whilst DVD makers have not yet incorporated TRUE 7.1 encoding into their DVD releases Creative�s Audigy 2 ZS manages to bring you close enough to the real thing! But how long will it be before DVD manufacturers start encoding in TRUE 7.1 surround?

�Darragh O�Toole: Large industries like film move pretty slowly but if DVD-Audio can be taken as a reference where full bandwidth 24/96 audio is being considered at the recording stage of studio albums, I think we can assume that as capacity and processing power become less of an issue that movie soundtracks will begin to transition to a non compressed format.�

For Hardware Fusion�s full interview with Creative�s Darragh O�Toole click here.

Be sure to check out Hardware Fusion�s in-depth look at the Audigy 2 ZS here.