Stereo Systems

Stereophonic sound, commonly called stereo, is the reproduction of sound, using two or more independent audio channels, through a symmetrical configuration of loudspeakers, in such a way as to create a pleasant and natural impression of sound heard from various directions, as in natural hearing. It is often contrasted with monophonic (or "monaural", or just mono) sound, where audio is in the form of one channel, often centered in the sound field (analogous to a visual field).

The word "stereophonic" — derived from Greek stereos = "solid" and phōnē = "sound" — was coined by Western Electric, by analogy with the word "stereoscopic".

In popular usage, stereo usually means 2-channel sound recording and sound reproduction using data for more than one speaker simultaneously.

In technical usage, stereo or stereophony means sound recording and sound reproduction that uses stereographic projection to encode the relative positions of objects and events recorded. A stereo system can include any number of channels, such as the surround sound 5.1- and 6.1-channel systems used on high-end film and television productions. However, in common use it refers to systems with only two channels.

The electronic device for playing back stereo sound is often referred to as "a stereo".

During two-channel stereo recording, two microphones are placed in strategically chosen locations relative to the sound source, with both recording simultaneously. The two recorded channels will be similar, but each will have distinct time-of-arrival and sound-pressure-level information. During playback, the listener's brain uses those subtle differences in timing and sound-level to triangulate the positions of the recorded objects.

Stereo recordings often cannot be played on monaural systems without a significant loss of fidelity. Since each microphone records each wavefront at a slightly different time, the wavefronts are out of phase; as a result, constructive and destructive interference can occur, if both tracks are played back on the same speaker. This phenomenon is known as phase cancellation.

This phenomenon has actually been used to effect on the track Jenny Ondioline by the band Stereolab on their album Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements. This track, when played back is reproduced in stereophonic sound until the moment in time 13'35" when a voice announces "The recorded signal is recorded equally on both channels, but is out of phase." After this announcement, the music becomes destructive, chaotic and distorted and is reproduced as a monaural signal.

Some traditional music genres, e.g. Andean music, require stereo recording strictly to make adequate representation of its dualistic nature. See Siku (panpipe) for explanation.

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