Time alignment?

[vdubpsu]

Is time alignment possible on computer soundcards? Is there software to do this or do any soundcards come with drivers/software?

 

[Emon]

I assume this is a carry over from your carputer thread, so I'll ask...what exactly is time alignment? I'm a headphone guy, let alone a car stereo guy.

 

[vdubpsu]

time alignment is used when the distance to the speaker to the listener varies. Lets say i am closer to the left speaker than the right speaker. So what you do is you set these distances into software/hardware and the left speaker will fire later than the right speaker. This is under the theory that sound travels at X speed (i think 330ms) and the sound from a closer speaker will hit u first, so if you delay the left speaker using its distance and the speed of sound you can have the sound from both speakers hit u at the same time, giving you a fuller listening experience.

its very very cool.

 

[Emon]

Ah, neat. Well it's certainly possible on any computer soundcard (with the number of channels you need that is) but you'll probably be hard pressed to find playback software that supports that. I'd Google for things like "pc audio time alignment", "carputer audio time alignment", "car computer audio time alignment", etc. Also search for time alignment plugins for audio players like Winamp, foobar2000, etc.

 

[peterhoang1988]

lol i didnt think it actually would make a difference placing one speaker closer to you than the other. but then again, maybe u have a big room?

 

[Emon]

Um, you can tell the difference when someone is talking to you 12 inches away vs 12 feet away, right? Your brain perceives sound direction by comparing the delay between what each ear hears.