If you intend to use your MP3 and media players with your home theater system, you will need digital surround processors. Digital Sound processors take encoded audio files, such as the ones included with DVDs or other video media, and process them into separate channels to create the illusion of surround sound.
Surround processors create this illusion by separating the signal into five or more channels plus a subwoofer. The subwoofer handles the bass notes, which are not directional and often more felt than heard, and the rest is separated into five or more channels: a center channel, as movie dialogue is always in the center of the screen regardless of where the actor who is speaking is placed on the screen; a left and right channel, for the main sound effects, and two or more surround speakers, which give the illusion that the sound envelops the viewer in the environment.
Surround processors specify their capability by number of channels they allow. For example, 5.1 translates to one center channel, a left and right channel, and two surround speakers and a subwoofer (the .1 part). Incidentally, you need at least two loudspeakers to create the illusion of sound having any direction other than from the speaker itself. These days, there is a trend toward adding more and more speakers. You may see systems and surround processors offering 7.1 or 8.1. All this means is that they have more surround speakers.
Often, content from portable MP3 or media players is used with surround processors to be piped into home theater systems, for convenient, high-quality audio playback. Hooking up an MP3 player to high quality audio components can be a great option. The first component to look at is a pre-amplifier. A pre-amplifier is basically a control amplifier and a machine providing tone controls. Pre-amplifiers can also counteract some of the harshness of digital sound—for example, a classic tube pre-amplifier may soften the sometimes-harsh sound of digital music files.
Your surround processor will work with almost any digital music player. As digital music players evolve from simple audio players to complex multimedia devices, users are finding more and more applications for them. What was once just a way of taking music with you is now invading the home as well. In addition to portable music and media players, home music and media players increasingly play formats like MP3 that were created for those desiring portable music players.
These days, music players have evolved quite a bit. Many now offer video outs, and portable music players play video on high-resolution color video displays. You can show photos transferred from your computer, and even accompany them with music. Many are full-fledged media players, offering movies, music videos, TV shows downloaded from the web and even movies taken with your camcorder. Some can even record from TV or download and share content wirelessly over a Wifi network connection.
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