What concept is modern audio systems increasingly moving toward instead of fixed channel counts?
Answer
Object-based audio.
The latest evolution in immersive audio, exemplified by formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, represents a significant conceptual shift away from traditional channel-based mixing. Object-based audio abstracts the sound source away from fixed speaker assignments. Instead of telling the system 'send this sound to speaker number 3,' the sound is treated as an independent object assigned a specific coordinate within three-dimensional space. The playback hardware then renders this sound optimally, dynamically adjusting where it plays based on the actual speaker configuration installed in the listener's room, whether that is a simple 5.1 setup or a complex array including height channels.
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