Unit 10: Research

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Stereo and mono 

Source 

The difference between mono and stereo is the number of channels used to record and play back audio. 

Mono is recorded and played back as a single audio channel. 

Stereo is recorded and played back using two audio channels. 

Stereo sounds are able to perceive width whereas mono sounds cannot. 

When listening to the stereo sound, you should use earbuds or headphones. You can also use studio speakers which should be angled at a 45-degree angle towards you. They should make an equilateral triangle from the speakers' angles and the back of your head to allow for the intended sound of stereo sound.  

When looking at stereo audio, there is a left channel and right channel. When looking at mono audio, there is only one channel which holds all the sound. 

Stereo sound allows for the impression of sound source localization. This is the ability to hear a sound and identify the position of the sound and the distance. Rather than just having sound coming from either the left or right speaker, stereo sound relies on tricking the brain into thinking the sound is coming from other directions. This relies on 5 factors: 

Time differences between sound reaching your left and right ear. 

Sound wave frequencies 

Sound wave pressure levels 

Dynamic range 

Reverberation amount. 

All of these can trick the brain into thinking the sound is coming from different directions even though it is just coming from two speakers. When a sound is played only in the left speaker, it reaches the left ear first and then the right ear telling your brain the sound is to the left of you. When you have both speakers playing the exact same sound at the same volume, rather than hearing two different audio sources, your brain identifies it as being in front of you; this is referred to as a phantom mono sound source. If you have a sound playing mostly to the left but also some audio coming from the right, your brain will process these two sounds and identify the sound source as coming from the right side of the left speaker rather than the left speaker. Depending on the blend from the left and right speakers, the sound can be perceived as anywhere between the speakers. 

Through stereo, you can imitate width, height, and depth. These three dimensions are known as stereo fields. 

A perceived height is influenced through use of EQ and psychoacoustic perception. But it isn’t a true vertical dimension like Dolby Atmos. 

Depth is determined by the volume and the reverb amount. A quieter audio will sound as if it is further away, and a louder audio will sound closer. 

Mono audio can be played using a single speaker and two speakers. If it is played with two speakers, the audio track will duplicate itself into a left and right track which is known as a dual mono. 


Source 

Using mono audio in a large environment with lots of movement (E.g. a nightclub) is ideal since then everybody will hear the same thing. However, if you were to use stereo audio in this situation, people too far to the left or right wouldn’t be able to hear the song as it is intended to be. In smaller areas with little to no movement (E.g. a car), using stereo audio is fine since the speakers are positioned for you to hear the full intentions of the song. 

Using stereo audio is good when the lead vocals risk sounding lost in the track. In a mono track, you can increase the volume of the lead vocals, but this may risk making them too loud and peaking up the vocals. In a stereo track, you can simply move the instruments to the side to allow more room in the center for the lead vocals to thrive.  

Panning is used as a tool in stereo sound to make your mix have more depth. The panning works by raising levels in the left or right speaker depending on where the pan is positioned. This affects the space and depth of how the sounds are perceived.  


Surround sound 

Source 

Surround sound is when the sound is played out of multiple speakers. Meant to create a realistic soundscape to immerse the audience.  

There are two setups; 5.1 and 7.1. 5.1 is a front speaker, front-left, front-right, rear-left, and rear-right with a subwoofer (A speaker that plays low pitches) (six channels). A 7.1 consists of two extra left and right speakers and a subwoofer (eight channels). The subwoofer is placed in front of you for the best possible blend but can also be put in a corner. In a 5.2 or 7.2, the subwoofer is placed in the two corners in front of you.  


Surround sound was being experimented with since the 1930/40s but was not entered into the consumer market until the 1980s. A notable use of surround sound is Fantasia where they used 54 speakers to make sound move around the audience; however, at this time, it was strictly used for cinematic purposes.  

Surround sound works by carefully working with the speakers as well as timing of sounds, sound balance and dynamic volume for each sound source, perceived position of sounds, and room acoustics and reverberation. This is used to mimic the setting of the entertainment using the speakers allowing the audience to feel as if they’re in that environment rather than just listening to it. 

Can be in the form of a soundbar with all the speakers being in there playing their allocated sounds with a built-in subwoofer providing discrete surround sound.  

Ray Dolby introduced Dolby Stereo in 1970s which allowed for 4 channels; Star Wars used this and helped boost its popularity. In 1992, Dolby digital was introduced which introduced 5.1 surround systems to the public. In 2012, Dolby Atmos was created.  


Dolby Atmos 

Source 

Dolby Atmos is an object-based audio system.  

Dolby Atmos adds height to Surround Sound, which now allows sounds to be positioned on a full XYZ axis. This allows for more immersion. 

They use descriptions such as 7.1.2 to describe Dolby Atmos. This refers to 7 speakers and 1 subwoofer (same as surround sound); however, Dolby Atmos also has 2 overhead speakers in front and behind the listener. You can also use up-firing speakers instead of overhead speakers. 

7.1.4 includes 4 overheads all being in front of, behind, left, and right to the listener.  

Dolby Atmos adapts to your speakers since it is object-based rather than channel-based.  

It stores sound as objects with metadata on the position, movements, and size. This allows for smoother movement since it is not restricted to channels. Using the metadata, an Atmos Rendering Engine reads the metadata and calculates how the sound should be distributed between each available speaker for the best outcome.  

Used in cinemas, home entertainment, music, gaming, and more. 

Introduced in April 2012 by Dolby. Brave was the first film to feature Dolby Atmos in June 2012.  

Even if you don’t have a full Dolby Atmos speaker system, it still adapts to headphones, soundbars, etc.  


Bibliography - 

Black Ghost Audio (2020). Mono vs. Stereo Sound: The Difference Explained (With Audio Examples). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ryacPfyq4k [Accessed 9 Mar. 2026]. 

Attaway Audio (2022). Mono vs. Stereo Sound System. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbCT6-0CT_U [Accessed 9 Mar. 2026]. 

Dolby.com (2025). Surround sound: What it is, how it works, and why Dolby Atmos takes it further. [online] Available at: https://www.dolby.com/en-gb/experience/home-entertainment/articles/what-is-surround-sound-and-how-it-works/#faq [Accessed 9 Mar. 2026]. 

Tyxstudios.com (2024). Available at: https://tyxstudios.com/blog/what-is-dolby-atmos. 

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