In The Beginning
During the mastering of the recording in 5.1 surround sound of the Yul Anderson in Concert at Tivoli Concert Hall, we discovered that the engineer was not able to use the standard 2.0 headphones to hear 5.1 surround multi channel sound. Therefore , we began to work with the tube technology we had discovered earlier in 1997 and presented to Lego in Billund, Denmark.
This technology included the concept of working with the acoustics of different tubing material. We decided to experiment with speakers located inside of different kinds of tubing materials. The only way to hear the 5.1 DVD recorded in multi channel was to have headphones with 5 speakers; each speaker connected to different channels as it was recorded by the sound engineers.
As we began to experiment with different kinds of tubing material, we discovered that the best material was a combination of plastic, metals and rubber. After many different experiments we heard a sound that reflected the original ambience of the live concert in Tivoli Concert hall. Therefore we continued to work with this kind of tubing and created the surround sound Tube Headphone 2004-5.
The DVD’s that are made by major Home Entertainment DVD Production Companies are coded using DTS or Dolby Surround Technology.
The actual sound content of the DVD’s are in 5.1 surround sound, just as you hear in the movies. The problem is that there are no headphones where you can hear the audio content of the 5.1 DVD in the way they are encoded to be heard. In other words, without the surround Tube Headphone it is impossible to hear the multi channel sound encoded in the DVD.
TubeSurround Corporation
The Future is Surround…Now You’re in it!
The future of Consumer Electronics in 5.1 Surround Sound will increase tremendously when the industry recognizes that consumer taste has not changed since the introduction of the radio, a complex of equipment capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals.
The introduction of the radio brought a variety of both pre-recorded and live recorded entertainment to our living rooms. The average person spent much of their leisure time in front of their radio being entertained by talk radio, radio theatre, news, music, and games both sports and prize shows.
Everyone went out to buy radios by the millions and soon there were at least 2 radios in every household. In fact, one could find households with radios in every room in their home including their rest rooms.
As people became more comfortable with being entertained by the radio in their homes, the radio became a stable member of the household furniture, by even becoming furniture.
The fact is that people where willing to pay for the bundling of furniture with the radio at a substantial higher cost for better audio quality e.g. for bigger and better transmissions and speaker output to be entertained in their homes and inevitably anywhere and everywhere through the introduction of the portable radio. Although the portable radio would not have the sound quality of the home radio, it did give the consumer the possibility of mobile entertainment.
The popularity of the radio led to the advent of the phonograph, a machine that reproduces sound by means of a stylus in contact with a grooved rotating disk. The phonograph put control of the kind of entertainment selected in the hand of the consumer and ignited the start of a whole new business in the world of consumer electronics we now call “Home Entertainment”
As with the radio, the phonograph would become popular among every member of the household because it gave each member freedom to explore their on independent taste rather than accept the taste of the network radio broadcasting programming. However, even with the advent of the phonograph, the radio would still be the force behind the commercialization of different brands of CE hardware e.g. radio, phonograph etc. and CE software e.g. information, music, or other kinds of entertainment content.
The fact is that in order to experience their favorite recording artist in a way that best reflect the sound of the live performance in the comfort of their own homes, people were willing to pay for better audio quality e.g. for bigger and better phonographs and speakers..
However unrealized, this was the beginning of the marriage between the music LP and the phonograph that would lay the foundation for the future of connecting home entertainment hardware with the music business.
Eventually the portable phonograph was introduced to the market. Although in its infant stage of development, the phonograph did not have the sound quality of the established home radio and was not as mobile as the portable radio, it did give the consumer the possibility of a limited mobile entertainment experience. One could conclude from the huge popularity of the portable phonograph that consumers were willing to accept less audio quality for more content mobility.
Tube Surround: Inventive Steps into the Future
From Mono and Stereo Headphone to Surround Sound Tube Headphone System
Bridging the gap between home audio quality and content mobility was the introduction of a new consumer electronic accessory, the headphone (a receiver, as for a telephone, radio, or stereo, held to the ear by a headband).
With the introduction of the headphone as the choice home and portable audio accessory, those skilled in the art of headphone making began to create headphones that could enhance the audio volume while personalizing the consumer’s music listening experience.
There exist different electronic apparatus manufactured to supply the surroundings with sounds, e.g. radios, televisions, DVD players etc., where the sound is emitted from one or more speakers. These apparatus may in general supply the sound as mono, stereo or surround sound.
Mono
A monophonic sound is a sound consisting from a single channel.
Stereo
Stereo means using two seperate signals on two seperate channels for the left and right audio, therby giving depth, or dimension to the sound.
Quadraphonic
By using four speakers with a stereophonic sound this result in a quadraphonic sound where one of the signals of the stereophonic sound is emitted from two of the speakers and the other signal of the stereophonic sound is emitted from the other two speakers. This arrangement with four speakers may give a listener a better sound experience than stereophonic sound from only two speakers, but the sound is not experienced as coming from all directions, and thus it is not surround sound.
Surround Sound
Surround sound means using at least three speakers, where each speaker is connected to a channel of sound, hereby the speakers are connected to at least three channels of different signals. To obtain the real surround sound the speakers have to be arranged around the area where the sound effect is to be obtained. This arrangement need to fulfil certain conditions to obtain the effect of sound surrounding the area, e.g. the at least three channels may not be arranged side-by-side as this will not result in real surround sound.
The number of audio signals and channels for these audio signals is the characteristic of the different types of sounds systems. Hereby a monophonic sound which is one signal distributed by one channel, will not become a stereophonic sound just by emitting it from two speakers, and will not become a surround sound when emitted from three or more speakers. The reason is that it is the same sound or the same signal which is emitted from each speaker. Thus it is monophonic sound from two or more speakers.
Stereophonic sound is as mentioned above when the sound is split into two separate signals, where the signals actually are different sounds. When these two different signals are emitted from two speakers, the sound obtains more depth or dimension to the sound.
Conclusion
To obtain real surround sound the sound is divided into different signals, and each of these signals are directed through a separate channel to a speaker. When the different signals are emitted from at least three speakers located around an area, a listener staying in this area will experience the sound as real surround sound. The listener will experience the sound much like the sound normally surrounding a person, where different sounds come from different directions.
In the present invention the at least three speakers of the surround sound headphone system are separately connected to a multi-channel as described in the description paragraph No. 2 and also described in original claim 16 “Each speaker within or without the diameter of the tubing is connected to separate wires that connect to the related multi-channels…”.
The skilled person knows that these set-ups are real surround sound systems where each of the speakers are connected to one channel and hereby the speakers emit different sounds resulting in real surround sound.
Tube Surround TS 6.0
The claims of the Tube Surround Sound Headphone System invention are thus the only real surround sound headphone system on the market. All other “so called” surround sound headphones are stereo simulated surround which does not meet the definition of real surround sound as defined above and do not approach the inventive step of the TS 6.0 Headphone System.
The Future is Surround…Now you’re in it!
TS 6.0 Headphone System and Home Entertainment Theatre System.
The first introduction of the bundling of headphones with the phonograph was in 1958 in order to demonstrate the invention of the stereo headphone.
Today, Tube Surround Company wishes to introduce consumers wishing a personal listening experience of their movies and music in real surround sound without disturbing their new born infant, roommates or neighbors. We are now introducing the debut of the new and revolutionary invention of the TS 6.0 Surround Sound Headphone System with the Home Cinema to give you the Ultimate Real TS 6.0 Surround Sound Headphone System Home Entertainment Theatre Experience.
The connection of the 6 different signals connected to 6 different speakers (located in the front right, front center, front left, back right, and back left and back center), make the TS 6.0 Headphone System the only headphone system compatible with the 6 signals output of the Home Entertainment Theatre receiver/DVD player apparatus connecting to the back of the surround sound receiver. As the London Times Review (Oct. 29) quotes.
“With 6 built in speakers that ping pong sound from all different angles into your cranium the Tube Surround is the only headphone system of its kind. There simply are no others”.
Beginning on December 1, 2005, Tube Surround Company will have a limited number of our TS 6.0 Headphone System Home Entertainment Movie Box ready for a chosen few lucky Christmas shopper to just plug into their TV set and be amazed at hearing real surround sound for the first time ever."
As it states in The Independent UK Review (Dec.04) quotes. “Tired of moving around all those speakers in search of the perfect “sweet spot” to hear your surround sound speakers? Tube Surround has the answer “With 6 speakers the Tube Surround Headphone System puts you in the center of the action anywhere, anytime”
The Future is Surround …Now you’re in it
TS 6.0 Headphone System for 5.1 Surround Sound Editing Capabilities
As the world of digital broadcasting brings TV and multimedia movies, music and games into surround sound, many content suppliers, recording engineers , video game developers and film and radio broadcasters must record, edit and playback material for broadcasting in surround sound. This can only be done with a headphone system with real surround sound reception capabilities able to hear distinct locations of sound direction coming from real positions 360 degrees around them.
According to a member of the Apple Support Team in Copenhagen, Denmark who specializes in multimedia using the Apple G5 with out of the box 5.1 editing capabilities, the TS 6.0 Headphone System allows the user to hear the real ambience of audio content for their recording and editing purpose.
Here is what the Apple tester of the TS 6.0 Headphone states:
New Product To Multimedia Artist
The new revolutionary product from Tube Surround give all multimedia artist, developers, designers, engineers for recording sound in multi channels and dimension, real surround sound.
"With the help of 6 micro speakers placed in a tube that goes around your head, and a sound card to the computer with at least 5 outputs, you can edit a sound or make your own with endless different programs. Until this day every sound for computer games, movies, etc. are made in a big sound studio, with sound proved walls, and room for hanging up a six speaker system. Not that there is anything wrong with this, but fact is, that not all of us have the resources for a sound studio to get started.
The idea behind this product is that you no longer have to put the big bucks on the table to play along.
Tube Surround comes with a big diversity of different adaptors, perfect for a home sound studio and fast connection. Because this is 100 percent analog, it does not require any kind of installation or driver compatibilities. It works like connecting 6 speakers to the sound card, but all fit down to one little tube.
Welcome to surround time where music is also created and played in real dimensions surround sound."
Alex Flensborg
Apple Center