When DTS Europe were looking to equip the new preview theatre at their European headquarters, they needed speakers, signal processing and amplifiers which could provide not only studio-grade audio quality but also the power to deliver that extreme fidelity to a great number of listeners irrespective of where they were seated within the surround sound field in the theatre. In order to deliver this balance of quality and power, DTS had speakers designed and built by Procella Audio to meet their demanding specifications. When it came to the speaker processing and power amplifiers however, DTS chose the Yamaha DME64 Digital Mix Engine and XP Series power amplifiers. Premium audio quality and power - straight out of the box!
The DTS theatre in Twyford is equipped with two DME64 units, which are connected to each other via CobraNet. They take the 7.1 outputs from DTS decoders and split and process these into 20 discrete channels of audio which are fed via the rack of XP5000 power amps to the Procella 8 mid/hi speakers and their associated Procella 15 bass units and LFE subs. As well as splitting the audio signal into the relevant speaker channels, the DME64 is used to apply cross-over, equalization and delays not only to align the highs, mids and subs within each speaker cluster but also to ensure that every cluster delivers a uniform sound to the listener, irrespective of their seat position.
The use of the DME64 allows DTS to run the theatre in full 96kHz mode, a first for cinema installations worldwide. The ability to store and recall several 'scenes' in the DME64 gives the users of the room the capability to switch from 35mm film projection to D-cinema applications or home theatre sources such as DVD, HD-DVD or Bluray Disc at the push of a button. All associated audio settings are changed along with the appropriate scene for that particular source.
Anders Uggelberg, the cinema designer in charge of the DTS Theatre build, commented: "I am very proud of the end result in the DTS Theatre. The audio quality is excellent and several audio engineers have commented on it very positively. We applied some ground breaking technologies in this room, which were only possible thanks to the DME's, the Yamaha amps and the Procella Audio speaker system."
About DTS
DTS, Inc. (Nasdaq: DTSI) is a digital technology company dedicated to delivering the ultimate entertainment experience. DTS decoders are in virtually every major brand of 5.1-channel surround processors, and there are hundreds of millions of DTS-licensed consumer electronics products available worldwide. A pioneer in multi-channel audio, DTS technology is in home theatre, car audio, PC and game console products, as well as DVD-Video, Surround Music and DVD-ROM software. DTS audio products are featured on more than 27,000 motion picture screens worldwide. Additionally, DTS provides imaging technology and services for the motion picture industry; DTS Digital Images, formerly Lowry Digital Images, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DTS and an industry leader in image restoration and enhancement. Founded in 1993, DTS is headquartered in Agoura Hills, California and has offices in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan and China. For further information, please visit
www.dts.com.
