Surround Defined

Surround is the general term used to describe a wide range of speaker configurations that all have one point in common: they all use more than two speakers to allow sounds to be located in a wider spatial range than simple stereo mixes allow. The most common surround format is the one used for home theater, which is a six-channel system usually called 5.1. A 5.1 setup has left- and right-front speakers, a center channel located in between the two main front speakers, left and right speakers behind the listener, and a subwoofer for low-end enhancement, which is represented by the .1.

But 5.1 is not the only option; you can mix to everything from four to nine (or even more) speakers, and you'll explore a few of these options as you learn how to set up your VST connections for surround.