Frank Foti to Speak at 2004 Conclave
Broadcasters Will Hear FM 5.1 Channel Surround Sound
12 July 2004, Cleveland Ohio, USA
Omnia President Frank Foti returns to The Conclave for 2004, teaming with respected radio programmer Don Kelly to tell broadcasters about the latest development for digital radio: 5.1-Channel Surround Sound.
“5.1 Surround is the big buzz in the audio industry right now,” says Foti. “Home theater has made such consumer inroads that it’s no longer possible to buy a plain old ‘stereo’ receiver from the major retailers. Multi-channel audio has replaced it. Now, we have the opportunity to bring that same immersive technology to the FM band, using HD Radio.”
Earlier this year, Telos / Omnia and Fraunhofer Institute (FhG), the developers of MP3 and MPEG AAC audio coding, announced a surprising development: a spatial audio coding system that takes advantage of the most recent research in aural perception and enables transmission of 5.1 channel surround audio over FM HD Radio. Called “Coded-Discrete”, the FhG system works with the existing HD Radio codec and transmission equipment and is fully compatible with stereo broadcasts.
“At last month’s Radio & Records Convention, we let people hear the enormous creative possibilities that 5.1-channel audio will open up for FM radio,” continues Foti. “Broadcasters, manufacturers, and record company execs — they were all amazed, not only by what they heard, but by the creative, competitive and commercial opportunities this technology could open up for them.”
To further make his point, Mr. Foti has authored a position paper entitled “Radio’s Field Of Dreams.” “Multi-channel Surround Sound for FM is truly exciting,” he writes; “For the first time since 1961, when FM went stereo, we have a new technology that will blow your socks off.” The paper may be downloaded from the Omnia Audio website at www.OmniaAudio.com/tech/.
Mr. Foti’s Conclave session will take place Saturday, July 17th, at Marriott City Center in Minneapolis. For details, visit www.theconclave.comor contact Caroline Dorsey at +1-216- 241-7225.
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Omnia, a Telos company, is world-renowned for its digital audio signal processing expertise. Omnia audio processors for FM, AM, TV, HD Radio & DAB, Internet, and audio production are setting new standards for professional audio quality.