Linear Acoustic To Intro Two Upmix Products at IBC

Linear Acoustic will use the IBC Show Sept. 9-14 in Amsterdam to announce two new upmixing products: the UPMAX II Reference Upmixer and UPMAX 5.1 Channel Upmixer.

The UPMAX II’s algorithm produces a stable 5.1-channel version of two-channel inputs. Instead of active steering, audio elements are extracted using frequency-domain filtering and time-domain amplitude techniques. The bass-enhancement signal for the LFE channel is derived from the left, center, and right channels, allowing quick creation of subwoofer channel elements without compromising full-range consumer playback systems. The surround field can be infinitely adjusted via the Center Channel Width control and the Surround Channel Depth controls. This allows programming ranging from simple stereo to Lt-Rt to be appropriately reproduced from a 5.1-channel playback system.

UPMAX II accepts three AES pairs of audio. It will upmix the first pair and allow all three pairs to pass via a crossfade when upmixing is disabled. This allows the unit to remain in a 5.1-channel path. Upmixing and bypass can be controlled by GPI contact closure and applied metadata. UPMAX II also includes a utility encoder that accepts 5.1 channels and produces a two-channel LoRo, LtRt, or LtRt2 output; this encoder can be independent or can be fed by the same channels applied to the upmixer. Optional HD/SD-SDI I/O is available, allowing access to all 16 embedded audio channels. Audio can be processed or passed without modification from any embedded input pair to any embedded output pair, allowing utility-channel pair shuffling.

Based on the UPMAX 2251, the 1RU UPMAX 5.1 Channel Upmixer produces output that is completely downmix-compatible and nearly indistinguishable from the original two-channel input. Upmixing can be controlled via the front panel, GPI inputs, or metadata from serial or VANC (SDI) sources applied to the unit. An LED display, rotary encoder, and four control keys provide menu navigation and function adjustment. Dual redundant auto-ranging power supplies are standard. Bypass relays are provided for trouble-free operation in transmission critical environments. UPMAX also includes a utility encoder that accepts 5.1 channels and produces a two-channel LoRo or LtRt output. This encoder can be independent or can be fed by the same channels applied to the upmixer. Optional HD/SD-SDI I/O is also available. For more information, visit www.LinearAcoustic.com.