Eclipsa Audio is a more effective successor to the brilliant inventor and businessman Ray Dolby.

It seems the Atmos offering wasn't fully refined, as it lacked the genius of Ray Dolby, who passed away on September 12, 2013. A concept for cinemas was presented, but it likely wasn't sufficiently refined for home use. What was missing was something that had proven successful over the years, something that began with Bing Crosby , to utilize the technological advancements in tape recorders from the fallen Third Reich.  Ray's first independent success was the Dolby A system—a solution designed for professional use with tape recorders in recording studios. This gave rise to the less complex Dolby B for general use in cassette recorders. This contributed to the global technological advancement of cassette tapes and, subsequently, the emergence of the more advanced Dolby C. 

 

The development of digital technologies meant that the Dolby HX concept didn't find widespread adoption, but it's an impressive example of the ability to analyze a problem and create a simple solution. An interesting step was the collaboration with B&O in Denmark , which resulted in Dolby HX Pro . The company may not even be aware of the importance of the early days with  Dolby Surround, which allowed it to break free from the quadraphonic myth, which recommended four identical speakers placed in the corners of the room. This quadraphonic recommendation is absolutely not conducive to home audio reproduction, yet it was widely repeated in stores and in media reviews.

This impressive understanding of surround sound was likely fueled by the desire to maintain Dolby B in the business. Its brilliance lies in the simplicity of the solution and the application of existing capabilities, widely available at a very affordable price. Every cinema in the world could afford this modification, and obtaining a Dolby certificate was simply great advertising. This solution was also very beneficial for film producers, and the licensing fee became pure profit. With this source of income, it was easy to work diligently on developments for home use, which capitalized on the videotape rental trend. The next step was the introduction of better capabilities for precise bass reproduction and the emergence of A/52, known as Dolby Digital . 

The subwoofer was already unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show  in the fall of  1978. Swedish designer Karl-Erik Stahl presented a brilliant concept featuring a number of innovative solutions. However, no one particularly noticed that this could be crucial for spatial music reproduction and liberation from the amplification of bass frequencies generated by four speakers positioned in corners by the floor and two walls. It was Ray Dolby who created the subwoofer standard, and millions of them are now sold. No such moves are being made with Atmos , as the greatest focus seems to be on calculating revenue from licensing fees

 The Eclipsa Audio format , presented in early 2025 at the Consumer Electronics Show ,  will enable more efficient development of spatial audio hardware. Work on Eclipsa Audio began as  the Immersive Audio Model and Format  within  the Alliance for Open Media, a global business elite . The new format is license-free, but coordination is obviously needed to ensure its usefulness and prevent it from becoming merely a platform for more or less wild concepts. 

A big surprise might be the Korean program PotPlayer, which is free and already offers a wide range of audio configuration options. It is developed for Windows. A practical solution for home playback of recordings featuring either Atmos or Eclipse is a setup with four speakers and a shared bass unit. The same applies to 5.1, quadraphonic, and stereo recordings, which the software processes accordingly. Such a speaker system can be optimally arranged for music playback in the room.

One of the first two speakers for Eclipse Audio functions like a soundbar, but—as the illustration shows—it features drivers designed to interact with the room's side walls. It is the Samsung Music Studio 7. The 3.1.1 designation indicates that it reproduces three front channels and a shared bass channel (like a subwoofer), while the surround channel is directed toward the ceiling.

The software allows for the convenient wireless connection of the Music Studio 5, which is a stereo speaker. This creates a 3.1.3 system. This speaker set is a great continuation of the surround sound concept envisioned by Ray Dolby. This speaker setup for the home is far more practical than what was recommended for analog quadraphony. It also ensures music playback without uncontrolled bass amplification in the corners of the room.

Playback in a 3.1.3 configuration delivers an impressive experience with the legendary Pink Floyd recording, remixed in Dolby Atmos. At the Audio Video Show 2025 in Warsaw, a remix of another legendary recording from half a century ago was demonstrated using a 7.4.4 system configuration. That would not fit in most homes. 7.4.4 does not apply to the recording. It emphasizes that four subwoofers were used for playback. Dolby Atmos support was provided by the Marantz AV 10. It features four subwoofer outputs and is designated as a 9.4.6 system.The Blu-ray signal can be configured based on the connected outputs. This may also be possible for a 3.1.3 setup.

A more home-friendly 3/0/1+LFE configuration in PotPlayer was used to play back a Pink Floyd quadraphonic LP recording. This undecoded SQ recording played via PotPlayer—using this setting with Expand to Center, Surround, and LFE Redirection (180 Hz) enabled—sounded more interesting than when using the classic method for analog quadraphony. The signal from the vinyl was reproduced using an Ortofon MC 20 Super  cartridge equipped with a van den Hul stylus.

Audio playback for the front and rear pairs of speakers was handled via analog decoding from the Sansui QS-1. A 4-track recording, made some time ago using a high-quality SQ decoder, was also played. For this recording, the analog signal came from a Dynavector Karat 23R mounted on a tangential tonearm. Both of these Moving Coil phono cartridges ensured minimal phase distortion, which is crucial for the correct decoding of SQ and QS.

Quadraphonic LPs in the CD-4 format can be ripped most precisely using a Beogram 6000 with Moving Micro-Cross phono cartridge MCC600, as its design allows for the most accurate extraction of the signal—extending up to 45 kHz—from the groove. This results from effectively reducing the moving mass within the vinyl groove, as well as shortening the cable carrying the signal from the Moving Magnet cartridge to the preamplifier's 47 kΩ input.

Eclipsa Audio is free from unnecessary licensing bureaucracy, which will enable the development of software also designed to handle quadraphonic recordings. The same applies to various Dolby formats. Some software will also support 3/0/1+LFE, which is very practical for home use. Ray Dolby introduced a low-frequency cutoff below 100 Hz for the rear channel, which is useful in large cinema auditoriums with large audiences. For home use, it is better to set the filter slightly below 200 Hz.

The equipment shown above was used during a presentation of the Dolby Atmos system to a wider audience in Warsaw, featuring a Blu-ray disc with a remix of a 50-year-old recording. There were Focal speakers and Naim amplifiers. There was a suitable surface for it. The biggest speaker was the Focsal Grande Utopia Em Evo. The recording was played on the Magnetar UDP900 MKII —winner of the EISA 2025–2026 award best produkct in the home theater disc player category.

 

Many years ago, the best playback of a Pink Floyd quadraphonic LP was in Stockholm, using the Air Forsell Reference. It was in a spacious room designed for showcasing McIntosh's most expensive equipment. Beveridge speakers stood around the armchair. Playback with this equipment in a smaller room wouldn't be quite as enjoyable. Now, using much more affordable gear and PotPlayer in a smaller room, the experience was surprisingly pleasant—and the upgrade from Eclipse Audio will improve it even further.

Some interesting things can come up with FFmpeg. Released on 2026-06-17 FFmpeg 8.1 "Hoare" already has IAMF: Projection mode Ambisonic Audio Elements muxing and demuxing. Custom configuration of PotPlayer enables efficient use of FFmpeg and IAMF is Eclipsa Audio. From the press release: In 2023, the Alliance for Open Media (AOM) — a global consortium that includes Samsung, Google, Netflix, Meta and other leading companies — officially adopted Immersive Audio Model and Formats (IAMF) as the industry standard for 3D audio. Developed by Samsung and Google, this innovative 3D audio format is currently available to content creators under the brand name Eclipsa Audio.

 drawing by Per Oscar Dahlberg

Benjamin's psychoacoustic lab  is constantly testing and implementing possibilities for optimal music playback using new technical solutions with the computing potential of computers and open structures. PC4uMusicis the main project and this blog is just a notebook focused on technical possibilities, not the beauty of words.

 
PC4uMusic 3-language (se; en; pl) Facebook profile>>>