Frequently Asked Questions

General questions

Q1. What is the airSOUND 'surface effect' I have read about?

This is the explanation promoted by airSOUND for the stereo enhancement you get when you place an airSOUND enabled device close to a hard horizontal surface; The musical width is generally greater and the listening experience is further improved.

Q2. Some of my MP3 songs or downloaded music sound a bit strange, is there anything I can do about that?

Some MP3 tracks are recorded at low bandwidth (quality). Some MP3 methods do not record stereo information accurately, relying on normal stereo systems' lack of ability to reproduce proper stereo. airSOUND allows you to hear these imperfections. Thankfully, orbitsound products all have airSOUND switches which allow you to vary the stereo signal, allowing poorly recorded music to sound normal.

Q3. If airSOUND is so amazing, why is orbitsound the only user?

The short answer is that orbitsound is not the only airSOUND adopter. There are many other manufacturers out there, developing products that will be using airSOUND. orbitsound is simply the first in the home audio market to present airSOUND with it's brand new range of products that need to be heard to be believed.

---

T3 questions

Q1. It looks like there's only one speaker, how does it produce stereo?

A. orbitsound is deceptively simple looking. Using airSOUND® technology, orbitsound uses an internal speaker to shape and mix the main sound signal with spatial information outside the unit. See the pages on airSOUND for more information.

Q2. Does it really sound like stereo?

A. YES, ABSOLUTELY YES! It has to be heard to be believed. there is also a feature on the unit to compare mono with airSOUND. This means that you get a large stereo aura experience wherever you listen to orbitsound.

Q3. The T3 is really small, will it help me hear a movie soundtrack when travelling.

Watching movies is a really good application for the orbitsound T3. Even though it is small, the T3 produces a much louder and clearer soundtrack that you will get from most laptop speakers. Because of airSOUND, stereo effects on the movie are reproduced with greater width than is possible from normal travel speakers.

---

T6 Questions

Q1. So why do valves sound warm?

A. This is a huge subject! There is no such thing as a perfect amplifier, and any amplifier will introduce characteristics onto the signal being amplified. Normal (transistor) amplifiers introduce characteristics that are symmetrical, and because of a mathematical oddity, these characteristics are always non-musical in nature. A valve on the other hand will introduce characteristics that are asymmetric, and inherently musical in nature. This means that a signal will sound 'pleasant' and 'warm' when compared to a non valve amplified signal. It is a really big subject with lots of reading material online, but the professional recording industry has been championing valves for years, especially in the days of digital recording.

Q2. Does the T6 sound loud enough to fill a room with sound, even a busy kitchen?

The T6 is surprisingly loud, with a very powerful integrated amplifier and speakers. The T6 easily provides ample listening power for the home environment without being overly big or clumsy.

T12 Questions

Q1. How does the T12 compare with multichannel DVD systems.

Anyone who has used surround systems will agree that there's a lot of wires, and the occasional 'noise' that comes out of one of the satellite speakers rarely justifies all the technology and mess. Furthermore, the fact that there are so many speakers around the place means that when you listen to music, much of the detail and fullness of sound can be lacking, since the satellite speakers are optimised for speech and effects - and cannot produce a 'full range' sound. The T12 takes a different approach. The T12 is a full bandwidth music system with the capability to surround the audience with sound (due to airSOUND), making it capable of delivering a surround like experience but with the power and quality of a traditional 2.0 or 2.1 speaker system. However, the T12 works better than a normal stereo when listening to a movie sound track because the presence of a central 'speech' unit gives real clarity to dialogue that is often missing from stereo systems.