Syndicate of Sounds releases surround-sound upmixer

Syndicate of Sounds, a new audio venture by Frank Foti, founder of Omnia Audio and Executive Chairman of Telos Alliance, has announced its new Déjà Vu Upmixer, created to transform two-channel audio mixes into enveloping surround sound experiences. 

Déjà Vu converts a stereo audio track into a surround audio track using a linear process that preserves natural sonic integrity, frequency response and audio level while faithfully supporting the music’s original production characteristics. According to the company, unlike other upmixing methods, Déjà Vu does not rely on perceptual tricks like synthesized channel steering, phase modification, reverb, dynamic level adjustment or time delay as mechanisms to create surround, which can degrade the overall audio performance. It says Déjà Vu-processed content sounds like it was originally mixed in 5.1 thanks to artifact-free processing, moving stereo mixes into the immersive era. 

“After years of research, development and critical listening, I was able to create a faithful representation of immersive/surround audio from a two-channel or stereo audio track. Listening to material though this upmixer unmasks elements of the recording you couldn’t hear before — it’s like hearing your music for the first time and falling in love with it all over again,” says Foti. “That’s why we call it Déjà Vu.” 

The applications for Déjà Vu technology span markets in the commercial and consumer AV channels. For example, museums can now offer interactive art exhibits in surround sound instead of stereo for a more immersive audience experience and live venues can stream sound for playback on a surround-sound audio system or via surround-sound headphones.

“When Frank played music we produced after upmixing it using Déjà Vu, I was fascinated,” says Steely Dan producer Gary Katz. “Hearing it in surround sound and listening to this content in a new way was fabulous.”