why does playing 3 different TV’s/media devices, all synced playing the same thing, sound like 3 “layers” of sound instead combining into one sound?

Question

Is it because they aren’t TRULY synchronized? Because the different quality of speakers don’t make perfect sounds waves that can line up/combine/harmonize?

Are there any instances these sounds WOULD combine, like with some kind of program or piece of hardware? How is this different than something like a concert where you can’t perceive the individual speakers?

(I have a decent understanding rudimentary physics/sound and a good understanding hearing/the vestibular system/cranial nerves btw! Im not actually 5 haha)

In: 2

Answer 1

even if you have 3 different speakers perfectly engineered and tuned to produce the EXACT same sound and fed by the same source, you’ll still get a small delay from the furthest one vs the closest one purely due to distance between each speaker and you. add in manufacturing tolerances, different processes between manufacturers and design of products…

yes, there is hardware (and software) that can account for, and correct, this problem. it ultimately comes down to signal timing. tuning of delays can eliminate grotesque examples. a sound engineer would be needed to explain much beyond that, which i am not.

as for concert venues, the issue is both far easier, and far harder, depending on the act. for traditional bands (country, rock, metal etc) you’ll often have a single speaker (or set of speakers) designated to a specific instrument or singer. some sound mixing may be employed to balance the overall sound within the venue and/or to the tastes of the musicians/promoters themselves.

for less traditional or non-musical acts (edm, djs, comedians etc) it’s a matter of matching the sound profile to the person/group. for a comedian, you may need single channel (mono) audio across all channels. for edm, you may need each individual speaker to act on its own, even if they are usually clustered into left, right and center groups.

in the case of a comedian with mono audio, 1 speaker being out of sync can be jarring for the performer, let alone for the audience. that’s why you’ll rarely see miss-matched speakers in auditoriums. you’re just asking for trouble by having multiple model numbers, let alone different product lines or worse, manufacturers.