JP2003348685A - Acoustic reproduction processing method and acoustic reproduction processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an acoustic reproduction processing apparatus so as to enhance the reproduction sound quality in reproducing audio of the compact disk by providing a high frequency component of an audible band or over substantially in existing on a compact disk (CD) to a reproduction apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The acoustic reproduction processing apparatus includes: a reproduction means for reproducing an acoustic signal of a compact disk; a communication connection means for connecting to an external host computer by using a public line; a reproduction apparatus for reproducing the compact disk; a storage device for storing the acoustic signal; a signal generator for synchronizing a plurality of acoustic signals; a mixer section for integrating a plurality of the synchronized acoustic signals into one acoustic signal; and a signal path for outputting the acoustic signal from the mixer section. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reproduction system comprising an audio signal distribution server and a communicable audio reproduction terminal device and the audio reproduction terminal device, a technique relating to a reproduction operation of two acoustic signals, and more specifically. More specifically, a processing method and apparatus for approximating and reproducing the original sound by re-adding the insufficient frequency band signal to the original sound of the audio signal recorded on a compact disk (CD) or the like, and using the method on a network To provide in a more convenient way.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A digital audio signal reproducing apparatus such as a CD cannot reproduce a frequency component at more than half the sampling frequency. For example, a CD has a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz, a high frequency component of 20 kHz or more is removed, and a digital audio signal converted to a digital signal is recorded on the CD. As a result, an acoustic signal of 20 kHz or more emitted from an actual musical instrument is removed, and when the CD is viewed during reproduction, a distinctive feeling of blockage or metallic sound is given in terms of sound quality.

[0003] It is said that humans cannot hear sounds above 20 kHz in the frequency band.
Although the sampling frequency of D was born from this idea, recent studies have shown that humans recognize sounds above 20 kHz and that harmonic components have a significant effect on the audible reproduction quality. The results are shown. Furthermore, as described above, recently, SACD, D
Formats, such as VD audio, that standardize sampling frequencies capable of recording up to a frequency band of about 100 kHz have appeared. In addition, products such as a playback device, an amplifier, a loudspeaker, etc., which are compatible with the format, are being put on the market one after another.

[0004] However, CDs that are cut at a frequency of 20 kHz or more have already been sold around the world with billions of copies, and are used habitually for viewing. Many people are trying to reproduce CDs more faithfully to the original sound. We are doing creative ingenuity. To solve such a problem, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-36685, a technique for adding a frequency band of 20 kHz or more to reproduced sound of a CD or the like is described. It has been proposed to add and reproduce a noise component equivalent to or similar to a frequency band exceeding the upper limit of the high frequency range in conjunction with a reproduction frequency band.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-307385, a harmonic is generated based on a signal extracted from a reproduced sound signal, noise is further generated, a time delay is caused between both signals, and all four signals are added. We suggest means to do it.

The method described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-36685 is a method of adding a noise component having a spectrum approximating a spectrum component of 20 kHz or more, which is missing for sampling to a CD during recording, to an original sound signal. It is. Many signal components in the higher frequency range than the human audible band are generated by factors such as hitting, rubbing, and blowing objects, and a random noise component similar to this is used.

In the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-307385, a state in which a noise component is always added is created by further shifting the noise component on the time axis.

[0008]

However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-3
According to the method described in Japanese Patent No. 6685, in a music form in which a plurality of musical instruments are played, the processing is performed after the sound components of the musical instruments are combined together, and the processing is not originally an original sound. Such a technique. When approaching the original sound, it is most effective to add harmonic components above the audible range to the sound and the acoustic signal generator used for music reproduction, that is, to musical instruments, natural sounds and human voices individually. It is considered to be. Some harmonic components are emitted depending on the type of musical instrument, and others are not emitted. Even the emitted one has a spectral component unique to the musical instrument. For example, violins have spectral components up to 60 kHz, cymbals, maracas, hi-hats, etc. have spectral components up to about 100 kHz, and bells, tambourines, etc. have spectral components at 100 kHz or more. It has been confirmed that natural sounds include many harmonic components such as water flowing, waves, and leaves swaying and rubbing in the wind. We believe that adding harmonic components of each sound source used in the music will lead to faithful reproduction of the original sound.

Further, a method characterized by using a random or a noise component similar to random noise as a signal to be added to the original sound signal, which is close to random noise described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-36685. Further, a state in which the noise component is always added is created by further shifting the noise component on the time axis described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-307385.

However, this noise component is also a generation of a pseudo acoustic signal similar to a harmonic of a musical instrument sound, and is not faithful to the original sound. Therefore, in order to generate a signal whose sound is faithful to the original sound, a signal of a high-frequency component of 20 kHz or more that is lost by sampling when digitizing from a master tape on which an instrument performance or music is recorded to a CD is extracted from the master tape. Is added again. When pressing a large number of CDs, always create a master tape. This master tape varies depending on the recording equipment.
Frequency components above kHz are also recorded. The music signal of 20 kHz or more that is lost when creating the master tape for CD recording is digitally passed through a high-pass filter again, for example, into a hard disk drive (HD).
D) Recorded, stored for each CD, and compiled into a database. The database is stored in the host computer, and is downloaded to the HDD of a sound reproducing device with a storage device using a communication means such as the Internet, and is reproduced in synchronization with the reproduction of the CD, and the acoustic signal up to 20 kHz recorded on the CD. And a sound signal of 20 kHz or more is reproduced at the same time, and the signal reproduction as close as possible to the sound source recorded on the master tape including the ultra-wide area sound source is performed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object a compact disc (CD).
To provide a sound reproduction processing method and a sound reproduction processing device capable of improving the reproduction sound quality by adding a high-frequency component higher than the audible band originally present to the reproduction sound when reproducing the audio.

[0012]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a reproducing means for reproducing an audio signal of a compact disc, and a communication for connecting to an external host computer using a public line. Connecting means, a reproducing device for reproducing a compact disc, a storage device for storing audio signals, a signal generator for synchronizing a plurality of audio signals, and the synchronizing audio signals into one audio signal It is characterized by including a mixer unit for combining and a signal path for outputting an audio signal from the mixer unit.

Further, according to the present invention, the high-band sound signal of the sound signal recorded on the compact disc is stored in the storage device by the communication connection means, and the signal generator synchronizes with the reproduction of the compact disc. The wideband acoustic signal stored in the storage device is reproduced.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of an entire audio signal distribution system according to the present invention. This sound signal distribution system is basically a public telephone network 3 and a CATV network line 4 which are connected to an external host computer 2 at a large capacity and at a high speed at home.
Alternatively, the sound reproduction is performed by the sound reproducing device 1 used by connecting to a line capable of digital transmission through a public communication line such as a satellite broadcast line 5 or the like. The host computer 2 may be configured to collect all data on one server, or may be configured to have a plurality of servers for each copyright holder (for example, a record company) (2 ′, 2 ″). Is connected to an amplifier 6 and a speaker 7, and loudspeaks an audio signal.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the sound reproducing apparatus 1. As shown in FIG.

The sound reproducing apparatus 1 according to the present invention comprises a controller 8, a communication interface 9, a CPU 10, an RO
M11, input / output interface (I / O interface) 12, operation unit 13, display 14, CD drive 15, DA converter 16, hard disk drive (HDD) 17, DA converter 1
8, a signal generator 19, a digital mixer 20, and a mixer 21. The controller 8 is the public telephone network 3, C
It is connected to the host computer 2 via a public communication line such as an ATV network line 4 or a satellite broadcast line 5. Hereinafter, a description will be given of a form in which the sound reproducing device 1 is connected to the host computer 2 via the public telephone network 3.

The controller 8 controls the entire sound reproducing apparatus. A control device that executes processing according to the present invention, the communication interface 9 serving as communication means,
0, a ROM 11, an I / O interface 12, a display 14, and a signal generator 19 are connected via a bus 22.

The communication interface 9 is a public telephone network 3
To transmit and receive data of ultra-wide area music information to the host computer 2 and to receive an ultra-wide area music signal and information of a desired CD downloaded from the host computer 2.

The CPU 10 controls the entire controller 8, controls the CD drive 15, accumulates and reads an ultra-wide area music signal in the HDD 17 by the I / O interface 12, and communicates based on operation information input from the operation unit 13. The host computer 2 is accessed via the interface 9 and the public telephone network 3 to control download of an ultra-wide area music signal corresponding to a CD inserted into the CD drive 15.

The ROM 11 is a read-only memory in which programs for the CPU 10 to execute various processes are stored.

The I / O interface 12 is an operation unit 13
The control of input of operation information from the HDD 17 and the control of storage and readout of an ultra-wide area music signal with respect to the HDD 17 are performed.

The operation unit 13 is provided with operation keys for inputting various operation information such as operation of an operation transmission instruction and a stop instruction for a user to take in an ultra-wide area signal, character information of a CD on the display 14, and the like. Input means.

The HDD 17 is a storage means for writing an ultra-wide area music signal on a medium such as a hard disk or an optical disk and storing it in a readable manner.

The display 14 displays character information such as the title of the CD inserted into the CD drive 15 and the playing time.

The CD drive 15 reproduces a normal music CD. DVD drive that can play music CDs,
Also possible with SACD drive. The digital audio output signal from the CD drive is output in two systems, one is input to the DA converter 16 and the other is input to the digital mixer 20.

The DA converter 16 converts a digital signal of the CD drive 15 into an analog signal and outputs the analog signal.

The DA converter 18 converts a digital ultra-wide-range sound signal stored in the HDD 17 into an analog signal and outputs the analog signal.

The signal generator 19 synchronizes the performance time signal of the CD reproduced by the CD drive 15 with the performance time signal of the ultra-wide area music signal stored in the HDD 17.

The digital mixer 20 has a CD drive 15
And a digital audio signal output from the HDD 17 are integrated into one system to output a digital audio signal.

The mixer 21 receives the DA from the CD drive 15
An analog audio signal output via the converter 16 and an analog audio signal output from the HDD 17 via the DA converter 18 are combined into one system to output an analog audio signal.

The bus 22 is a data communication line for exchanging various kinds of data between the above-mentioned units.

The host computer 2 stores an ultra-wide-range music signal of a CD already produced and sold for each CD. Character information on the music shown in FIG. 3 is stored.

The user inserts the compact disk owned by the user into the CD drive of the apparatus, selects an ultra-wide area mode from the operation unit when an ultra-wide area signal is desired, and uses a communication interface when newly acquiring an ultra-wide area signal. , The data of the corresponding ultra-wide-range music signal is searched and downloaded, and the ultra-wide-range music signal is stored in the HDD.

FIG. 4 shows a flow of the entire processing of this embodiment.

First, a CD owned by the user is loaded into the CD drive 14 (S10). A message is displayed on the display unit 13 as to whether or not ultra-wide area reproduction is desired. When the user selects "desired", the communication interface 7 is activated, a connection screen for designating a URL input of the host computer 2 for storing the ultra-wide area music signal is displayed, and the URL is input there (S1).
2). In order to receive this service, user registration and membership registration must be completed in advance and a membership system must be established.
When connection with the host computer 2 is established, confirmation of the member number and password is requested from the host computer 2, and the member number and password are input (S13). Once the membership number and password are verified, the automatically loaded C
The super-wide area music signal data, track number and music performance time information corresponding to D are downloaded (S14). When the download is completed and the download is completed is displayed on the display 13 and the CD is played, the playing time information of the CD and the playing time information of the ultra-wide area music signal are synchronized, and the two music signals are played back at accurate timing. (S15).

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Although not recorded on an existing CD, an ultra-wide-range sound signal of 20 kHz or more, which greatly contributes to the improvement of sound quality in terms of audibility, is added to a hand-held CD, so that high-quality sound can be easily reproduced. If you want to play high quality sound over CD,
Although it is necessary to purchase a new medium that conforms to the VD audio standard, the present invention enables the user to realize higher-quality sound reproduction by using a hand-held CD.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration of an audio signal distribution system using communication of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the sound reproducing apparatus and a configuration of a communication system.

FIG. 3 shows a compact disk and a host computer 2
Is a list of data related to music stored in the.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process in which a compact disc is inserted into the sound reproducing apparatus of FIG. 1 and an output is performed when a wideband sound signal is desired.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 sound reproduction device 2 Host computer 3 Public telephone network 4 CATV lines 5 Satellite broadcasting lines 6 Amplifier 7 Speaker 9 Communication device interface 10 CPU 11 ROM 12 Input / output interface 13 Operation section 14 Display 15 CD drive 16 DA converter 17 Hard Disk Drive (HDD) 18 DA converter 19 signal generator 20 Digital mixer 21 Mixer 22 Bus

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A reproducing means for reproducing an audio signal of a compact disk, a communication connecting means for connecting to an external host computer using a public line, a reproducing apparatus for reproducing the compact disk, and an audio signal , A signal generator for synchronizing a plurality of audio signals, a mixer unit for combining the plurality of synchronized audio signals into one audio signal, and a signal for outputting an audio signal from the mixer unit A sound reproduction processing device comprising a path. 2. The sound reproduction processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sound signal includes a wideband sound signal having an upper limit of 20 kHz or more recorded on a compact disc. 3. The high-band sound signal of the sound signal recorded on the compact disk is stored in the storage device by the communication connection means, and is synchronized with the reproduction of the compact disk by the signal generator. A sound reproduction method characterized in that a wideband sound signal stored in a memory is reproduced.