Gefen, the company known for their signal switchers and converters, has announced the GefenTV Digital Audio Decoder, which remixes 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround audio for stereo (L/R) outputs. What this means is that the unit lets any movie or television program broadcasting in 5.1 Dolby digital audio to be decoded, and output on a pair of analog speakers.

This will give two-channel stereo systems the ability to convey some of the same surround sound information as a proper 5.1 system, but without the artificialness that usually accompanies such enhancement.

The Digital Audio Decoder comes with S/PDIF and TOSlink inputs.Users can switch between them using a selector on the Decoder. For example you could connect a set-top box and a computer simultaneously. The built-in digital to analog converter includes a digital interpolation filter and support for up to 6 channels of audio encoded in Dolby Digital. It will cost you $129.00 and is available now.

[Gearlog]