When you watch a movie or play a game with surround sound, that movie or game is actually sending 5 or 7 separate channels of sound to your speakers. (howtogeek.com)
The exhaust streams arrive at the turbine wheel through physically separate channels — for optimized gas cycles. (porsche.com)
It isn't mixed into several separate channels; instead, sounds are mapped to virtual locations in 3D space, and that spatial data is sent to your speaker system. (howtogeek.com)