If you're thinking of choosing immersive audio for your live productions, there are important considerations to be made. Immersive audio can really elevate a concert by giving the audience a shared immersive experience. You can put the audience inside the music and engage their sense of direction with sound positioning and 3D effects. You can use the physical space as an instrument through contrast between sound positions - like positioning everything on stage during the vers

Ruimtelijk horen Het menselijk gehoor heeft, net zoals bij vele diersoorten, verschillende manieren ontwikkeld om te kunnen detecteren waar een geluid vandaan komt, en dat in alle drie ruimtelijke dimensies. In tegenstelling tot onze visuele capaciteiten zijn we in staat om te horen of een geluid van voor of achteren komt, van links of rechts, en van boven of onder. En dat voor vele geluidsbronnen tegelijk. (Hoewel we in drie dimensies kunnen zien, is het zichtveld eerder bep

In this article, we use the terms “immersive audio”, “immersive”, “spatial audio”, “3D audio”, “spatial”, and “spatial audio” interchangeably. In our view and based on our experience, these terms essentially mean the same thing. They all refer to technologies and techniques that create a three-dimensional sound experience, where sounds appear to come from different directions and distances, in order to provide as realistic an experience as possible. This type of audio offers

At PXL-Music Research, we consistently hear from musicians that they would have liked to experience the immersive sound themselves during their immersive concert. If we disregard an additional immersive speaker setup directed at the musicians on stage (a major investment and much extra complexity), two possibilities remain. Stage in the middle of the hall One option that sometimes works is placing musicians in the audience within the immersive speaker setup. Naturally, this e

In a series of articles, PXL-Music attempts to paint a picture of immersive audio and where we stand in terms of audio in today's virtual landscape. In doing so, we look at the gaming world, streaming, the music industry, and the internet, among others. In this article, we outline how sound works in gaming and how that differs from how we typically view sound in the cultural sector. The cultural sector: common with time as a reference In the cultural sector, we have many diff

There is a clear demand in the sector for digital twins for all kinds of applications —virtual soundchecks, running simulations, creating digital extensions of a physical space, ... At PXL-Music Research, we observe that audio is always secondary in these types of applications. So we looked for the next-level audio experience in this context. Given our strength in immersive audio, it quickly became clear: an immersive digital audio twin. But how do you achieve that? Concept

Within our use cases, we developed a live show for the bands WITT and Pothamus with immersive sound and visuals. We brought the two domains together in a dynamic, often automated manner. Similarly, our digital twin for d'Hane Steenhuyse and De Kreun combined the principles of a classic game in an engine—as explained in detail in The steps to an immersive digital audio twin — with those of an audio production in a DAW. OSC clearly emerged as the best way to establish the conne

In a series of articles, PXL-Music attempts to paint a picture of immersive audio and where we stand in terms of audio in the virtual landscape of gaming, streaming, and the internet, among others. In this article, we look at immersive audio in gaming. Recently, we organized a workshop with Dolby for students at PXL-Music and Howest DAE. The use of Dolby Atmos in gaming was discussed there. Dolby confirmed what we already suspected: immersive audio is a very logical next step

Latency is an important concept for digital audio and video. It is the time delay a signal incurs while traveling from one point to another within digital systems. In analog systems with physical components, there is no truly measurable delay. However, digitally it is unavoidable, as latency is largely a result of the use of buffers, a fundamental building block of computer systems. Why is this important? In late October 2024, The Eagles began a residency at the MSG Sphere. T

You may have come across articles recently about the so-called ‘open-source 3D audio format from Samsung and Google that is taking on Dolby Atmos’. It’s called Project Caviar or IAMF, which stands for Immersive Audio Model and Formats. But what exactly are Samsung and Google building? Here’s a hint: it doesn’t appear to be a competitor to Dolby Atmos. With a view to what IAMF might mean for music, film, TV and gaming, we at PXL-Music have gone through the IAMF design document

Write ┃ Record ┃ Mix Colleagues who are actively engaged in three-dimensional music today will likely agree with me that there is nothing more important than considering, from the very start, how to approach an immersive music project in terms of composition, recording, and mixing. From the outset, even before a single note has been recorded or even played, one must carefully consider the concepts of front-back, left-right, and above-below. ​ The song or composition must be c

“There is no non-spatial hearing” The inventor of immersive music is … a Fleming. Already in 1555, Adriaan Willaert began experimenting with double‐choiring in the Basilica of San Marco in Venice. He placed two choirs on the balconies to the left and right of the Duke and thereby, for the first time in music history, experimented with space and the positioning of vocalists. Not a chauvinistic display, nor a flourish of nationalism or unbridled pride that I intend to exhibit

Listening to immersive music on multiple loudspeakers consistently produces an emotional impact and allows sound to propagate naturally within the listening environment. The subtle head movements that occur during listening help the brain to more easily and naturally localize sound sources. As a result, immersive listening with loudspeakers feels highly natural and, over extended periods, may also be less fatiguing and more relaxing. However, various loudspeaker setups exist,