Ambisonics is currently the most popular technique for mixing audio in a full spherical 360-degree sound field. The most common Ambisonics format, used in VR as well as in Google and Facebook 360 videos, is a four-channel format called B-format. Designed to fit intuitively into a traditional mixing workflow, the Waves B360 Ambisonics Encoder allows audio engineers to convert regular mono, stereo or surround mixes into B-format, in order to deliver sound for 360-degree audio/video content.
Waves B360 can be used in two ways: Users can place the plugin on each separate mono or stereo channel for precise positioning/panning of that channel in your 360-audio mix; or they can first complete a mix in a conventional stereo or surround environment, and then place B360 on the entire finished mix, simply as an Ambisonics B-format convertor. In either case, B360 lets users control the mix’s width, elevation, and rotation, as well as position the different elements in the mix inside the three-dimensional sound field with an intuitive GUI and streamlined controls.
To monitor 360-degree B-format mixes in a convenient, accessible way, Waves now offers Nx Ambisonics, a new component of the popular Waves Nx Virtual Mix Room over Headphones, a plugin that recreates the three-dimensional acoustics of a professional mix room inside any set of stereo headphones. By binauralizing the audio for headphones, Nx Ambisonics lets mixing engineers listen to their B-format mixes even when they don’t have access to an elaborate multi-directional speaker array.
For improved accuracy, Nx Ambisonics offers full personalization to individual head measurements, as well as a visual spatial meter representing the audio frequency content in every direction of the three-dimensional sound field. For enhanced 3D realism that embraces the VR experience, Nx Ambisonics also offers an integrated high-quality, high-speed head tracking solution, using the compact Nx Head Tracker Bluetooth device or your computer’s camera.
Waves is also offering a combo: Waves 360° Ambisonics Tools, which includes the B360 Ambisonics Encoder, the Nx Virtual Mix Room (with the Nx Ambisonics component) and the Nx Head Tracker.
www.waves.com
