Immersive Audio Explored - Really, What Is Immersive Audio?

Any form of audio and entertainment content today is produced and distributed as files, which are then streamed to consumers. MC Patel, the founder and CEO of Emotion Systems, explores immersive audio from the deliverables standpoint. The article discusses the evolution of immersive audio and all the implications of dealing with its formats and unique requirements. The article was originally published in audioXpress, September 2023.

FLUX:: Immersive, L-Acoustics, and Radio France have joined in an initiative to standardize Open Sound Control (OSC) as a streaming protocol for interoperability among immersive audio systems. Originally intended as a protocol for networking sound synthesizers, computers, and other multimedia devices for musical performance and show control, OSC is a de-facto standard when it comes to controlling and translating metadata for very complex object-based systems, such as those required for immersive audio performance.

First revealed in November 2020, Steinberg announced the immediate availability of its much-anticipated premium media production software, Nuendo 11, now adding Audio Definition Model (ADM) authoring file support for Dolby Atmos mixes, Netflix Loudness Meter, plus many other features and workflow enhancements. The latest Nuendo is a more complete professional audio production tool for media content creation, including a new Intelligibility Meter, based on algorithms developed by the Fraunhofer Institute.

Promoted every year by the market research firm Futuresource Consulting, Audio Collaborative 2019 full-day conference on November 7 was invaluable, with Futuresource's leading market analysts and researchers sharing some of the latest stats and trends on the topics in the agenda, combined with great panels and in-between keynotes. This is the third of my reports, originally published in The Audio Voice newsletter.

Merging Technologies will arrive in Amsterdam with a significantly enhanced product range. This has more to do with ensuring that the company’s main products address the new workflow demands of broadcasters than only taking advantage of new components. Pyramix, Ovation, VCube, Horus, Hapi and ANEMAN all have something notable to entice visitors to stand 8.E96 at RAI. Merging is sharing this space with its Swiss neighbours, PSI Audio and Sonosax.