Object-Based Audio and Sound Reproduction

Object-Based Audio. You’ve heard the term. It means we no longer need to record audio information in 6 (5.1), 8 (7.1), or an insane number of audio channels – 22.2, as Japan is pitching for its 8K production and broadcast standard – to properly convey the spatial information of sound reproduction. And not necessarily only for sophisticated soundtracks in immersive formats. And that's where the industry is heading, leaving our precious "audiophile" discussions about the ideal "production standards" for stereo recording and reproduction of music in the dust.

Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS and Analog Devices, unveiled software technology at CEDIA 2017 designed to significantly improve the immersive sound reproduction capabilities of consumer playback devices. The new offering is a reference implementation of Fraunhofer upHear soundbar processing with MPEG-H decoding and rendering on an Analog Devices’ digital signal processor (DSP).