Ambisonics = Immersive sound?

AcousticDreams · #1 05-15-2023, 10:11 AM

Had a super fun day on Saturday with a dear friend whom I had not seen in a couple of years. He is a drum enthusiast, Radio Announcer hobbyist & deeply into ham radio. So he is very familiar with DAW's and Microphones.
I got to introduce him to the World of Virtual Instruments, and he introduced me to the fascinating new world of Ambisonics/3d sound.

Overview: Sound Captured by Four microphones placed at Right Angles to each other. I did not take a measurement, but seemingly they were all within a 1/2 inch from each other. Upon further thought I am wondering if this is somewhat of a version of Blumlein Technique? ( for my acoustic guitar set up I have previously experimented with three mic spaced, all at right angles to each other. Rendering reasonable sound results. Of course I am not using any encoding so it is only in the standard stereo field.)

After the sound is captured by the four in one microphone, it is then encoded into a program. The program allows you to move the recorded field to any position you desire. Behind you, on top of you, moving around you....all in a stereo field. Somehow in a stereo field it can position even in the vertical field while still playing back on standard stereo headphones. How is it doing that!

He had the Zoom Version called H3-VR 360. With a list price of $249. I own a Two Channel Zoom and have never liked the built in mics. As we all know, with external mics the Zoom recorder does an excellent job.

He recorded a little of my guitar playing on his H3-VR. I only heard the stereo UNprocessed stereo signal through his unit. While I felt all of the dynamics were gone, the tone representation of my guitar was pretty good. Much better than the intermal mics on my Zoom recorder. He has since process the audio and says it sounds pretty good. I have not heard it as of yet.

Here is the video he had me listen to. Put on a pair of headphones and have some fun listening to how the sound will move all around you:

There are several companies getting involved with this. Sennheiser version is called the Ameo VR Mic. Rode version is called the NT-SF1

DupleMeter · #2 05-15-2023, 01:39 PM

Cool. I played with the Sennheiser Ambeo mic when I did a commercial shoot for them. It was fun to play with.

AcousticDreams · #3 05-15-2023, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DupleMeter

Cool. I played with the Sennheiser Ambeo mic when I did a commercial shoot for them. It was fun to play with.

So what do you think, will it have a future in the recording studio?

Where you involved with the photography or just the sound?

DupleMeter · #4 05-15-2023, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AcousticDreams

So what do you think, will it have a future in the recording studio?

Where you involved with the photography or just the sound?

I could definitely see it for classical & video game sessions. It would add a sense of immersion. I don’t know that I’d use one in day to day recording.

We used a MixPre synced to the main recorder for the Ambeo mic because it did on the fly conversion (type B) of the signal & allowed us to monitor it. I had the mic in the crowd in front of the stage.

I did the audio for the commercial (it involved a live band that I had to record & mix/master, plus the audio post). I also made a brief cameo in the commercial.

Bob Womack · #5 05-15-2023, 07:31 PM

Just FYI, I think the first commercial release featuring Ambisonics was the 1985 album Stereotomy by the Alan Parsons Project. The system made a big splash in the recording trade mags for about two months and then disappeared.

Bob

DupleMeter · #6 05-16-2023, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Just FYI, I think the first commercial release featuring Ambisonics was the 1985 album Stereotomy by the Alan Parsons Project. The system made a big splash in the recording trade mags for about two months and then disappeared.

Bob

Yes. And before that we had Quad, which was also a big deal for about a week. And that’s why I’m so on fence about ATMOS for music.

Bob Womack · #7 05-16-2023, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DupleMeter

Yes. And before that we had Quad, which was also a big deal for about a week. And that’s why I’m so on fence about ATMOS for music.

Yup. Interesting stuff.

Bob

nickv6 · #8 05-16-2023, 12:23 PM

I found the demo interesting. But I was unconvinced about the up and down dimension. With my eyes closed so I couldn't see his directions nothing seemed higher or lower. As I understand it the in front/behind part is done by removing treble as our ears cut the treble when they get in the way physically.
Fun effect for games and things but no enhanced musicality for me.

Chipotle · #9 05-16-2023, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickv6

I found the demo interesting. But I was unconvinced about the up and down dimension. With my eyes closed so I couldn't see his directions nothing seemed higher or lower. As I understand it the in front/behind part is done by removing treble as our ears cut the treble when they get in the way physically.
Fun effect for games and things but no enhanced musicality for me.

Tbh I didn't hear it either. I just heard the change in frequency response, which sounded more like EQ than movement. I imagine if you had a visual to "cue" you as to which way the sound was supposed to be coming from, it might be more effective. As-is, I can't see it catching on for music... just like it hasn't for the last 38 years.