The limitation of one or two speakers at the front was first addressed by the film industry and Pyramix has always tracked the trends of that industry. What is new is that the demands for a more involving sound experience has spread to public buildings, arenas, live events, broadcast, games and recorded music. In the process, significant variations in the number and configuration of speaker systems has superseded any format like 5.1. There has never been more of a requirement for large channel counts and multiple output busses; both of which can be easily managed in Pyramix and Ovation.

Once you start arranging speakers in virtual rooms, you need 3D panning to move the sounds within that space. This has been a feature of our products for some years now and we work with an increasing number of plug-in manufacturers to address the specific needs of the sound designer.

Immersive audio experiences cannot always take advantage of many speakers. The requirements of emerging technologies such as VR and AR are very different from a large museum. The need to provide this experience may well depend on encoding the signal to suit headphones or a broadcast standard, so just having a 3D panning engine is not enough. Merging products need to be part of specific workflows that address these applications.

This is a fast-moving field but we have already demonstrated the generation of master files with OBA (Object-Based Audio) metadata according to the Audio Definition Model (ADM) or MPEG-H 3D Audio. Working with powerful partners such as Fraunhofer IIS and IRCAM, Merging is leading the way with these workflows. Other techniques like Higher Order Ambisonics are needed for applications like VR, and there are plug-ins available to ensure that efficient post production speeds can be maintained. If you are involved with any immersive sound project, there is likely to be a Merging solution already or one under development.