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360 Reality Audio - New format by Sony

Biblob

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So at CES 2019, Sony introduced a supposedly new format for implementing object-based audio in to a proprietary format.
It should make every headphone (and speakers??) able to reproduce a "realistic" soundstage etc.

Sony's own page

A news article about this giving some more explanation

Could this be something exciting? Or will this just revamp all the previous format-discussions? ;)
 

Pluto

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I read that press release. Here's the dodgy bit...

“Sony is developing an app that will enable users to take photos of their own ears with a smartphone to create an optimized musical experience based on an analysis of the hearing characteristics of user's ears.”

Oh boy.
 

Eurasian

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Don't dismiss this, Pluto. There is plenty of research being done on pinna mapping and the consequent ability to produce filters to recreate direction and height cues with sophisticated algorithms and dsp. Hat's off to Sony!!
 

bigx5murf

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Sounds a lot like what Aureal was doing with a3d tech back in the 90s.
 

shanecoughlan

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I would not dismiss this out of hand. Bear in mind I do have bias as a tech industry person, but advancements in spacial mapping and sound stage delivery are making a real difference to how products come to market. HomePod is one excellent example. Restrict the volume and it is clearly one speaker. Amp it up a little and the sound starts to fill the room. DTS-X is another example.

Pause here for inevitable blowback. Yes, I know you can identify the difference, but we are looking at first generation products, and for normal listeners they are already amazing.

Sony has a long history in playing with perception. Their virtual 9.1 entertainment system wireless earphones are a great example. Bringing this knowhow to music might be pretty fun.
 

Veri

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I read that press release. Here's the dodgy bit...

“Sony is developing an app that will enable users to take photos of their own ears with a smartphone to create an optimized musical experience based on an analysis of the hearing characteristics of user's ears.”

Oh boy.

Isn't this exactly what creative's "super x-fi" did as well quite recently?
 

Tks

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Rant time.


Does this company ever cease attempting to take over/subvert whole industries with their proprietary nonsense? It hit me recently how they try to do this until they somewhat bankrupt themselves. They've done this in the past with with memory cards and other such things... but luckily their hardware attempts at such stunts have almost all disappeared.

So annoying, so many nonsense "standards"/formats that serve no purpose other than consumer/production house anger-inducing DRM schemes.

We truly are starting to hit walls in certain audio industries/progress it seems. Sony feel as if whole new paradigms need to be imagined. How about instead of doing that Sony, you start approaching problems with cost of hardware for certain things (like getting binaural recording done properly in some new innovative way, or making more hardware that can aid those attempting to record their own in some standardized manner, and not just high budget recording studios). Create an actual standard... Not this fucking iteration of VR/AR-audio attempts at some annoying standardization/format venture...

Also sending picture of ears and such.. fuck off please? Go out and pay people to have their ears made available to you, stop scrapping off of the general public, and gather your own data.

Even if there is some credence to this effort of their's, all this is is essentially DSP'd post-processed audio wrapped into yet again another "format".

These kinds of stunts remind me of all the annoying things like audio watermarks and such that thankfully (for the most part) died horribly. Hopefully ever-present nonsense like MQA also soon to follow in such footsteps of pointlessness. Though this is nowhere near the severity (this is in my opinion just a few tools being sold to some audio engineers/streaming houses).

Don't take my word for it:

Distribution format
Sony plans to release a format optimized for music distribution. With the cooperation of the Fraunhofer IIS, part of Europe's largest organization for applied research, the format will be compliant with MPEG-H 3D Audio, an open audio standard.

And there is it folks. You don't stream, you ain't getting this (probably for the best if you ask me).

Also who cares that you got the blessing of the creators of MP3.. as if you suggest you're doing something so wonderful (if it was truly something exceptional, you wouldn't need them, you'd be your own entity in all facets of this paradigm). But I guess memory serves you well with all the ventures that have led to dead ends that held even higher promise than this offering now.

Content creation
Sony will provide content creation tools and work with major music labels to prepare and augment music into 360 Reality Audio content. Also, existing music that is already in multitrack sound format will be able to be converted into a 360 Reality Audio compatible format using the production tools that Sony will provide.

Oh okay, so it's just another take on already existing stuff. A proprietary algorigthm offering and some tools for content creators to employ it. If this was exceptional... again I would say, you wouldn't need to adhere to any existing formats. You know you could get away with it if it was truly something THAT great.

Services for distributing compatible content1
The plan is to distribute 360 Reality Audio compatible content on the premium plans offered by music distribution services.

But of course it would be..

Compatible devices
Sony is looking into the potential for a variety of audio devices to support this new music content, but it will initially focus on technological development of Sony's headphones and speakers.

Naturally yet again...

For headphones, a dedicated device will not be needed for the user to play back 360 Reality Audio compatible content and experience a sound field with a realistic feel unlike anything conventional headphones have been able to offer.

I'd love for that claim to be put to the actual test, and see what some hobby sound folks are able to do when tasks with replicating such "feel" with already existing DSP/editing tools with a little channel panning/reverb here and there and some ingenuity with mixing.

However, to deliver the best possible musical experience, it will be necessary to measure the hearing characteristics of the individual user's ear and apply signal processing accordingly to the reproduced sound. Sony is developing an app that will enable users to take photos of their own ears with a smartphone to create an optimized musical experience based on an analysis of the hearing characteristics of user's ears.

Why hire teams to go out and do the job properly and hoard a data-set, leave it to shaky camera's and lighting.

Or better yet, how about sharing your findings with the folks who have provided input by sending their pictures, and telling us the sorts of fruits your little AI powered ordeal will produce? Of course not.. how dare I suggest?

Funny how you'll take the ear, but not the device being played into account...

Speaker systems which project sound in all directions will be able to reproduce a 360 Reality Audio experience. Other manufacturers' audio products that support the distribution format from Sony will also be able to play back 360 Reality Audio content. For headphones, in particular, it will be possible to enjoy the content simply by using apps offered by the participating music service providers.

But of course they will play fine, because you're not actually doing something insanely exceptional.
 

Sal1950

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But of course they will play fine, because you're not actually doing something insanely exceptional.
A bit reminiscent of the actions of Meridian and MQA. o_O
 
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