Getting Started With Sony's 360 Reality Audio and the 360 WalkMix Creator

[@kelvinfunkner]

literally the most tame and gracious rant I've ever seen! and yet so justified! As always, I love coming here for the excellent quality on every single aspect...voice over, video look and grading, lighting and lighthearted, clear, understandable demonstrations.

[@michaelgwagner]

Haha, thanks!

[@blaneebersold1983]

This isn’t the first time Sony has persistently clung to being proprietary. Betamax didn’t work out too well. Their current marketing even says “360 WalkMix Creator™ helps both professional and amateur creators transform their stereo audio mixes into limitless 360 Reality Audio”. I contacted them about whether they had demo versions and/or lite versions that would be more accessible to home studios. After about two weeks, I got a response from them that there was no need for that since you could buy it and get a refund if you request it within 30 days. Too bad. It actually looked promising.

[@przymrozek]

Hi there! Thanks for the short tutorial on the WalkMix Creator, and even more thanks for the rant! I am also strongly confused if I should even bother purchasing this (at my university), since the whole tool and format seems to be losing and might not be relevant in a while.

[@michaelgwagner]

They apparently added the option to purchase as a tax exempt org. But it is still without edu licenses.

[@przymrozek]

@@michaelgwagner do you know how many seats are included in the license? I am also curious if there is any limit in the number of the objects?

[@michaelgwagner]

@przymrozek Just double checked: 6 seats

[@immersoundxyz]

Hi Michael! Thanks for the video. Is there some kind of loudness specification for Sony 360? I bought the license and I was testing it and I must say that it sounds very strange! Just turn on the plugin and the audio changes noticeably. Definition is lost in general. On the other hand, I must say that the spatial locations can be perceived quite well, although returning to the audio, the equalization changes are sometimes even funny. In conclusion, I believe that the format will take on its relevance, which is why we are already offering it to our clients. Best!

[@michaelgwagner]

It’s mpeg-h under the hood. The audio will change depending on the rendering. If you monitor with headphones it bakes an hrtf into the audio (i.e. renders binaurally). That does sound different.

[@immersoundxyz]

@@michaelgwagner Yeah. I'm going to try wirh other htrfs. At the same time, I am installing a monitoring system with 13 ADAM speakers in our studios in Argentina. I'll tell you about my experience about it next month! What do you know about the Loudness of this format? I understand that the true peak at -1 is logical but the integrated level of Lufs seems to be a lottery!! I think the automatic normalization tool should be discarded and some rules established in this regard taking into account the multiple playback devices.

[@michaelgwagner]

@immersoundxyz Nice!

[@SuperAgentAB]

Yo, I heard Tidal is removing 360RA.

[@michaelgwagner]

It appears so, yes.

[@jimifiTube]

I am curious why both Sony & Dolby seem so hell bent on making things as difficult as possible for creators to create content for the formats they are hoping become the standard. I am puzzled by the fact that both of the contenders have gone out of their way to not support or mention ambisonics?! I was hoping that since Sony was using MPEGh we’d get the HOA option built in from the start. If I were trying to win the Spatial Audio format for music wars, the first thing I would do is give away the renderer. @michaelgwagner please use your influence to get Audio Brewers & Mach1 to David-and-Goliath the dinosaurs that have decided an expensive, front facing, turtle shell shaped sound field is preferable to a spherical one 😆

[@michaelgwagner]

Not sure if I am influential enough. 😅

[@przymrozek]

Does MPEG-H support ambisonics? I think I've read somewhere that it does, but I do not see any ambisonic functionality in the MPEG-H Authoring Suite...

[@michaelgwagner]

@przymrozek It does per specs, but I have not seen that implemented yet.

[@immerseaudio]

hey michael, what is your favorite method of working with spatial audio?

[@michaelgwagner]

Not sure if I have one tbh. I do like Dolby Atmos because you can distribute it on streaming platforms. And I like Ambisonics for its mathematical beauty. ;)

[@immerseaudio]

@@michaelgwagnerooo i see, multichannel streaming?? i never really delved into atmos. just obsessing over ambisonics lol

[@gregoryivesdolbyatmosmusic]

I'll catch up with this tomorrow. Gearing up for a big ATMOS session next week. Too bad about the silly pricing and distribution. Sony seems to be all about acquiring other small companies like Audeze. HAH

[@michaelgwagner]

👍

[@lordcannon2020]

It's a shame, at this price this software is obsolete for a hobbyist. 😭 Thanks for the video 👍

[@michaelgwagner]

You're welcome

[@sysxtem]

waiting for the same rant about spat revolution 🤣

[@michaelgwagner]

😂