Create a binaural rendering of a TrueHD Atmos track

[anibal]

Is that possible? How?

I was able to create a stereo mixdown of a TrueHD Atmos track, but I understand that it is not the same.
And to be extra clear, I am talking of taking a consumer format TrueHD track with Atmos data, like the ones you can find in a consumer blu-ray or a IAA .mkv and render a binaural version into a .flac or similar.

Cheers!

 

[austinsignal]

Is that possible? How?

I was able to create a stereo mixdown of a TrueHD Atmos track, but I understand that it is not the same.
And to be extra clear, I am talking of taking a consumer format TrueHD track with Atmos data, like the ones you can find in a consumer blu-ray or a IAA .mkv and render a binaural version into a .flac or similar.

Cheers!

maybe with Virtuoso...?....not sure tho....

 

[stoopid]

Maybe you can demystify something related to "binaural" for me... is it a format? Matrix? What makes something "binaural"?

 

[anibal]

Maybe you can demystify something related to "binaural" for me... is it a format? Matrix? What makes something "binaural"?

This is what Apple says:

A binaural renderer is an algorithm also referred to as the head-related transfer function (HRTF). When a conventional two-channel stereo signal is listened to over headphones, it appears to be “inside” the head, or at the left and right ears. When an audio signal is processed with a binaural renderer, on the other hand, it creates a special two-channel signal that, when listened to over headphones, makes the signal sound like it’s coming from “outside” the head. The listener experiences a spatialized, or externalized, sound, resulting in a three-dimensional immersive sound experience.

Basically, it is trying to recreate a spatial feeling over the headphones.

 

[stoopid]

This is what Apple says:


Basically, it is trying to recreate a spatial feeling over the headphones.

So, reverb is added? We do this in music production, to give instruments or entire mixes a certain sense of space (room, cathedral, etc).

And no, I'm not being obtuse. I have tried a few binaural mixes and didn't find they offered much difference, so overall I just pan the tech as a result. I'm operating out of a sense of curiosity as I would have expected it to have been supplanted by now with something more immersive/noticeable.

 

[stoopid]

This is what Apple says:

A binaural renderer is an algorithm also referred to as the head-related transfer function (HRTF). When a conventional two-channel stereo signal is listened to over headphones, it appears to be “inside” the head, or at the left and right ears. When an audio signal is processed with a binaural renderer, on the other hand, it creates a special two-channel signal that, when listened to over headphones, makes the signal sound like it’s coming from “outside” the head. The listener experiences a spatialized, or externalized, sound, resulting in a three-dimensional immersive sound experience.

So reading between the lines, it sounds more like a matrix encoding that doesn't require a decoder(?). Ultimately they're adjusting timing for when select elements in the mix appear in the sound field, which tricks our brains into thinking they're coming from a particular place outside the 2D stereo plane. My reverb guess is probably close to what's taking place. I'm sure I'll be able to find some youtube channel explanations, I'll continue my inquiry there.

 

[sjcorne]

It doesn't compare at all with a multichannel speaker system, but the results can be kind of effective at times. For instance if something is panned very discretely to one of the side surround speakers, it does seem to drift beyond the confines of the headphones (e.g. the piano at the beginning of "Getting In Tune" from Who's Next). On the other hand, sometimes it seems to cause balance problems where elements that are panned to the rear or rear height channels on a speaker setup sound distant or buried in headphones. Plus, there's the whole issue of how the binaural process from the Dolby Renderer differs with Apple's 'spatial audio' system.

To get back to the OP's original question, I don't think it's possible to listen to a TrueHD-encoded track in binaural (unless you decode it back to 7.1.4 or 9.1.6 PCM and put that through another binaural encoder like Virtuoso, as @austinsignal suggested).