Just contemplating all those old, digitally unreleased, Sony Quad titles that they hold the reins to - and yes I'm fine with just straight Quad if done well -
* To really be competitive with Atmos, I believe they need to incorporate this into some of their AVRs and make it deliverable to a home speaker system (If I'm reading all this correctly it's just for little faux surround gadgets and headphones currently - Yes / No? (color me still confused over this.)
Here's some FAQs
FAQ
Q :Can you create in 360 Reality Audio for existing or past recordings?
360 Reality Audio masters can be created from multitrack audio content data. It can also be created from stem. It can not be created from a stereo master.
Q :What kind of speaker configuration is suitable for listening to 360 Reality Audio through speakers?
13ch speaker system is recommended to fully experience the 360 Reality Audio effect.
Q :How can I create content if I don’t have a 13ch speaker system?
The 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite provides a real-time headphone rendering feature to emulate 13ch speaker system in headphones.
Q :How is it possible to hear 360 Reality Audio in headphones?
360 Reality Audio Creative Suite is equipped with a virtualizer for reproduction with headphones. When the sound reaches the eardrum, it is affected by the echo of the room and the shape of the ear, causing a change in the sound in the space. When playing back with headphones, you can embody the feeling of being there by digitally reproducing the same changes in the sound played through the headphones.
Q :Which Headphones work with 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite?
It works with any headphones that you usually use with your digital audio workstations(DAWs).
Q :What is the 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite and what does it do?
The 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite is primarily an object based mixer which can mix and pan audio objects in a 3D spherical space.
Q :How can I find 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite?
For more details on 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite click
here.
Q :How can I create 360 Reality Audio Music Format to deliver?
For up-to-date information regarding 360 Reality Audio Music Format creation and technical guidelines, please contact
[email protected].
Q :Which music streaming services support 360 Reality Audio?
360 Reality Audio can be experienced on premium subscription plans of compatible music streaming services.
To find out more, click
here under “Compatible music streaming services”.
Q :Which headphones and speakers are compatible to playback 360 Reality Audio?
360 Reality Audio can be played back on any headphones and earbuds. With select Sony headphones, you can experience a custom immersive musical field that is optimized for each individual user. Find out more
here under “Select Sony headphones for upgrading your experience”. For compatible speakers, click
here.
Q :What source audio is needed for 360 Reality Audio content creation?
360 Reality Audio masters can be created from multi-track data or stem file used in major digital audio workstations (DAWs). All audio must be at the 48kHz sample rate.
Q :Are there any special considerations when creating stems for 360 Reality Audio from existing mix session data?
Yes. There are a few considerations: It may be easier to work with the level of each stem set to match the original mix when combined in a 360 Reality Audio environment. Also, since the 360 Reality Audio headroom has a different audibility than the stereo environment, it may be advisable to make some preparations to make it easier to mix. For example, rather than using stereo lead vocal stem data exported with a reverb effect, you can prepare monaural lead vocal data without reverb and audio data with only reverb elements separately. This gives you more flexibility to mix in 360 Reality Audio.
Q :What kind of 360 Reality Audio master does the 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite produce?
The 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite generates multiple sets of .WAV files with instructional meta data that defines audio positioning and automation. These sets can be encoded into MPEG-H 3D Audio based 360 Reality Audio Music Format deliverables for streaming services.