On 03/31/2012 04:35 AM, Robert Greene wrote:
On Fri, 30 Mar 2012, Fons Adriaensen wrote:
The revival of the past ten years or so is largely the result of
higher order becoming possible in practice, along with an interest
from telecom companies rather than music producers.
I am curious about this concept of revival of Ambisonics in the past ten
years.
Is there really any commercially available Ambisonic material?
Is anyone actually selling higher order Ambisonic products?
no, and yes, a few.
i guess the revival fons is talking about is to be found in research,
electro-acoustic music, and custom-made installations, not in the mass
market.
ambisonics has seen a surge of interest over the last few years. check
out the proceedings of the last four ambisonic symposia (if their mere
existence isn't proof enough), the ICSA 2012, various ICMCs, and, among
others, the upcoming linux audio conference, which has 7 sessions that
refer to ambisonic technology.
it's not entirely a pipe dream that this "behind the scenes" interest
will eventually influence the market. for now, ambi is clearly not an
end-user format, but it has merits as a production platform for music,
certainly for movies, and for specialised installations.
it is my firm belief that first-order ambisonics doesn't stand a chance
outside of a very small, audiophile market of enthusiasts who are
prepared to design their living room around the audio system and who are
willing to endure some awkwardness to be rewarded by a very good and
detailed, but also very fragile, spatial impression.
first order just doesn't work for larger areas, and it certainly doesn't
do for a drop-in replacement of 5.1. HOA however does, and it is only
just now becoming feasible, which might explain the resurrected
interest. it was simply not possible with 70s analog equipment or
80s/90s know-how and computing power.
and the entrance barrier to HOA is being lowered steadily.
--
Jörn Nettingsmeier
Lortzingstr. 11, 45128 Essen, Tel. +49 177 7937487
Meister für Veranstaltungstechnik (Bühne/Studio)
Tonmeister VDT
http://stackingdwarves.net
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