Anyone new to Ambisonics? Well, it is currently the most popular technique for mixing audio in a full spherical 360-degree sound field. The most common Ambisonics format, used in VR as well as in Google and Facebook 360 videos, is a four-channel format called B-format.
Designed to fit intuitively into a traditional mixing workflow, the Waves B360 Ambisonics Encoder allows audio engineers to convert regular mono, stereo, or surround mixes into B-format, in order to deliver sound for 360-degree audio/video content.
Pretty cool, right?
So, the Waves B360 can be used in two ways: firstly, you can place the plugin on each separate mono or stereo channel for precise positioning/panning of that channel in your 360-audio mix; secondly, you can first complete your mix in a conventional stereo or surround environment, and then place B360 on the entire finished mix, simply as an Ambisonics B-format convertor.
Whichever way you use it, B360 lets you control the width, elevation, and rotation of your mix, as well as the positioning of the different elements in your mix inside the three-dimensional sound field. Check out the video below.
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There is an intuitive GUI and streamlined controls for panning width, elevation, and rotation; and Waves B360 is designed to make your 360-audio workflow faster, easier, and ultimately more user-friendly than ever.
To monitor your 360-degree B-format mixes in a convenient, accessible way, Waves now offers Nx Ambisonics, a new component of the popular Waves Nx Virtual Mix Room over Headphones, a plugin that recreates the three-dimensional acoustics of a professional mix room inside any set of stereo headphones.
By binauralising the audio for headphones, Nx Ambisonics lets mixing engineers listen to their B-format mixes even when they don’t have access to an elaborate multi-directional speaker array. Nx Ambisonics also delivers pristine sound quality that mixing engineers can trust, without the distortion or artifacts often introduced by binauralisation tools.
For improved accuracy, Nx Ambisonics offers full personalisation to your individual head measurements, as well as a visual spatial meter representing the audio frequency content in every direction of the three-dimensional sound field. For enhanced 3D realism that embraces the VR experience, Nx Ambisonics also offers an integrated high-quality, high-speed head tracking solution, using the compact Nx Head Tracker Bluetooth device or your computer’s camera. We've tried Nx at Headliner - find out more HERE.
Waves is also offering a combo: Waves 360° Ambisonics Tools, which includes the B360 Ambisonics Encoder, the Nx Virtual Mix Room (with the Nx Ambisonics component), and the Nx Head Tracker.
For more information on Waves plugins, click HERE.