France-based Amadeus has debuted a new hardware processor system, Holophonix, designed for live sound spatialisation and immersive experiences.
Holophonix processor brings together several different spatialisation techniques including Wave Field Synthesis, High-Order Ambisonics, Distance-Based Amplitude Panning, and more, enabling intuitive placement and movement of sources in a 2D and/or 3D space.
The system allows the user to select and control a series of 2D and 3D sound algorithms designed at Paris-based IRCAM (Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) and CNRS, the French National Center for Scientific Research.
Amadeus' relationships with IRCAM started in the late 1990s. Over the years, Amadeus has designed more than 339 custom loudspeakers installed within IRCAM's variable acoustics hall (called Espace de Projection) for research on high-end sound field recreation systems, including Wave Field Synthesis 2D and Ambisonics 3D sound.
The hardware is fully redundant, comprising dual redundant power supply units and solid-state drives. Holophonix is Dante-compatible and can integrate with standard commercial DAW software as well as Dante-enabled devices providing an added control layer.
Besides its standard Dante compatibility, the system can also be configured on request for MADI, RAVENNA, or AES67 formats.
The processor is structured around a multichannel algorithmic reverberation engine. It allows users to combine several different artificial reverberations, homogeneously combining sound materials and fine-tuning the perceived sound depth. Reflection calculators allow the user to create several virtual sound spaces. High spatial resolution impulse responses can also be inserted in the convolution engine, in order to re-compose acoustics.
The hardware offers a quasi-unlimited number of spatialization buses, each one able to run one of the different sound algorithms available, including: Higher-Order Ambisonics (2D, 3D) Vector-Base Intensity Panning (2D, 3D), Vector-Base Amplitude Panning (2D, 3D), Wave Field Synthesis, Angular 2D, k-Nearest Neighbor, Stereo Panning, Stereo AB, Stereo XY, Binaural.
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