Spatial Audio Production for Immersive Media Experiences: Perspectives on practice-led approaches to designing immersive audio content

Sound design with the goal of immersion is not new, however, sound design for Immersive Media Experiences (IMEs) utilizing spatial audio can still be considered a relatively new area of practice with less well-defined methods requiring a new and still emerging set of skills and tools. There is, at present, a lack of formal literature around the challenges introduced by this relatively new content form and the tools used to create it, and how these may differ from audio production for traditional media. This article, through the use of semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire, looks to explore what audio practitioners view as defining features of IMEs, the challenges in creating audio content for IMEs, and how current practices for traditional stereo productions are being adapted for use within 360 interactive soundfields. It also highlights potential direction for future research and technological development and the importance of practitioner involvement in research and development in ensuring future tools and technologies satisfy the current needs

Direct-Ambient Decomposition and Upmix of Surround Signals

Various direct-ambient signal decompositions, applicable to two-channel stereophonic signals, have been proposed previously. Strategies to enhance these decompositions for multi-channel surround audio signals are not obvious. A method is proposed, which estimates direct and ambient signal components in a downmix of a given surround signal. Those estimates are then used to compute filters to obtain direct and ambient surround signals. Approaches on how to use the decomposed signals for upmixing of surround audio signals in two and three dimensions are also discussed