Sennheiser teamed with the Royal Opera House Muscat to host a three-day event for rental companies, broadcasters, AV consultants, and audio engineers.
Closely following the popularity of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), immersive audio has become one of the latest trends in the audio industry this year.
In response to the growing interest in this rapidly maturing technology space, Sennheiser teamed with the Royal Opera House Muscat to host a three-day event for rental companies, broadcasters, AV consultants, and audio engineers.
The audio specialist also dedicated the first day of the event to educate attendees on the nuances of RF theory and wireless do’s and don’ts.
Commenting on widespread adoption of new technology, Ryan Burr, Head of Technical Sales & Application Engineering, Professional Audio at Sennheiser Middle East said: “Today, we have all the tools required for breath-taking immersive audio recordings and mixing, and with the advance of Virtual Reality (VR), 3D audio has become, for the first time, a must-have for an application. The interest and appetite for 3D audio in the region is evidenced by the impressive number of attendees.”
“With our workshop, we aimed to turn this interest into action which is why the larger portion of it was dedicated to hands-on sessions and walkthroughs of practical applications. We have no doubt that we will soon start to see the technology expand from being a niche domain, to an established and preferred audio standard with the power to deliver unforgettable experiences for listeners and audiences,” he added.
Following the initial session which familiarised attendees with 3D audio theory, and the special microphones and equipment utilised, Sennheiser’s team dived into the details of 3D audio capture. In what was the most anticipated aspect of the event, a live Omani band was recruited for this demonstration and the world-class opera house proved to be the ideal venue.
The next session detailed the mixing of immersive sound formats and here, the team also demonstrated the upmixing of content using Sennheiser’s patented algorithm. The event concluded with the playback of the content created during the preceding sessions.
Commenting on the workshop, Philip Perry, Business Development & Projects Manager at HiTec Center added: “Having used the decca tree, hamasaki square, and surround decca tree (DPA) for classical recordings, I’ve found the resulting immersive experience is good but typically needs very careful setup. The Ambeo recording method does a great job of maintaining the space, localization, depth and clarity of the sources, and translates perfectly to a 5.1.4 immersive playback. For me, it is the most enjoyable immersive listening experience I have had.”
Bruno Silva, Assistant Head of Sound and Broadcast at Royal Opera House Muscat noted: “The Ambeo Cube recording method provides the opportunity for a more realistic recording by giving us the chance to capture the acoustic environment in a broader dimension. Regardless how creative one can be afterwards in post-production, I believe the Ambeo Cube is the future of audio recordings.”
“It’s very easy to read about recording techniques and understand them technically, but there is no substitute for a hands-on demo, listening session and technical discussion. It was a well-planned seminar, with carefully considered content, a great presenter and a nice venue. I would recommend this training to anyone in the industry with experience of recording and/or postproduction, and to colleagues with an interest in immersive audio production,” he added.
“It was a privilege to host and be part of the first Ambeo Cube immersive audio recording ever done in the Middle East, especially as this included the recording of traditional Omani music. I would like to thank Sennheiser’s team for their support and commitment to working with us to create and promote this incredible and rewarding experience as it also represents ROHM’s commitment to embracing innovation and promoting education within our industry.”
