DeepL language translation of:
https://www.sony.jp/feature/products/220530/?s_pid=feature_products_175
From mono to stereo to 360 Reality Audio
360 Reality Audio" is a new music experience full of realism.
360 Reality Audio is an unprecedented music experience that makes you feel as if you are enveloped by sound. One year has passed since the full-scale launch of 360 Reality Audio in Japan. In this section, in addition to basic knowledge about the technology used in 360 Reality Audio and what is needed to enjoy it, we will also explain why 360 Reality Audio is now highly regarded by artists and engineers in the music industry, and what the future holds for live video distribution, etc. Members who have been involved in the development and dissemination of 360 Reality Audio will also explain the future prospects for live video distribution.
Business Producer
Sony
Nishina Corporation
Business Producer
Sony Corporation
Yamamoto
Business Producer
Sony Corporation
Shoji
Content production
specialist
Sony Corporation
Watanabe
Chief Engineer
Sony Corporation
Ejima
One year after full-scale launch
360 Reality Audio users increased tenfold
First of all, please tell us what kind of experience 360 Reality Audio gives us.
Nishina: In a nutshell, the 360 Reality Audio experience can be summed up as "a new experience, with sound pouring in from all directions." It's a new experience. The sound source data, such as vocals, chorus and instruments, is positioned on a 360-degree celestial sphere with positional information attached to each sound source, and when played back through headphones or compatible speakers, it reproduces a three-dimensional sound field as if you were surrounded by the sound played by the artist.
Various stereoscopic audio technologies have appeared in recent years, but how does the 360 Reality Audio experience differ from these?
Ejima: The first major feature of 360 Reality Audio is that sound can also be placed downward. This makes it possible to reproduce sounds that resonate from beneath your feet, which can be expected to enhance the immersive experience.
Another is the reproducibility of the sound field when listening with headphones. The fact is that there are considerable individual differences in the way sound is heard, and it has been found that in order to achieve a high level of stereophonic sound, it is necessary to adapt the sound to the individual's hearing characteristics. Therefore, 360 Reality Audio uses a dedicated app to capture the shape of the ear with a camera, and by estimating the person's hearing characteristics and reflecting them in the sound reproduced, we have introduced personal optimisation technology to enable a more realistic stereophonic experience.
Personal Optimisation for a more realistic sense of presence
Certified Sony Personal Optimisation models use a dedicated app to optimise the sound field and acoustic properties of the headphones, so you can enjoy a more realistic listening experience.
Optimising the sound field and acoustic characteristics of the headphones with a dedicated app, you can enjoy a more realistic sense of presence.
Can you also tell us exactly what kind of technology 360 Reality Audio uses to achieve this?
Ejima: 360 Reality Audio uses 'object-based' Sony 360 stereoscopic audio technology to create a new music experience. Conventional audio uses 'channel-based' technology, which assumes a fixed number of speakers in a fixed position, but with 'object-based', each sound can be positioned anywhere on the 360-degree celestial sphere, and that metadata can be delivered to the playback device. This is a major feature.
But that would require the same number of speakers for each sound, wouldn't it?
Ejima: In 360 Reality Audio, the playback device performs a process called 'rendering' and 'virtualisation' to optimise the sound according to the placement and number of speakers for each device, so that the sound can be heard in 3D in any environment. Sony's unique 360 stereoscopic sound technology makes it possible to enjoy three-dimensional sound during playback, as if sound were coming from above, below, right and left, even when using headphones or one-box speakers. The sound is produced using Sony's unique 360 stereoscopic sound technology.
Differences between 360 Reality Audio and traditional stereo experiences
The headphone experience
With traditional stereo sound sources, the music is felt in the head; with 360 Reality Audio, the sound sources are positioned at different locations around the listener's head, creating an immersive experience that envelops the listener from all directions.
Speaker experience.
Stereo sound sources feature a mix of all sound sources heard from two speakers on either side.
360 Reality Audio, on the other hand, allows the listener to enjoy sound sources such as vocals, choruses and instruments that are placed on an all-sky sound field surrounding the listener and pouring down from all directions, providing an unprecedented immersive musical experience.
It has been more than a year since the project was launched in earnest in the country. Please tell us about the current situation.
Nishina: Last year (2021) was the first year of stereophonic sound, as music distribution services started distributing 360 Reality Audio tracks and speakers compatible with 360 Reality Audio were also launched. This was the "first year of stereophonic sound". The number of customers enjoying 360 Reality Audio has increased nearly tenfold over the past year. We feel that people appreciate the value of the experience, which is different from stereo distribution. The user base is wide-ranging and includes not only fans of J-pop and Western music, but also anime songs, EDM and many other types of music.
360 Reality Audio-enabled music streaming service.
Links to individual service pages.
*Personal optimisation is not supported for Amazon Music Unlimited (as of 21 October 2021).
*nugs.net is an English language page and only distributes Western music.
What do you think of 360 Reality Audio's current number of tracks?
Shoji: The 360 Reality Audio service was launched overseas first, so there was a lot of Western music immediately after the full-scale launch in Japan, but now a wide range of domestic music has been added, including J-POP and ani-songs. Furthermore, the distribution of live sound sources has been accelerated, and now a total of more than 10,000 360 Reality Audio tracks can be enjoyed.
Live sound sources seem to be a good match for the realistic 360 Reality Audio, don't they?
Shoji: Yes. In fact, at the beginning of this year, we held a listening session at the Sony Store where we played a live sound recording by a certain artist using 360 Reality Audio, and it was very well received. The sound source was a live sound file recorded before the start of the new Corona Disaster and mixed into 360 Reality Audio. We believe that 360 Reality Audio live sound sources offer a very different experience from listening to studio recordings in a stereo environment, and that only stereophonic sound can deliver this experience.
Artists and engineers
more freedom to create music.
experience.
I'm also interested in how the artists who provide the music feel about 360 Reality Audio.
Shoji: Over the past year, Watanabe and I have been visiting production studios every week to give demos to many artists, engineers and producers. Everyone is very interested in 360 Reality Audio, and many regular chart-topping artists are now starting to produce music with us. Also, the number of studios that support 360 Reality Audio production is increasing considerably.
What are artists interested in?
Shoji: In the channel-based environment that Ejima mentioned earlier, for example, with stereo (2-channel) sound sources, all sounds have to be squeezed into two speaker positions on the left and right. As a result, it was undeniable that some sound components were difficult to hear.
Watanabe: Until now, artists and engineers have had to work out how to fit sounds onto the two-channel "canvas" of a stereo sound source. In doing so, they had to find a way to separate and harmonise the sounds they wanted to place in the centre of the mix, such as vocals, bass and kick (the bass part of the drum set), for example, and then process and balance the individual sounds. In contrast, with object-based 360 Reality Audio, which frees you from the concept of channels, you can create a three-dimensional work by arranging each sound vertically, as it was recorded, without having to process each sound because the canvas is so wide. The sound is recorded as it is without any processing of the individual sounds.
So you can create richer expression without being bound by the number of speakers, such as mono (1ch) or stereo (2ch).
Shoji: Artists and engineers appreciate exactly these points, and being able to arrange the speakers more freely allows them to hear sounds they couldn't hear before. I've seen many times in productions where the creators were surprised to hear, "Oh, by the way, you added this kind of sound," or "I didn't realise you played it this way". The 360 Reality Audio sound is a real recording.
360 WalkMix Creator™.
Audio Futures' 360 WalkMix Creator™, which works as a plug-in for various Digital Audio Workstations, allows you to freely and easily create "three-dimensional music that can be heard from all 360° directions". 360 WalkMix Creator™ can be used not only in the studio, but anywhere with a laptop and headphones.
I see. When it comes to stereophonic sound, we tended to focus only on the fun of the experience, but in fact, it also gives the most natural and realistic musical experience compared to previous methods.
Watanabe: That's right. In addition, in recent music, arrangements are often made with an emphasis on the power of the sound as if it is being played inside the head, with an awareness that the music is being listened to through headphones. For example, only the low frequency part of the bass sound is taken out and placed below, while the high frequency component is placed above, making the bass sound seem as if it is approaching from a plane rather than a point, or the kick sound is placed below, making the bass sound as if the earth is reverberating.
It is also important to note that the 360 Reality Audio content creation tools for this purpose now work in the music production environment used by many artists and engineers. Because 360 Reality Audio sound creation can be done as an extension of normal sound creation, new techniques and innovative methods are being created without compromising the creativity of the artists and engineers, and I feel that the quality of 360 Reality Audio content has really improved over the past year. I feel that the quality of 360 Reality Audio content has really improved over the past year.
Shoji: I often hear people say that they are annoyed because anything is possible. Some artists are taking on the challenge of creating arrangements that would have been unthinkable in the stereo era, such as moving vocal and instrumental sounds around in a circular motion. We believe that one of the features of 360 Reality Audio is that you can enjoy music that contains the creator's will.
360 Reality Audio is,
with your smartphone and
headphones to get started today.
So far you have made it clear that 360 Reality Audio is attractive to music fans, artists and engineers alike. Could you then tell us what it takes to enjoy it?
Yamamoto: There are several ways to enjoy 360 Reality Audio. One of the easiest is to use your existing smartphone and headphones. You can enjoy 360 Reality Audio simply by subscribing to a music subscription service that supports 360 Reality Audio on your smartphone.
How to experience 360 Reality Audio with headphones
Subscribe to a 360 Reality Audio-enabled music streaming service to enjoy this new music experience.
Then you can start right away.
Yamamoto: In addition, with the 360 Reality Audio Certified Headphones, you can use a dedicated app to take ear photos and analyse your individual listening characteristics, enabling you to enjoy a more realistic sound field optimised for you personally. Currently, 360 Reality Audio certified headphones are available not only from Sony, but also from other manufacturers, and you can choose the one that best suits your lifestyle, from overhead to fully wireless.
What difference does it make to the way you hear if the headphones are individually optimised or not?
Ejima: Without personalisation, the sound is tuned to the standard ear shape and acoustic characteristics of the device, so that you can enjoy it with any headphones you have. With personalisation, the sound is optimised for the individual listener's listening characteristics and the acoustic characteristics specific to their equipment, resulting in a more realistic and lifelike three-dimensional sound field experience. We encourage you to enjoy the sound in a personally-optimised environment.
Can any smartphone be used?
Yamamoto: Any smartphone can be used. It can also be played on streaming Walkmans running the Android OS.
Incidentally, the Sony Xperia 1IV/10IV is a 360 Reality Audio certified smartphone. Certified smartphones can playback conventional stereo sound sources up-mixed into stereoscopic sound. In addition, the Xperia 1 can also enjoy stereophonic sound through its own speakers.
Can you tell us about other options besides headphones and smartphones?
Yamamoto: Sony's product range includes one-box speakers, home theatre systems, soundbars and wireless neckband speakers as certified 360 Reality Audio products.
So they cater for a wide range of listening styles? Now tell us about the features of your experience with each product.
Yamamoto: One-box speakers such as the SRS-RA5000 and SRS-RA3000 are compact and easy to install, and can be taken anywhere from the living room to the study or bedroom, creating a spacious sound field that envelops the room with sound. It's an option for those who want to immerse themselves in the 360 Reality Audio experience in a relaxed way, alone or with a small group of friends.
In contrast, home theatre systems such as the HT-A9 and soundbars such as the HT-A7000 have a large number of built-in speakers and a large output, enabling the reproduction of a powerful 3D acoustic space. These are recommended for people who want to gather in the living room to enjoy live music together.
Wireless neckband speakers, like headphones, are for people who want to enjoy 360 Reality Audio alone, but they can be worn over the shoulder and do not block the ears, so you can enjoy music for a long time without stress.
You really have a range of options to suit different lifestyles.
Yamamoto: Yes. Of course, we hope to continue expanding the range of 360 Reality Audio-compatible products in the future.
The emergence of content with images, for example,
and the emergence of
360 Reality Audio
To enjoy 360 Reality Audio, in addition to the hardware, you need to subscribe to a service that distributes 360 Reality Audio tracks. What services currently support 360 Reality Audio?
Yamamoto: In Japan, 360 Reality Audio is currently available on Amazon Music Unlimited, nugs.net, WOWOW Lab and four other services. * Note that Amazon Music Unlimited only supported playback on certified speakers at the time of its full launch in Japan last spring, but from 19 October 2021, it will also support headphone experiences. The ability to easily experience 360 Reality Audio through a service with a large number of users has increased the number of viewers and significantly raised awareness.
*As of 30 May 2022.
Can you tell us about the differences and individuality of each service?
Yamamoto: Basically, the same 360 Reality Audio tracks can be enjoyed on each service, but there is some special content that is exclusive to that service.
Amazon Music Unlimited is the largest service among these services, so it has a lot of content, including Japanese and Western music. WOWOW Lab, as the name suggests, is a slightly experimental app that offers a unique experience like never before. nugs.net is not yet a well-known service in Japan. It is a service that has not yet gained much recognition in Japan, but because of that, it is a service with new discoveries, where you can come across music that is hard to find in Japan.
I am interested in the unique experience of WOWOW Lab. What is this about?
Shoji: First of all, the biggest difference is that it is not only audio, but also video: the sound of live video content recorded by WOWOW is converted to 360 Reality Audio. Of course, if you have 360 Reality Audio-certified headphones, you can enjoy a personalised sound field.
What specific content is being distributed?
Shoji: Mostly live footage of Japanese artists, but we also distribute classical concerts. One of the more unique videos is that of a fireworks display, both of which give a more realistic sense of sound localisation in combination with visuals, allowing you to experience the new possibilities of 360 Reality Audio. Anyone can watch the videos for free by installing the dedicated app, so we hope you will give it a try (some content is available only to WOWOW subscribers).
Can you tell us about the future prospects for 360 Reality Audio in terms of content?
Nishina: We plan to strengthen our efforts in online distribution of live music concerts in the future. The market for online live streaming has grown significantly due to the impact of the new coronary disaster, and as the unique ways of enjoying live music online have expanded, we expect that online live performances will continue to be held in parallel even after the spread of the disease has subsided. If we can provide 360 Reality Audio for this, we think we can take the online live experience to the next stage with the added value of ultra-realistic sensation.
In addition, by utilising the 360 stereoscopic audio technology used in 360 Reality Audio, we have already started a project, in the form of a demonstration experiment, to enable people to enjoy not only music, but also, for example, voice-over events and stage performances in stereoscopic sound.
The 360 Reality Audio "revolution".
First of all,
Experience it for yourself.
For those who have not yet experienced 360 Reality Audio, please introduce some places where they can try it out.
Yamamoto: We have prepared an environment where you can experience it at Sony Stores in Ginza and other locations, and we are also increasing the number of places where you can try 360 Reality Audio at electronics retailers. If you haven't heard of 360 Reality Audio yet, we'd like you to give it a try.
Shoji: We are also distributing a variety of 360 Reality Audio tracks, including live sound sources with video, free of charge on our SOUND DIVE website. You can enjoy them with headphones, and although the experience is not optimised for the individual, I think you will still be able to fully enjoy the pleasure of stereoscopic sound.
https://www.360rasounddive.sony.net/
Finally, do you have a message for our readers?
Shoji: Nowadays, in the world of 360 Reality Audio, artists and creators are creating more and more music filled with the joy of stereophonic sound. Please experience the completely new music that artists are proposing, which is different from the stereo sound sources of the past.
Watanabe: One artist told me that the advent of 360 Reality Audio is as much of a revolution as when music changed from mono to stereo. And many people already have the environment of smartphones and headphones to enjoy it. Many artists and creators feel that this is a very big deal, and they are using the potential of 360 Reality Audio to create works that hit their imagination and creativity. I hope our readers will take that head-on.
Ejima: What I want to say to you, as the technical director, is that I would like you to try listening to it with headphones. The experience with speakers is of course wonderful, but the experience of listening with headphones and hearing the sound coming from outside the headphones is something that everyone will find amazing. I'm sure you'll be surprised.
Yamamoto: I agree, and the first time I heard 360 Reality Audio through headphones, I couldn't help but turn my head in the direction the sound was coming from (laughs). (Laughs) I'd really like people to experience the sound of 360 Reality Audio optimised for each individual with certified headphones. Also, we plan to deliver more and more collaborations with various artists that we have been working on, so I hope you can look forward to them in the future.
Nishina: I've talked about the appeal of 360 Reality Audio from various perspectives, but after all, seeing is believing, isn't it? That's why I want you to experience it first. It's a very interesting music experience of the future, so please do try it. I look forward to your visit!
