I have been in the industry for nearly 30 years. The concept of "immersive sound" probably entered China when the equipment was put into commercial use in 2000. Because of the drive of commercial interests, its development becomes more urgent.
So, what exactly is "Immersive sound"?
We all know that hearing is one of the most important means of perception for human beings. When most people fall to the ground, they start to collect various sounds in nature, and then gradually form a neural map through long-term collaboration of perception methods such as vision, touch, and smell. Over time, we can map out what we hear, and judge the context, emotion, even orientation, space and so on. In a sense, what the ear hears and feels in daily life is the most real and instinctive perception of human beings.
The electro-acoustic system is a technical extension of hearing, and it is a "reproduction" or "re-creation" of a certain scene at the auditory level. Our pursuit of electro-acoustic technology has a gradual process. With the continuous advancement of technology, we hope that one day, the electro-acoustic system can accurately restore the desired "real scene". When we are in the reproduction of the electro-acoustic system, we can get the realism of being in the scene. Immersive, "disgusting the real", this sense of substitution is what we call "immersive sound".
Of course, for immersive sound, we still hope to explore more. In addition to making people feel more real, maybe we can also create some scenes that we don't have the opportunity or abnormality to feel in our daily life. For example, all kinds of electronic music circling in the air, experiencing classical symphony from the position of the conductor instead of the auditorium... All these scenes that cannot be felt in the normal state can be realized through "immersive sound", This is an innovation in sound art. Therefore, the development process of "immersive sound" is a gradual process. In my opinion, only sound information with complete XYZ three axes can be called "immersive sound".
In terms of the ultimate goal, immersive sound includes the electroacoustic reproduction of the entire sound scene. To achieve this goal, at least two factors are needed, one is the electronic reconstruction of the sound element and the sound space, so that the two can be organically combined, and then mostly adopt HRTF-based (Head Related Transfer Function) binaural sound or speaker sound field based on various algorithms for playback.
Any reconstruction of sound requires a reconstruction of situation. Timely and accurate reproduction of sound elements and sound space can present a vivid "real space", in which many algorithms and different presentation methods are used. At present, the reason why our "immersive sound" is not so ideal is that on the one hand, the algorithm is not precise and mature enough, and on the other hand, the sound element and the sound space are seriously disconnected and not tightly integrated. Therefore, if you want to build a truly immersive acoustic processing system, you must take both aspects into consideration through precise and mature algorithms, and you can’t just do a single part.
However, we must remember that technology always serves art. The beauty of sound includes the beauty of content and the beauty of sound. The former, such as lines, melody, tonality, rhythm, tone of voice, speed and severity, etc., are dominant expressions; while the latter mainly refers to frequency, dynamics, loudness, space shaping, etc., are Implicit expression, assisting the presentation of sound art, the two complement each other. We must be well aware of the difference between the two, and we cannot put the cart before the horse. This is very important in the pursuit of immersive sound. But at the same time, the development of technology can provide support for the development of art. Immersive sound is a vast field of knowledge, which we cannot summarize and define in a few words. At the same time, it is a science worth pursuing. All the exploration of the unknown, all the steadfast and persistent pursuits, will leave a mark on the long river of electro-acoustics
Post time: Dec-01-2022