SPATIAL AUDIO ON A BUDGET
It wasn’t perfect conditions; outdoors on a sweltering 40-degree day, with the slatted roof of Melbourne’s M Pavilion the only respite. Nevertheless, it’s the proving ground for Yamaha’s cobbled together object-based spatial audio system and their claims that it’s possible to build one anywhere — even in punishing conditions — for the price of a conventional PA system, and with readily available parts.
“It’s the next thing,” was Simon Tait’s matter-of-fact summarisation of why he, Mick Hughes and the rest of Yamaha Australia’s pro audio division decided to try the DIY approach. “Stereo is a format that has served us well since the ’60s, but as a presentation canvas, it’s 60 f**king years old! It’s been done.”
OBJECT OF THE EXERCISE
Yamaha isn’t new to the spatial audio game. Its assisted reverb product, called AFC (Active Field Control), has been around since 1985. It’s similar to Meyer Sound’s Constellation in that it can artificially change the acoustics of a room with lots of hardware and processing grunt.
Lately, the focus for spatial audio has shifted to incorporating object-based positioning. Whether it’s flying sounds overhead or simply positioning them relative to where they are onstage, it’s become the next problem to solve.
With a few projected AFC installs on the cards, the conversation at Yamaha Australia naturally turned to how the team could implement real-time live rendering of object-based sources in those venues as well.
There are a few speaker-agnostic options, like Barco’s Iosono and Astro Spatial Audio, which still operate on a hardware
