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Old 09-17-2021, 06:50 PM   #1
sguyader
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Default Examples of binaural export using different plugins

I wanted to explore binaural audio, with the aim of converting my stereo mixes to something more immersive, to be listened on headphones. To this end, I started looking at different options, and I found that mixing plugins from different brands sound better to me.

Below, I put 4 clips using the same stereo track (a stem of recorded acoustic drum kit, with reverb baked in it, panned -/+ 90°) so you can compare different plugins and associations of plugins:

https://soundcloud.com/sebastien-guy...l-plugins-test

1. Full Sparta chain, ambiENC followed by ambBIN (both set to 7th order ambisonics)

2. IEM stereo encoder (set to 7th order ambisonics), followed by the Sparta ambiBIN binaural decoder (set to 7th order ambisonics)

3. DearVR Pro, set to encode AmbiX TOA, followed by the Sparta ambiBIN binaural decoder (set to TOA)

4. DearVR Pro, direct export from its binaural export setting

What's your opinion? I really dislike 4., but I like 3. a lot. Options 1. and 2. sound a bit different because the encoders are different, but they are quite close because the binaural decoder is the same.

Last edited by sguyader; 09-17-2021 at 06:58 PM.
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Old 09-17-2021, 11:26 PM   #2
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Great idea.

I'll give it a listen later when in the studio and let you know!
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Old 09-19-2021, 11:03 AM   #3
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Options 1. and 2. sound a bit different because the encoders are different, but they are quite close because the binaural decoder is the same.
This is the surprising part. On a mono source, the encoding should really be the same for a given azimuth and elevation.

So here, it boils down to how the encoders deal with stereo. Slight gain differences.
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Old 09-19-2021, 07:41 PM   #4
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This is the surprising part. On a mono source, the encoding should really be the same for a given azimuth and elevation.

So here, it boils down to how the encoders deal with stereo. Slight gain differences.
Well, you made a point. The placement of the instrument was not exactly the same between both encoders, particularly in terms of elevation. I did the test againbut with the exact same placement (+/- 88° azimuth, 30° elevation) and now the difference is inaudible. I did a null test, and there's only a slight difference between them, that is not explained by the difference in gain (the full Sparta chain sounds fuller to me). But that difference in really negligible.

I still puzzled by the results from DearVR Pro: the encoder/panner is really nice and gives me a stronger sense of depth and spatial separation (the instrument sounds less in your face). However its binaural decoder really sucks (at least to my ears).

There's a lot to explore with the Sparta ambiBIN decoder. I found a source of HRIR's, and the following clip is the same drum loop, with a KU100 HRIR instead of the default one, and "phase simplification" preprocessing instead of the default "diffuse-field EQ" setting:

https://soundcloud.com/sebastien-guy...0-phasesimplif

That one sound really good to me: deep, full, spacious, "alive"
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Old 09-20-2021, 10:14 AM   #5
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http://www.radio.uqam.ca/divers/ambi_encoding.png

Mono encoding, 30° azimuth, 30° elevation. The encoding is identical. There are subtle differences, related probably to the math library used in each encoder and how it deals with degree/radian conversion, precision of PI, precision of sine and cosine, etc.
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Old 09-20-2021, 10:32 AM   #6
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http://www.radio.uqam.ca/divers/ambi_encoding.png

Mono encoding, 30° azimuth, 30° elevation. The encoding is identical. There are subtle differences, related probably to the math library used in each encoder and how it deals with degree/radian conversion, precision of PI, precision of sine and cosine, etc.
Really very close! but any idea why the last value has opposite sign between both encoders?
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Old 09-21-2021, 07:49 AM   #7
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Really very close! but any idea why the last value has opposite sign between both encoders?
One is 0.00000002 and the other is -0.00000002. So, basically, noise around zero.

The formula for that channel is sqrt(5/8)*cos(3*azimuth)*(cos(elevation))^3. http://pcfarina.eng.unipr.it/Aurora/...t_formulas.htm

So difference probably due to different math libraries and how they deal with degree/radian conversion, precision of PI, precision of cosine, etc.

Last edited by Kewl; 09-21-2021 at 03:39 PM.
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Old 09-21-2021, 07:58 AM   #8
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That being said, maybe the perceptual result would be closer if you compared SPARTA AmbiENC to IEM MultiEncoder, rather than the IEM StereoEncoder. The StereoEncoder has to deal with Left and Right summing: the AmbiENC and MultiEncoder, I believe, do not.
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Old 09-21-2021, 01:38 PM   #9
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I think I'm done with comparisons. For now I'll stick with Sparta ambiENC and ambiBIN, except maybe when I want to automate some movement of the tracks, as I found that ambiENC doesn't write the automation envelopes when I click and move the object in ambiENC (it works with the IEM encoder).
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Old 09-22-2021, 03:45 AM   #10
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3 seems best to me
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Old 10-15-2021, 03:30 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by sguyader View Post

I still puzzled by the results from DearVR Pro: the encoder/panner is really nice and gives me a stronger sense of depth and spatial separation (the instrument sounds less in your face). However its binaural decoder really sucks (at least to my ears).
Hi everyone,

There must be something wrong with the setup in example 4. This is not our binaural sound

You can listen to some examples on Plugin Alliance and also get a free 14-day trial there, if you want to check dearVR PRO:
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/p...earvr_pro.html

Best,
Peter
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Old 10-18-2021, 06:57 AM   #12
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I prefer 3 most. It seems to sound most natural to me.
Having said that, I have yet to find any binaural encoder that convinces me. Perhaps I have a very unusual HRIR profile.
I've tried many encoders from many sources but the only thing I've found convincing are actual recordings done with a KU100. Even the encoders using KU100 impulse responses don't sound convincing to me.
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Old 10-19-2021, 10:06 PM   #13
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Hi everyone,

There must be something wrong with the setup in example 4. This is not our binaural sound

You can listen to some examples on Plugin Alliance and also get a free 14-day trial there, if you want to check dearVR PRO:
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/p...earvr_pro.html

Best,
Peter
Hello Peter,

Would Dear VR be open to adding ambisonic inputs to the DearVR Pro plugin? I was surprised to find out (after purchasing) that it sums the input signals to mono--I had expected to be able to use it as a true ambisonic reverb.

Having inputs for a diversity of formats (stereo, ambix b-format, fuma, surround, cube, etc.) would make this tool considerably more powerful.

Could I also request support for other VBAP spatial formats like Mach 1/SPS?

Last edited by BPBaker; 10-20-2021 at 06:28 PM.
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Old 10-20-2021, 01:24 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dear Reality View Post
Hi everyone,

There must be something wrong with the setup in example 4. This is not our binaural sound

You can listen to some examples on Plugin Alliance and also get a free 14-day trial there, if you want to check dearVR PRO:
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/p...earvr_pro.html

Best,
Peter
Hi Peter,
Thanks for chiming in. I actually already own a license for DearVR Pro (and DearVR Monitor as well).
I'm surprised too as I really that the demo sounds on your website sound good, but on my system it doesn't. And I don't know what could be wrong on my side.
By the way, I saw a video on Michael Wagner's channel today where he uses DearVR monitor for monitoring a Dolby Atmos mix, and again the DearVR render sounds more coloured than the others.

Finally while you're here, it would be great if the DearVR plugins could be updated. Not only they are still not native for Mac M1 chips, but also on my Big Sur système there are bad graphical glitches on buttons and sliders.
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Old 10-20-2021, 01:33 PM   #15
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I prefer 3 most. It seems to sound most natural to me.
Having said that, I have yet to find any binaural encoder that convinces me. Perhaps I have a very unusual HRIR profile.
I've tried many encoders from many sources but the only thing I've found convincing are actual recordings done with a KU100. Even the encoders using KU100 impulse responses don't sound convincing to me.
I agree that sounds coming from behind don't really give the impression of coming from behind. Same for above and below. But still with ambisonics encoding/binaural decoding the sound is more immersive, less flat. Not full 3D yet, but ~2.4D 😂
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Old 10-22-2021, 07:48 AM   #16
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Hello Peter,

Would Dear VR be open to adding ambisonic inputs to the DearVR Pro plugin? I was surprised to find out (after purchasing) that it sums the input signals to mono--I had expected to be able to use it as a true ambisonic reverb.

Having inputs for a diversity of formats (stereo, ambix b-format, fuma, surround, cube, etc.) would make this tool considerably more powerful.

Could I also request support for other VBAP spatial formats like Mach 1/SPS?
Hi,

Thanks for your feedback. I will add this to our list of requested features. Of course I can't guarantee any specific feature for future updates. Stay tuned!

Greetings
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Old 10-22-2021, 07:50 AM   #17
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Hi Peter,
Thanks for chiming in. I actually already own a license for DearVR Pro (and DearVR Monitor as well).
I'm surprised too as I really that the demo sounds on your website sound good, but on my system it doesn't. And I don't know what could be wrong on my side.
By the way, I saw a video on Michael Wagner's channel today where he uses DearVR monitor for monitoring a Dolby Atmos mix, and again the DearVR render sounds more coloured than the others.
Hi,

Maybe something is wrong with the routing. Could you please contact our support team (support@dear-reality.com) and tell us about your problem there. We can better assist you that way.

Best,
Peter
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Old 10-30-2021, 07:56 PM   #18
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Thank you Peter, I sent an email to address you provided.
I'm afraid it's not a routing issue. The binaural output is just 2 channels, there's no difficulty setting this out.

As you can see on the attached frequency spectrum, the binauralizer in DearVR Pro introduces strong dips and peaks from mid to high frequencies (green curve), and that's what sounds so coloured. See how it compares to different chains:
- DearVR Pro stereo output into DearVR Monitor (orange curve)
- DearVR Pro direct stereo output (blue curve)
- Sparta ambisonics to binaural chain (pink curve)
- no plugin (direct stereo output) white curve

Since the spectrum analyzer plugin (Voxengo Span PLus) is placed right after DearVR Pro, I don't see how it could be a routing issue.

Last edited by sguyader; 01-18-2024 at 05:38 PM.
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Old 11-04-2021, 09:39 PM   #19
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Number 5 is my fav, then number 3. Listening on AKG K240 aniversary editions.

Had a listen to both Peter's (Soundlcoud/PA site) and I agree that the full DearVR pro chain has obvious dips and things going on in the mids. The examples in the PA site clearly show that for foley/atmos/fx these tonal changes dont matter so much and the trade off (on a signle track basis) is worth it for the effect.

But for music...meh, they're all not fantastic, and that concerns me as I'm just about to start mixing my album for immersive.

The least comb filtered sounding was number5, then 3 in those tests so thats what my reason for it. I don't have a KU100 so I would be exploring the chain in 3 myself and trying to better that.
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Old 11-05-2021, 04:43 AM   #20
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Number 5 is my fav, then number 3. Listening on AKG K240 aniversary editions.

Had a listen to both Peter's (Soundlcoud/PA site) and I agree that the full DearVR pro chain has obvious dips and things going on in the mids. The examples in the PA site clearly show that for foley/atmos/fx these tonal changes dont matter so much and the trade off (on a signle track basis) is worth it for the effect.

But for music...meh, they're all not fantastic, and that concerns me as I'm just about to start mixing my album for immersive.

The least comb filtered sounding was number5, then 3 in those tests so thats what my reason for it. I don't have a KU100 so I would be exploring the chain in 3 myself and trying to better that.
Thank you for your comment. Regarding the KU100, you don't need to own one, you can find its HRIR (among others) and load it into the Sparta ambiBIN plugin. This Sparta plugin is in my opinion very powerful, as it allows you to play with not only the HRIR, but also with the algorithms.
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