What is 8D audio - discussing the new trend
The network is gaining popularity 8D-music. YouTube videos with these recordings already have hundreds of thousands of views. Today we will tell what 8D audio is and how it is “arranged”.
Photo of Ludo Rouchy / CC BY
I want to start with what 8D-music is not. This is not a new music genre or even a new technology. This is a post-processing method of audio recording, when DJs take an already existing track and mix it, creating the effect of sound movement around the listener.
In fact, 8D audio emulates Ambisonics surround sound . The latter implies that the listener is in the center of the "acoustic sphere", at the edges of which the sound sources are placed. The name 8D simply means that the sound comes from eight directions: left, right, front, back, plus four combinations.
It’s hard to say who is the creator of the first 8D record. However, today you can find a large number of channels on YouTube, the authors of which spread similar music. One of the largest is 8D Tunes with five million subscribers. And here is an example of his work - the 8D version of the Twenty One Pilots “Nico and the Niners” composition.
Another example of the channel is AviionMusic , which now has 390,000 subscribers.
Cavities in the human ear have their own characteristics of resonances and reflections, which depend on the frequency of the sound wave and its angle of incidence. Our brain is able to notice these distortions and determine the direction from which the sound is coming. The intensity of the distortions for each person is individual and is described by the so-called head-related transfer function , or HRTF. Using filtering, taking into account the transfer function of the head, and special software, you can create the effect of "moving" the sound source "around" the listener.
To make the effect as realistic as possible, it is necessary to calculate the transfer function for each person individually. However, the musicians use the ready-made HRTF sets, measured in an anechoic chamber (we wrote about it in detail in one of the previous materials ). These kits form the basis of special filters for sound processing programs, such as Sennheiser's Ambeo Orbit.
Sometimes, Haas effect is also used to simulate the location of sound sources in space when processing audio. To do this, in one of the two stereo channels the track is “delayed” by 5–30 ms. As a result, the sound that reaches our ear first will sound louder. This will create the illusion of moving the sound source left or right.
Listeners leave mixed reviews about 8D effect recordings. There are those who compare 8D audio with live sound. For some, the new effect is similar to the ASMR phenomenon: people listen to such recordings to relax before bedtime. There are reviews of a more unusual reaction to 8D sounds: recordings help someone to get rid of tinnitus or pain.
Photo by William Brawley / CC BY
There are people who criticize 8D music. In a thematic thread on Hacker News, a number of commentators noted that such records make them nauseous and dizzy . This response is likely to be related to differences in the HRTF. The average transfer function used to mix 8D songs is not suitable for everyone, so listening to this content can cause discomfort.
DJ and co-founder of the music portal Yousic compares 8D-audio with ping-pong, when the voice and melody jump from ear to ear. According to him, it makes it difficult to truly enjoy the music.
Although 8D audio remains an amateur format, some see the possibilities of its use in studio music. For example, the same Chris Pinkston believes that the 8D effect has a future not in pop music, but in more “ephemeral” ambient genres.
In other areas, say, in VR apps or movies, 8D audio is probably not going to work. There are many surround sound technologies that can create a more realistic sense of space, for example, the same Ambisonics format, the effect of which emulates 8D. Therefore, while 8D-audio will remain an experimental way to create music for a narrow circle of fans of this sound.
Additional reading - our World Hi-Fi and tg-microformat about sound:
Eight audio technologies that will fall into the hall of fame TECnology in 2019
How to turn a computer into a radio, and other ways to extract music from the calculus. systems
Sound levitation can be used in medicine
Photo of Ludo Rouchy / CC BY
What is 8D music
I want to start with what 8D-music is not. This is not a new music genre or even a new technology. This is a post-processing method of audio recording, when DJs take an already existing track and mix it, creating the effect of sound movement around the listener.
In fact, 8D audio emulates Ambisonics surround sound . The latter implies that the listener is in the center of the "acoustic sphere", at the edges of which the sound sources are placed. The name 8D simply means that the sound comes from eight directions: left, right, front, back, plus four combinations.
It’s hard to say who is the creator of the first 8D record. However, today you can find a large number of channels on YouTube, the authors of which spread similar music. One of the largest is 8D Tunes with five million subscribers. And here is an example of his work - the 8D version of the Twenty One Pilots “Nico and the Niners” composition.
Another example of the channel is AviionMusic , which now has 390,000 subscribers.
How it works
Cavities in the human ear have their own characteristics of resonances and reflections, which depend on the frequency of the sound wave and its angle of incidence. Our brain is able to notice these distortions and determine the direction from which the sound is coming. The intensity of the distortions for each person is individual and is described by the so-called head-related transfer function , or HRTF. Using filtering, taking into account the transfer function of the head, and special software, you can create the effect of "moving" the sound source "around" the listener.
To make the effect as realistic as possible, it is necessary to calculate the transfer function for each person individually. However, the musicians use the ready-made HRTF sets, measured in an anechoic chamber (we wrote about it in detail in one of the previous materials ). These kits form the basis of special filters for sound processing programs, such as Sennheiser's Ambeo Orbit.
Sometimes, Haas effect is also used to simulate the location of sound sources in space when processing audio. To do this, in one of the two stereo channels the track is “delayed” by 5–30 ms. As a result, the sound that reaches our ear first will sound louder. This will create the illusion of moving the sound source left or right.
Opinions on 8D audio
Listeners leave mixed reviews about 8D effect recordings. There are those who compare 8D audio with live sound. For some, the new effect is similar to the ASMR phenomenon: people listen to such recordings to relax before bedtime. There are reviews of a more unusual reaction to 8D sounds: recordings help someone to get rid of tinnitus or pain.
Photo by William Brawley / CC BY
There are people who criticize 8D music. In a thematic thread on Hacker News, a number of commentators noted that such records make them nauseous and dizzy . This response is likely to be related to differences in the HRTF. The average transfer function used to mix 8D songs is not suitable for everyone, so listening to this content can cause discomfort.
DJ and co-founder of the music portal Yousic compares 8D-audio with ping-pong, when the voice and melody jump from ear to ear. According to him, it makes it difficult to truly enjoy the music.
From 8D-audio is not happy and professional sound engineers. Chief sound designer at 740 Sound, Chris Pinkston, also believes that the 8D effect distracts from the melody. Chris says that he himself would never use it in music. However, in his opinion, the popularity of 8D audio on the Internet is easy to explain. Listeners are too accustomed to standard stereo recordings, and now any spatial audio processing seems unusual and attractive to them.
Possible perspectives 8D
Although 8D audio remains an amateur format, some see the possibilities of its use in studio music. For example, the same Chris Pinkston believes that the 8D effect has a future not in pop music, but in more “ephemeral” ambient genres.
In other areas, say, in VR apps or movies, 8D audio is probably not going to work. There are many surround sound technologies that can create a more realistic sense of space, for example, the same Ambisonics format, the effect of which emulates 8D. Therefore, while 8D-audio will remain an experimental way to create music for a narrow circle of fans of this sound.
Additional reading - our World Hi-Fi and tg-microformat about sound:
Eight audio technologies that will fall into the hall of fame TECnology in 2019 How to turn a computer into a radio, and other ways to extract music from the calculus. systems Sound levitation can be used in medicineSource: https://habr.com/ru/post/437148/