What is Immersive Audio? How To Create More Immersive Sound
From the enveloping soundscapes of movie theaters to the spatial audio playlists on Apple Music, the term immersive audio is everywhere.
It represents the biggest and most exciting shift in how we create and experience sound since the invention of stereo. Immersive Audio is used as an umbrella term to define all types of audio that make the listening experience more realistic and often goes further than using standard stereo formats; it adds height and depth to your sounds.
But for a producer working in a studio, what does immersive audio actually mean? Beyond the marketing hype, what are the fundamental concepts, and what are the essential skills you need to start creating it?
In this article, we're going to take a look at what immersive and spatial audio is and how you can use Audiocube to create realistic audio yourself.
In This Article...
You will learn exactly what immersive audio is and what falls into the umbrella term.
I will show you a few different examples of immersive audio technology.
You will find out how immersive audio is all about the placement and movement of tracks in a designed space.
Learn about Audiocube, a tool to create your own immersive audio.
What Is Immersive Audio and Spatial Audio?
At its core, immersive audio is any form of sound reproduction that goes beyond traditional two-channel stereo to create a more realistic and engaging listening experience, typically by adding height and 360-degree sound placement.
Think of it this way: for over 60 years, music has largely existed on a flat plane between two speakers. We could move sounds left and right, and create a front-to-back illusion with reverb and volume, but it was always a flat canvas. Immersive audio changes that canvas, turning it into a three-dimensional sphere of sound that can completely surround the listener; the goal is to completely change the audio experience for listeners.
Immersive audio is an umbrella term that covers a range of exciting audio technology innovations. You've likely heard of the major players:
Binaural Audio: This technique uses advanced processing, often involving Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs), accurately recreating how sounds reach the human ear. It’s designed specifically for headphones and can create a shockingly realistic 3D auditory experience from just two channels.
Ambisonics: A full-sphere format that captures the entire sound field from a single point. It's not tied to specific speaker setups and is incredibly flexible, making it a favorite for virtual reality and 360-degree video where the soundscape needs to rotate with the listener's head.
Dolby Atmos: Perhaps the most commercially recognized format, Dolby Atmos introduces the concept of sound objects. Instead of assigning a sound to a specific speaker, mixers can place a sound source as an object in 3D space through the use of multiple speakers (often more than four speakers). This object-based approach uses metadata to tell the playback system where that sound should be, allowing for incredible scalability from massive cinema speaker setups with overhead speakers down to mobile devices.
360 Reality Audio: Sony's object-based format, similar in principle to Dolby Atmos, is also designed to place individual sounds within a 360-degree sphere, creating a rich immersive sound experience.
While the technical details of each format differ, their goal is the same: to make the listener feel like they are inside the recording or album, not just passively listening to it. It moves beyond the limitations of traditional surround sound by adding a crucial height layer, delivered through height channels or virtualization, creating a much more lifelike and complete sense of space.
How To Create Immersive Sound: Using Audiocube
As an immersive audio enthusiast, I created Audiocube - a standalone 3D DAW. Rather than working like a plugin, Audiocube is its own 3D, immersive audio software, specifically designed for creating sound.
This gives you a new way of creating and interacting with sound.
Watch this video to find out more:
Here are some basic steps to show you how to create immersive audio using Audiocube:
Download Audiocube - You can download Audiocube for free, or you can buy a license for access to the full features.
Create a Project - Once you have downloaded Audiocube, it's time to open a new project and get to work.
Import Tracks - You can import your own tracks to Audiocube or use the 2GB of preloaded samples ready to download straight from the get-go.
Insert a Sampler - The first point of call is to insert a sampler into your project; this will be the main tool used for playback of your samples.
Place your Sound in a 3D Space - Once you have your sounds loaded in, you can start moving them around within a 3D space.
Mix and Add Some Additional Effects - Audiocube comes with its own mixing tools, including EQs, reverb, and other sound effects. Use these to alter your sounds in a more interesting way.
Experiment with your Acoustics - Audiocube has the ability to imitate how we hear music naturally, you can insert sound walls to see realistic reflections, or activate the HRTF binauralizer to hear your sounds in 360° in your headphones.
Finalise and Export - Finalise your mix by ensuring you're happy with the placement of your sounds and by using Audiocube's built-in mastering effects, and export the file as a WAV file.
If you follow these steps, you will have yourself a spatial track ready to be played to the world.
Want to give it a go for yourself? Download Audiocube now or buy the lifetime license and start experimenting with immersive audio yourself.
Turn Surround Sound To Immersive Audio with Audiocube
The future of audio is undeniably immersive. The system is evolving, from sound bars with upward-firing speakers to sophisticated headphone playback systems, and listeners are beginning to expect more than stereo.
To prepare for this future, the single most important thing you can do is master the art of composing and mixing in a 3D space. This is the skill that will allow you to create compelling, lifelike, and emotionally resonant music for years to come.
Ready to start your journey into immersive audio? Download a free trial of Audiocube or buy a lifetime license and begin creating in three dimensions today.
