Spatial Audio Technology

Total Solution Technology for Immersive Sound, from Recording to Reproduction

ViReal is total solution technology for immersive sound, currently under development by the Yamaha Research and Development Division. The ViReal Mic, which captures the presence of the sound source and the realism of the sound field as it is, and ViReal for Headphones and ViReal for Speakers, which are acoustic signal processing technologies that reproduce a realistic sound space that can be mistaken for a real space with your headphones and speakers, realize immersive sound with overwhelming reality.

Recording: [ ViReal Mic ]　Single-point Microphone for Spatial Audio Capture

The ViReal Mic has a unique array of 64 microphones that can record the direction from which sound arrives with high accuracy. With the Dante network, 64 channels can be transmitted simultaneously over a single LAN cable with low latency. Only one microphone and cable are required. With only one microphone and one cable, the system is compact and requires very little setup time. (The microphone shown in the photo is a prototype.)

For Headphones: [ ViReal for Headphones ]　Spatial Audio Processing Technology for Headphones

This technology reproduces a three-dimensional sense of sound by reproducing the acoustic characteristics (Head Related Transfer Function: HRTF) from a sound source at an arbitrary position to the ears of the listener, through digital signal processing. However, since each person’s ears are shaped differently, the effect is different. Yamaha has developed its own HRTF database by collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing the shapes of many human ears and heads. No matter who you are or what kind of headphones you use, you can experience the maximum immersive sound effect. In addition, a resolution of more than 2,000 directions enables accurate localization and smooth sound source movement, realizing unprecedentedly immersive sound.

For Loudspeakers: [ ViReal for Speakers ]　Spatial Audio Processing Technology for Multi-channel Loudspeakers

ViReal for Speakers is an acoustic rendering technology that can realistically reproduce a three-dimensional sound source recorded by ViReal Mic or any single sound source, using multichannel loudspeakers. The sound image is generated optimally according to the number and position of loudspeakers and based on the directional information of the sound source, so it is possible to reproduce the presence of the sound source.

ViReal Mic and ViReal for Headphones technology are implemented in Sound xR™. ViReal for Speakers object-based processing technology and ViReal for Headphones technology are implemented in AFC Image.