Sat Sep 17, 2016 2:20 am
I thought it might be worthwhile to give this product a plug before preorders end and you're stuck paying 500 USD more (Assuming the Pound Sterling doesn't rise). I do not represent Smyth or work for them, just am a huge fan of their tech.
It's easier to get an idea of what the Realiser does by watching their promo video, but I'll include my own thoughts below: https://youtu.be/3mZhN3OG-tc
Basically, the Realiser is a device that can take 16 channels of audio input and process that in to sounding like you're in a room with 16 channels of audio, delivered via two channel headphones. It does this by having the listener insert small microphones in their ears and recording impulse responses made by the speakers in the room. Through some nice math and DSP code, the Realiser uses these to replicate, over headphones, the sound of the speakers, their location, and the reverberation characteristics of the room. The primary use of this device is among the audiophile and 5.1/7.1 music/film mastering crowd who want to have a "home theatre" in their apartment, or want to take their several 100k mastering studio with them to remote locations.
If you understand the implications you can already see how this can be extremely useful to us Hauptwerk users. While the device cannot simulate a cathedral or environment of massive size (the reverb time is too long), it can definitely help with rendering an organ via multiple channels that isn't right between your ears in limited stereo. One of the biggest benefits of this system, in my mind, is the head-tracking; if you turn your head, the sound field isn't fixed as with stereo headphones, but rather is fixed to the room/moves around you. This feature, in my mind, would help offer that extra bit of immersion to a player; so as to help one loose themselves in the performance.
I imagine a crafty user could virtualize an ambisonic speaker system (speakers in front, behind, above, below, and side to side), use Hauptwerk and REAPER to pan the 16 channels around the array, apply convolution reverb in varying amounts depending upon if the channel represents pipes or room reflections, and essentially build any number of virtual organ setups.. The craftier user could also do all of this with just one speaker, performing sequential measurements, moving the speaker around in between. The Realiser also has tactile transducer outputs, for those who wish to feel the infrasonics.
All that complexity aside, you could also just get yourself measured in a high end mastering studio and render out of Hauptwerk/Reaper in 5.1/7.1 and enjoy an awesome setup with little tweaking or investment needed. I myself am going to be measured at AIX's mastering studio in LA. Their room is heavily treated and is rather "dead", so applying reverb in REAPER should work especially well.
Anyway, if you, like me, are tired of being limited to "inside your head" stereo, and cannot invest in a speaker system, this device might be a godsend to you ; ).
It's easier to get an idea of what the Realiser does by watching their promo video, but I'll include my own thoughts below: https://youtu.be/3mZhN3OG-tc
Basically, the Realiser is a device that can take 16 channels of audio input and process that in to sounding like you're in a room with 16 channels of audio, delivered via two channel headphones. It does this by having the listener insert small microphones in their ears and recording impulse responses made by the speakers in the room. Through some nice math and DSP code, the Realiser uses these to replicate, over headphones, the sound of the speakers, their location, and the reverberation characteristics of the room. The primary use of this device is among the audiophile and 5.1/7.1 music/film mastering crowd who want to have a "home theatre" in their apartment, or want to take their several 100k mastering studio with them to remote locations.
If you understand the implications you can already see how this can be extremely useful to us Hauptwerk users. While the device cannot simulate a cathedral or environment of massive size (the reverb time is too long), it can definitely help with rendering an organ via multiple channels that isn't right between your ears in limited stereo. One of the biggest benefits of this system, in my mind, is the head-tracking; if you turn your head, the sound field isn't fixed as with stereo headphones, but rather is fixed to the room/moves around you. This feature, in my mind, would help offer that extra bit of immersion to a player; so as to help one loose themselves in the performance.
I imagine a crafty user could virtualize an ambisonic speaker system (speakers in front, behind, above, below, and side to side), use Hauptwerk and REAPER to pan the 16 channels around the array, apply convolution reverb in varying amounts depending upon if the channel represents pipes or room reflections, and essentially build any number of virtual organ setups.. The craftier user could also do all of this with just one speaker, performing sequential measurements, moving the speaker around in between. The Realiser also has tactile transducer outputs, for those who wish to feel the infrasonics.
All that complexity aside, you could also just get yourself measured in a high end mastering studio and render out of Hauptwerk/Reaper in 5.1/7.1 and enjoy an awesome setup with little tweaking or investment needed. I myself am going to be measured at AIX's mastering studio in LA. Their room is heavily treated and is rather "dead", so applying reverb in REAPER should work especially well.
Anyway, if you, like me, are tired of being limited to "inside your head" stereo, and cannot invest in a speaker system, this device might be a godsend to you ; ).
