Immersive recording of vocal ensemble on location – practical considerations and case study

Authors

  • Kaja Kosmenda Department of Systems, Signals and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin
  • Witold Mickiewicz Department of Systems, Signals and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin

Abstract

The dynamic development of spatial sound technology has led to a rapid movement from classic stereo and surround formats to immersive systems, including 7.1.4 and other Dolby Atmos configurations as a primary production format. As part of the project, a custom 3D microphone array was developed and built, inspired by contemporary research on techniques for recording three-dimensional acoustic space. The aim of the work was to obtain a realistic representation of space in the form of a true multi-channel recording while maintaining configuration flexibility and low construction costs. The recorded material was used to study various methods of reference recordings mixing for immersive loudspeaker configurations. Two approaches were analyzed: direct assignment of signals to 7.1.4 system channels and object-based rendering using Dolby Atmos Renderer within Pro Tools, allowing for dynamic positioning of sources in space. The results indicate that the channel-based approach regarding immersive mixing provides the best sound quality , while object-based rendering offers greater creative flexibility and the possibility of reducing the number of microphones. Further research focuses on the development of binaural immersive listening methods using obtained audio and the creation of authentic 3D recordings for streaming platforms.

Additional Files

Published

2026-02-17

Issue

Section

Acoustics